IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/cimmew/7674.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Institutional Change and Discontinuities in Farmers' Use of Hybrid Maize Seed and Fertilizer in Malawi: Findings from the 1996-97 CIMMYT/ MoALD Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Smale, Melinda
  • Phiri, Alexander

Abstract

This study records the use of hybrid maize seed and fertilizer by small-scale farmers in Malawi, as well as their opinions about these inputs, from 1989-90 through 1996-97. Its main purpose is to determine whether the principal constraint to smallholders' use of maize hybrids is the acceptability of the hybrid maize germplasm or the institutional reforms and policies affecting its use. The study also provides information about a practice that has implications for the impact of seed technologies and seed industries - the recycling of nonconventional hybrids (i.e., saving seed of an F1 hybrid to plant in subsequent seasons). Findings of the most recent farmer survey in 1996-97 demonstrate that the grain quality or yield characteristics of maize hybrids no longer constrain smallholders' use of F1 hybrid seed. Farmers stated almost unanimously that they wanted to grow F1 hybrid seed, but most could not purchase as much seed as they wished. A large number of farmers recycle hybrid seed, which is not surprising, given the early stages of diffusion of hybrid maize in Malawi, the start-stop nature of policies affecting input use, and free seed distributed by the government and NGOs. It may be worthwhile for researchers to investigate prospects for producing hybrids whose characteristics resist deterioration from recycling. Aside from this plant breeding issue, pressing concerns of national maize production, food security, and the welfare of smallholders remain to be addressed. Farmers with the resources to use credit, purchase inputs, grow cash crops, or produce maize surpluses represent a smaller and smaller percentage of farmers. It is doubtful whether complete reliance on private initiatives can transform the smallholder maize sector in a country that relies on agriculture as much as Malawi, but where infrastructure is inadequate, nonfarm employment opportunities are few, and incentives are insufficient to mobilize trade and generate cash in rural areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Smale, Melinda & Phiri, Alexander, 1998. "Institutional Change and Discontinuities in Farmers' Use of Hybrid Maize Seed and Fertilizer in Malawi: Findings from the 1996-97 CIMMYT/ MoALD Survey," Economics Working Papers 7674, CIMMYT: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:cimmew:7674
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.7674
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/7674/files/wp98sm04.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.7674?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonathan Kydd, 1989. "Maize research in Malawi: Lessons from failure," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 1(1), pages 112-144, January.
    2. Peters, Pauline, 1996. "Failed Magic Or Social Context? Market Liberalization And The Rural Poor In Malawi," Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) Papers 294379, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.
    3. Kydd, Jonathan & Christiansen, Robert, 1982. "Structural change in Malawi since independence: Consequences of a development strategy based on large-scale agriculture," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 10(5), pages 355-375, May.
    4. Zeller, Manfred & Ahmed, Akhter U. & Babu, Suresh Chandra & Broca, Sumiter S. & Diagne, Aliou & Sharma, Manohar, 1996. "Rural finance policies for food security of the poor," FCND discussion papers 11, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. Tullio Jappelli, 1990. "Who is Credit Constrained in the U. S. Economy?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(1), pages 219-234.
    6. Smale, Melinda & Heisey, Paul W & Leathers, Howard D, 1995. "Maize of the Ancestors and Modern Varieties: The Microeconomics of High-Yielding Variety Adoption in Malawi," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(2), pages 351-368, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Franklin Simtowe & Manfred Zeller & Aliou Diagne, 2009. "The impact of credit constraints on the adoption of hybrid maize in Malawi," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 90(1), pages 5-22.
    2. Morris, Michael L. & Risopoulos, Jean & Beck, David, 1999. "Genetic Change in Farmer-Recycled Maize Seed: A Review of the Evidence," Economics Working Papers 7683, CIMMYT: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.
    3. Diagne, Aliou & Zeller, Manfred, 2001. "Access to credit and its impact on welfare in Malawi:," Research reports 116, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Smale, Melinda & Byerlee, Derek & Jayne, Thom S., 2011. "Maize Revolutions in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers 202592, Egerton University, Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Diagne, Aliou & Zeller, Manfred, 2001. "Access to credit and its impact on welfare in Malawi:," Research reports 116, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Orr, Alastair, 2000. "'Green Gold'?: Burley Tobacco, Smallholder Agriculture, and Poverty Alleviation in Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 347-363, February.
    3. Smale, Melinda & Jayne, T.S., 2003. "Maize in Eastern and Southern Africa: 'seeds' of success in retrospect," EPTD discussion papers 97, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Harrigan, Jane, 2008. "Food insecurity, poverty and the Malawian Starter Pack: Fresh start or false start?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 237-249, June.
    5. Zeller, Manfred & Diagne, Aliou & Mataya, Charles, 1998. "Market access by smallholder farmers in Malawi: implications for technology adoption, agricultural productivity and crop income," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 19(1-2), pages 219-229, September.
    6. Dorward, Andrew & Fan, Shenggen & Kydd, Jonathan & Lofgren, Hans & Morrison, Jamie & Poulton, Colin & Rao, Neetha & Smith, Laurence & Tchale, Hardwick & Thorat, Sukhadeo & Urey, Ian & Wobst, Peter, 2004. "Institutions and economic policies for pro-poor agricultural growth," DSGD discussion papers 15, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Place, Frank & Otsuka, Keijiro, 2001. "Population, Tenure, and Natural Resource Management: The Case of Customary Land Area in Malawi," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 13-32, January.
    8. Harrigan, Jane, 2003. "U-Turns and Full Circles: Two Decades of Agricultural Reform in Malawi 1981-2000," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 847-863, May.
    9. Zeller, Manfred & Diagne, Aliou & Mataya, Charles, 1997. "Market access by smallholder farmers in Malawi," FCND discussion papers 35, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    10. Place, Frank & Otsuka, Keijiro, 1997. "Population, land tenure, and natural resource management: the case of customary land area in Malawi," EPTD discussion papers 27, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. Diagne, Aliou, 1999. "Determinants of household access to and participation in formal and informal credit markets in Malawi," FCND discussion papers 67, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Smale, Melinda, 1995. ""Maize is life": Malawi's delayed Green Revolution," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 819-831, May.
    13. John Rand, 2007. "‘Credit Constraints and Determinants of the Cost of Capital in Vietnamese Manufacturing’," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 1-13, June.
    14. Matteo Iacoviello, 2008. "Household Debt and Income Inequality, 1963–2003," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(5), pages 929-965, August.
    15. Lise Clain-Chamosset-Yvrard & Thomas Seegmuller, 2018. "Bubble on real estate: The role of altruism and fiscal policy," Working Papers halshs-01885932, HAL.
    16. Stefano Colonnello & Mariela Dal Borgo, 2024. "Raising Household Leverage: Evidence from Co-Financed Mortgages," Working Papers 2024: 01, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    17. Eric O'N. Fisher & Mark A. Roberts, 2002. "Funded Pensions, Labor Market Participation, and Economic Growth," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 59(3), pages 371-386, August.
    18. Klos, Alexander & Rottke, Simon, 2013. "Saving and Consumption When Children Move Out," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79786, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    19. Gabre-Madhin, Eleni Z., 2001. "Market institutions, transaction costs, and social capital in the Ethiopian grain market:," Research reports 124, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    20. Cantelmo, Alessandro & Melina, Giovanni, 2018. "Monetary policy and the relative price of durable goods," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1-48.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Crop Production/Industries;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:cimmew:7674. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cimmymx.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.