Person: La Rovere, R.
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La Rovere
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La Rovere, R.
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- Climate change and food security in the developing world: potential of maize and wheat research to expand options for adaptation and mitigation(Academic Journals, 2012) Hellin, J.; Shiferaw, B.; Cairns, J.E.; Reynolds, M.P.; Ortiz-Monasterio, I.; Banziger, M.; Sonder, K.; La Rovere, R.
Publication - Operational guidelines for assessing the impact of agricultural research on livelihoods: good practices from CIMMYT.(CIMMYT, 2007) La Rovere, R.; Dixon, J.; Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo (CIMMYT)Impact assessment (IA) in agricultural research is the effort to measure its social, economic, environmental, and other benefits. IA is important because stakeholders expect research organizations such as CIMMYT to account for their use of resources, as well as learning from and adjusting to new challenges. These guidelines present major considerations to be addressed in designing and implementing IA. They are intended for partners in national agricultural research systems, universities, non-government organizations, or others who may have limited background in IA or economics and who are charged with conducting IA for their projects and programs. It may also be of interest and direct use to colleagues in other CGIAR centers.
Publication - Characterization of maize producing households in Balaka and Mangochi Districts in Malawi(CIMMYT, 2011) Mangisoni, J.H.; Katengeza, S.; Langyintuo, A.S.; La Rovere, R.; Mwangi, W.M.Current global climatic changes have resulted in frequent occurrences of droughts and floods, a scenario that has affected agricultural production, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This study reports on the results from a household survey in the Balaka and Mangochi Districts of Malawi. The overall objective of the study was to characterize the maize producing households and to assess the adoption of improved maize varieties in Malawi, through an understanding of the households’ access to assets, household livelihood strategies, and the production and price risks that farmers face. The study has shown that households’ access to livelihood capitals such as human, natural, physical, financial and institutional is limited in the two districts with increasing land scarcity. Maize is the most popular crop. The most common maize varieties are local open pollinated varieties (OPVs) and hybrids. The major input sources for crop production are the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC), Agora, Kulima Gold, and traders/vendors. Major shocks are droughts and floods while prominent production risks are price and yield fluctuations, and fertilizer availability and affordability. To mitigate such risks, farmers change cropping area of a given crop, and engage in crop diversification and off-farm activities. The key issue emerging from this study is that climatic factors such as droughts and floods pose a challenge to agricultural production in Mangochi and Balaka, and Malawi as a whole. The continued changes in the global climate are a serious threat to Malawi’s food security and poverty reduction objectives. As such, there is need to support actions that facilitate the ability of the agricultural sector to cope with climate changes. The promotion of improved drought tolerant and early maturing maize varieties seems a good entry point.
Publication - Drivers of improved maize variety adoption in drought prone areas of Malawi(Academic Journals, 2012) Katengeza, S.; Mangisoni, J.H.; Kassie, G.; Sutcliffe, C.; Langyintuo, A.S.; La Rovere, R.; Mwangi, W.M.This study identifies the determinants of adoption and adoption-intensity of improved maize varieties in Malawi. We estimated a double hurdle model based on household-level survey data collected in the districts of Balaka and Mangochi in 2008 and found that labour endowment, access to rural credit, livestock wealth, access to agricultural extension, farm size and access to off-farm employment all significantly increase the likelihood of adoption. Households where the head had membership of a social group were also found to be less likely to have adopted. The intensity of adoption was found to be negatively related to livestock wealth and fertilizer use. Conversely, the age of the household head, the labour endowment of the household and the proportion of household members engaged in off-farm activities were factors that were found to be positively related to intensity of adoption. The study suggests the need to enhance adoption and intensity of adoption of improved maize varieties in Malawi among other things improving access to rural finance through credit and improving access to agricultural extension. Agricultural extension enhances provision of timely and quality agricultural information which is vital to smallholder farmers? production and marketing decisions and hence, key to decisions to adopt new and improved technologies such as improved maize varieties.
Publication - Adoption and continued use of improved maize seeds: Case study of Central Ethiopia(Academic Journals, 2010) Tura, M.; Aredo, D.; Tsegaye, T.; La Rovere, R.; Kassie, G.; Mwangi, W.M.; Mwabu, G.The literature on agricultural technology is limited on the issue of the continued use of an agricultural technology after it is adopted. This paper analyzes the factors that explain adoption as well as continued use of improved maize seeds in one of the high potential maize growing areas in central Ethiopia. Using a bivariate probit with sample selection model approach, the study provides insights into the key factors associated with adoption of improved maize seed and its continued use. The result revealed that human capital (adult workers, off-farm work and experience in hiring labor), asset endowment (size of land owned), institutional and policy variables (access to credit, membership in cooperatives) all strongly influence farmers? decisions to adopt improved maize varieties, while continuous use of the seed is influenced by the proportion of farmland allocated to maize, literacy of the household head, involvement in off-farm work, visits by extension agents, farmers? experience, household land size, and fertilizer usage. Accordingly, policies and interventions that are informed about such factors are required to accelerate adoption and continued use of improved maize seeds in order to increase farm yields and remedy shortage of food and fight food poverty and insecurity more effectively and more sustainably.
Publication - The Tunisian wheat sector in the new liberalization scenario(Italian Institute of CIHEAM, 2010) La Rovere, R.; Thabet, C.; Ammar, K.; Sferi, R.This study explores the likely effects of trade liberalization on the wheat value chain in Tunisia. The objectives are to: i) generate quantitative and qualitative information on the performance of wheat producers and the main constraints they face; ii) describe the institutional organisation of the Tunisian wheat value chain; iii) describe and examine the most important stakeholders in the cereal production chain: people in charge of the collection and storage, milling industry managers and pasta and couscous manufacturers; iv) describe and analyze the cereal policy implemented by the Tunisian government; and v) assess the possible impacts of multilateral trade liberalization on the wheat value chain and staple food affordability and livelihoods in rural and urban areas. The results of the analysis suggest that a multilateral trade liberalization represented by an increase in international wheat prices would be beneficial to Tunisian wheat growers. However, in order to take advantage of these changes, an institutional reform in the wheat value chain should be introduced. The Tunisian government has to redefine the role of the Cereal Office which has the legal monopoly on cereals collection, imports and distribution intended for human and animal consumption
Publication - Characterization of maize production in Southern Africa: synthesis of CIMMYT/DTMA household level farming system surveys in Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe(CIMMYT, 2012) Kassie, G.; Erenstein, O.; Mwangi, W.M.; La Rovere, R.; Setimela, P.; Langyintuo, A.S.This report presents the synthesis of household level surveys in five intervention countries (Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project designed and implemented by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and national research and extension institutions in 13 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In each of the study countries, two districts were randomly selected provided that the districts fall in predetermined categories (20-40%) of probability of failed season (PFS). A total sample of 1108 households was randomly drawn with sample sizes varying country to country. The report has different sections that focus, in order, on description of the sample households, extent and determinants of poverty and inequality among the sample population, characteristics of maize production, perception and management of drought risk, and determinants of likelihood and intensity of adoption of improved maize varieties.
Publication - Characterization of maize producing households in Masvingo and Bikita Districts in Zimbabwe(CIMMYT, 2010) Chikobvu, S.; Chiputwa, B.; Langyintuo, A.S.; La Rovere, R.; Mwangi, W.M.Maize is Zimbabwe’s staple crop with approximately 2.1 million metric tons (t) required for the nation to be food secure. Unfavorable macroeconomic conditions and recurrent droughts have made it difficult for Zimbabwe to meet this target, compelling the government to import maize from neighboring countries. Maize production in Zimbabwe is predominantly in the high rainfall areas, although the crop is also grown in the dry areas prone to droughts. Farmers in such environments are often at the mercy of insufficient rainfall, resulting in poor harvest and consequential hunger in the aftermath of drought. These farmers subsequently liquidate their assets to meet household food requirements and as a result sometimes fail to fully utilize the land available for cultivation. There is thus an urgent need for the promotion of drought tolerant maize in Zimbabwe, which would be aided by a better understanding of the country’s maize producing households in drought prone areas. This study aims to improve such understanding. This study and the resulting report are part of the DTMA project; it was conducted in the Masvingo and Bikita districts in Masvingo Province located in Zimbabwe’s medium drought risk zone. While complementing an earlier community assessment in the same area (Chikobvu et al. 2008), the study characterizes maize producing households and assesses the adoption of improved maize varieties among households. The data collected in the study also serve as a baseline on farm households for the construction of indicators that could subsequently be used to measure the impact of the adoption of improved maize varieties. This report is organized into six main sections. After this introduction, the next section presents the sampling and data collection procedures, followed by a brief agro-ecological characterization of the survey locations. In section three, the characterization of households in the study districts is presented. Farm household livelihoods strategies are discussed in section four, including those related to crop and livestock production, off-farm/non-farm income generating activities, income and expenditure profiles, and shock impacts on household livelihood outcomes. Section five covers farmer technology use in crop production, particularly maize varietal use, and discusses the econometric model that analyzed the factors influencing the proportion of land allocated to improved maize varieties. Finally, section six presents concluding remarks of the study.
Publication - Characterization of maize producing households in Monze and Kalomo Districts in Zambia(CIMMYT, 2010) Kalinda, T.; Tembo, G.; Kuntashula, E.; Langyintuo, A.S.; Mwangi, W.M.; La Rovere, R.The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project is an initiative which is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (B&MGF) and Howard G. Buffett Foundation to accelerate drought tolerant maize development and deployment in 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The DTMA Initiative joins the efforts of people, organizations and projects supporting the development and dissemination of drought tolerant maize in SSA. The work builds on the efforts of CIMMYT to develop and breed drought tolerant maize varieties. Maize sustains the life of more than 300 million of Africa’s most vulnerable and it is Africa’s most important cereal food crop. When recurrent droughts in SSA ruin harvests, lives and livelihoods are threatened or destroyed. Experts say that the situation may become even worse as climate change progresses. Developing, distributing and cultivating drought tolerant maize varieties are highly relevant interventions to reduce vulnerability and food insecurity in SSA. CIMMYT and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have been working for over 10 years with national agricultural research institutes to adapt breeding techniques to SSA. As a result, over 50 new maize hybrids and openpollinated maize varieties (OPVs) have been developed and provided to seed companies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) for dissemination, and several of them have reached farmers’ fields. These drought tolerant maize varieties produce about 20–30% higher yields than other maize varieties under drought conditions. DTMA will focus on improving, accelerating and enlarging the entire drought tolerant maize variety development and delivery pipeline targeted at SSA, including removing institutional bottlenecks for rapidly scaling up and out to reach 30–40 million people over a 10-year time frame (http://dtma.cimmyt.org). This country study is part of the DTMA project. It presents the findings of the household survey which serves as a baseline and characterizes the maize producing households in the Monze and Kalomo districts of southern Zambia. These areas are part of the project’s medium drought risk zone (20–40% PFS) target area. It complements an earlier community assessment in the same area (Kalinda et al. 2007). The purpose of this study is to characterize the maize producing households and to assess the adoption of improved maize varieties. This study was also designed to collect baseline data on farm households to construct indicators that could be used to subsequently measure the impact of the adoption of improved maize varieties. Due to cost and time, the baseline study was conducted in only two selected districts in the country. The report is organized in sections as follows. Section two presents the sampling and data collection procedure followed by a brief description of the agro-climatic characteristics of the survey districts. The households’ access to agricultural production resources is presented in section three. Section four discusses farm households’ livelihood strategies related to crop and livestock production as well as off-farm/non-farm activities that generate income. This section also presents the household income and expenditure profiles. Section five presents the use of agricultural technology and improved maize varieties. The report ends with a summary discussion on selected impact indicators.
Publication - Characterization of maize producing households in Machakos and Makueni Districts in Kenya(KARI, 2010) Muhammad, L.; Mwabu, D.; Mulwa, R.; Mwangi, W.M.; Langyintuo, A.S.; La Rovere, R.The Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) initiative aims to address the challenge of combating the impacts of drought on people’s livelihoods, food security and economic development. It links the efforts of several organizations and projects supporting the development and dissemination of drought tolerant maize in 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The initiative is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). DTMA also benefits from the long-term, generous support of core donors to CIMMYT. For further information about the initiative, refer to the project website (http://dtma.cimmyt.org). Developing, distributing and cultivating drought tolerant maize varieties is a highly relevant intervention to improve food security, reduce vulnerability to climate change and dependence on food aid in SSA. However, for this to succeed, it needs to be grounded in the local reality based on good understanding of limiting biophysical and socioeconomic constraints and opportunities for change. Each of the participating countries was therefore supported to conduct a community assessment and household surveys in the target areas. This report presents the findings from initial analysis of household survey data which will serve as a baseline on production and economic conditions of smallholder maize farmers and presents the main characteristics of farm households and production systems in the Machakos and Makueni districts of Kenya. This country study received financial support from the DTMA project.
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