Person: Fitch, J.B.
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Fitch
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J.B.
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Fitch, J.B.
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- Maize production patterns in Southern Zaire(CIMMYT, 1976) Mwamufiya, M.; Fitch, J.B.For more than a decade, Zaire's maize production has not increased fast enough to supply rapidly increasing domestic demand. The result has been a sharp increase in maize imports, and this in turn has pinched already limited sources of foreign exchange. In an effort to increase understanding of Zaire's maize production system, this paper focuses on describing certain maize production practices in the south-central part of the country. Observations and data presented here are based on field research undertaken by Mwamufiya in 1974 and 1975, in conjunction with Zaire's national maize program. This research included a survey of 299 producers from four-adjacent districts. Three of these districts, Mwene-Ditu, Gandajika, and Tshilenge, are in the region of Kasai Oriental, while Kaniama, the fourth, is in the region of Shaba. The first part of this paper focuses on describing overall cropping patterns of farms in the survey area and shows how maize production fits into this scheme. Maize planting practices are then described, together with a description of seed origin, seed protection, and fertilization procedures. Related aspects of labor use and maize marketing and distribution have been treated in previous reports.
Publication - Maize marketing and distribution in Southern Zaire(CIMMYT, 1976) Mwamufiya, M.; Fitch, J.B.Recent dramatic increases and shifts in Zaire's population have had significant influences upon both the supply and the demand for basic foods, with profound effects being registered on maize in urban Shaba and in the Kasai regions. Urban demand for food, such as maize, increased rapidly, not only as a result of population increases, but also due to investment and income distribution policies which favored urban areas. These factors present a problem of developing an expanded production system, together with a distribution system capable of delivering mere food to the growing urban market. This paper focuses on the marketing of maize and is directed to improving the understanding of factors which influence the nature and effectiveness of the marketing process. Information presented here is based on a study of the production and marketing of maize in the districts of Tshilenge, Gandajika. Mwene-Ditu, and Kaniama, in south-central Zaire. This included a 1974-75 survey of 299 producers interviewed in their villages, a separate survey of 93 producers who were selling their maize in rural and urban markets of the Kasai Oriental region, and the analysis of the retail price shares received by various marketing agents in each of three different types of rural-urban market channels. These results are more fully discussed in an Oregon State University Ph.D. thesis by one of the authors.
Publication - Labor use patterns for the production of maize in Southern Zaire(CIMMYT, [1976?]) Mwamufiya, M.; Fitch, J.B.This paper focuses on the use of labor in the production of maize in South-Central Zaire. In this area. as in other parts of Zaire. additional communal lands are available to many farmers. and land availability is usually not viewed as a constraint to expanding production. Farm size is relatively small, however, and in the absence of significant mechanization. the quantity of labor available and how it is used become significant factors in determining the amount of land farmed, the timing of various cultural practices, and ultimately, how much maize and other crops are produced. Two considerations make this paper of interest. The first is the data themselves which describe which family members engage in which tasks related to maize production, use of hired labor, off-farm. work, periods of labor shortage, etc. The second is the question of the importance of labor constraints in limiting maize production.
Publication - Maize production practices and problems in Egypt: results of three farmer surveys(CIMMYT, 1983) Fitch, J.B.The results of three surveys of Egyptian maize farmers are reported. Two of the surveys, carried out in different parts of Egypt, describe farmers' practices and circumstances. The third survey monitors an on-farm experimental program for maize, comparing practices on trial farms to those of neighboring farmers. Implications are drawn for setting maize research priorities.
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