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Is Older Better? Maize Hybrid Change on Household Farms in Kenya

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  • Smale, Melinda
  • Olwande, John

Abstract

Kenya has been recognized globally as maize success story since the 1970s. Released on the eve of independence, Kenya’s first maize hybrid diffused faster than did hybrids in the U.S Corn Belt during the 1930s-1940s. In recent decades, policy researchers have lamented that earlier gains in maize productivity have not lived up to their potential. Claims of stagnating yields and stagnating adoption are offset here, at least in part, by longitudinal survey data showing rising yields and adoption rates on farms. Tegemeo survey data confirm that Kenya has reached its adoption ceiling years ago in the major maize producing zones of the country, and is near to doing so in other zones. Data show adoption rates topping 80% of farmers.

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  • Smale, Melinda & Olwande, John, 2011. "Is Older Better? Maize Hybrid Change on Household Farms in Kenya," Food Security International Development Working Papers 118474, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:midiwp:118474
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.118474
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    1. Olwande, John & Smale, Melinda & Mathenge, Mary K. & Place, Frank & Mithöfer, Dagmar, 2015. "Agricultural marketing by smallholders in Kenya: A comparison of maize, kale and dairy," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 22-32.
    2. Gitonga, Zachary M. & De Groote, Hugo, 2016. "Role of hybrid maize adoption on food security in Kenya: an application of two-step generalized method of moments (gmm2s)," 2016 Fifth International Conference, September 23-26, 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 246315, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    3. Frank Davenport & Chris Funk & Gideon Galu, 2018. "How will East African maize yields respond to climate change and can agricultural development mitigate this response?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 147(3), pages 491-506, April.
    4. Gharib, Mariam H. & Palm-Forster, Leah H. & Lybbert, Travis J. & Messer, Kent D., 2021. "Fear of fraud and willingness to pay for hybrid maize seed in Kenya," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    5. Tripp, Robert & Mensah-Bonsu, Akwesi, 2013. "Ghana's commercial seed sector: New incentives or continued complacency?:," GSSP working papers 32, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Jones, Ashley D. & Dalton, Timothy J. & Smale, Melinda, 2012. "A Stochastic Production Function Analysis of Maize Hybrids and Yield Variability in Drought-Prone Areas of Kenya," Working Papers 202593, Egerton University, Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development.
    7. Mutoko, Morgan C. & Hein, Lars & Bartholomeus, Harm, 2014. "Integrated analysis of land use changes and their impacts on agrarian livelihoods in the western highlands of Kenya," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 1-12.

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