Person: Abdoulaye, T.
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Abdoulaye
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Abdoulaye, T.
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- A strategic framework for adoption and impact studies in the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (CRP MAIZE)(CGIAR Research Program on Maize, 2019) Krishna, V.; Feleke, S.; Marenya, P.P.; Abdoulaye, T.; Erenstein, O.Maize is one of the most important food crops in the world. In 2016, global acreage of maize was 188 million ha, of which 36% (68 million ha) were in developing and low-income countries (FAOSTAT, 2018). Together with rice and wheat, it provides at least 30% of the food calories to more than 4.5 billion people in the developing world (Shiferaw et al., 2011). The role of maize to ensure rural food security is even higher in some of the least developed countries of sub Saharan Africa. For example, over 55% of the daily calorie intake of Zambian households is derived from maize alone (Khonje et al., 2015). However, maize is not only a food crop for humans. Demand of maize has increased as feed and fodder for livestock production, driven largely by the rapid economic growth in Asia and Latin America (Hellin et al., 2015). It also has significant industrial importance as a raw material for bioethanol production, also in developing countries, alongside other crops. Meeting this increasing food-feed-energy demand is one of the major challenges of maize production sectors across the developing world, which are constrained by natural resource depletion and degradation, input scarcity, climate change, and persisting poverty among the producers. Shortfalls in maize supplies and resulting increases in the food prices have grave consequences for developing countries as food will be less affordable for millions of poor consumers (Shiferaw et al., 2011). Although the maize area expansion is unprecedented in many parts of the global South, area expansion will not be a sustainable solution to meet the market demand. Increases in cultivated area often comes with an environmental cost of land degradation and biodiversity loss. There have been many compelling success stories with respect to productivity enhancement of maize, with the increased adoption of new seeds and associated technologies. This research-for-development (R4D) interventions could possibly have significant livelihood implications for both maize farmers and consumers. The CGIAR Research Program on Maize (CRP MAIZE or simply MAIZE) is part of a concerted effort of to implement a new, results-oriented strategy in maize agri-food systems, exploiting the potential of international agricultural R4D fully to enhance global food security and environmental sustainability. Two CGIAR centers – the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) – have lead this CRP since late 2011. The shared challenge of the Program is to “double productivity and significantly increase the incomes and livelihood opportunities from more productive, resilient and sustainable maize-based farming systems on essentially the same land area – while contending with climate change and increasing costs of fertilizer, water, and labor” (CRP MAIZE, 2016). Through MAIZE-driven R4D, targeted crop productivity growth of 20% by 2020 and 50% by 2050 in 60 major maize producing countries should contribute to food/feed access and stable prices for over 900 million poor maize consumers. Sustainable intensification of maize production and stabilization of the total maize area at about 120 million hectares in developing countries is the second objective of MAIZE. The other impact targets are to (a) reduce the frequency of production shortfalls and price volatility in areas and countries where the probability of crop failure in maize-based farming systems is high, (b) diversify maize based farming systems and enhance their productivity and sustainability, dealing specifically with the systems with the highest poverty concentrations, (c) ensure that higher rates of maize yield growth are sustained in the face of climate change, worsening water scarcity, and rising fertilizer prices, and (d) increase opportunities for diverse market participation. Research programs and projects built around these objectives are expected to target two groups of farmers that occupy approximately 64% of all maize area in the Global South and are home to 1.2 billion of the poor and 126 million malnourished children.
Publication - Characteristics of maize cultivars in Africa: How modern are they and how many do smallholder farmers grow?(Springer Verlag, 2017) Abate, T.; Fisher, M.; Abdoulaye, T.; Kassie, G.; Lunduka, Rodney; Marenya, P.P.; Asnake, W.Maize is the most important cereal and most widely cultivated staple that plays a key role in the food security of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Although some countries have achieved significant gains in maize productivity, the SSA average yields are far below what could be obtained with improved cultivars under good crop management. Low cultivar turnover is one among many contributing factors to low maize yields in SSA. At present, there is a critical knowledge gap on the identity, number, and age of maize cultivars currently grown by smallholder farmers on the continent. This study revealed that nearly 500 maize cultivars were grown in 13 African countries surveyed in the 2013/2014 main crop season. Sixty-nine percent of the cultivars each occupied <1% of the total maize area; only two cultivars occupied >40% and four occupied >30% area. Approximately 32% of all the cultivars were hybrids, 23% were improved open-pollinated varieties (OPVs), and 46% were locals. Eastern Africa (EA) and southern Africa (SA) accounted for about 43 and 38%, respectively, of all the cultivars reported, whereas West Africa’s (WA) share was 19%. The average area planted to modern cultivars in the surveyed areas was estimated at 57%—with EA, SA, and WA estimates of 82, 55, and 36%, respectively; however, increased adoption was not necessarily always related to improved productivity, as the latter depends on many additional factors. Each household planted an average of 1.781 cultivars (range 1–8). The overall weighted average age of the cultivars was 15 years, with hybrids and OPVs being 13 and 18 years, respectively. Conclusions: Maize variety turnover in SSA is slower than what is practiced in the USA and other world regions such as Latin America and Asia. The substantial variations among regions and countries in all parameters measured suggest a tailored approach to mitigation interventions. Findings of this current study pave the way for replacing the old cultivars with more recent releases that are tolerant or resistant to multiple stresses and are more resilient.
Publication - Maize variety options for Africa: Nigeria(CIMMYT, 2015) Abate, T.; Menkir, A.; Badu-Apraku, B.; Abdoulaye, T.; Abdullahi, I.; Ogunble, A.; Onyibe, J.E.; Ado, S.; Olaoye, G.
Publication - Maize variety options for Africa: Ghana(CIMMYT, 2015) Abate, T.; Badu-Apraku, B.; Menkir, A.; Abdoulaye, T.; Obeng-Antwi, K.Maize is top of all cereals and other staples in Ghana. The increased production has been a result of increased area expansion rather than increased yield gains.
Publication - Maize variety options for Africa: Benin(CIMMYT, 2015) Abate, T.; Badu-Apraku, B.; Abdoulaye, T.; Menkir, A.; Yallou, C.G.; Baco, M.N.
Publication - Identifying determinants, pressures and trade-offs of crop residue use in mixed smallholder farms in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia(Elsevier, 2015) Valbuena, D.; Homann-Kee Tui, S.; Erenstein, O.; Teufel, N.; Duncan, A.J.; Abdoulaye, T.; Swain, B.; Mekonnen, K.; Germaine, I.; Gerard, B.Crop residues (CR) have become a limited resource in mixed crop-livestock farms. As a result of the increasing demand and low availability of alternative resources, CR became an essential resource for household activities, especially for livestock keeping; a major livelihood element of smallholder farmers in the developing world. Farmers? decisions on CR use are determined by farmers? preferences, total crop production, availability of alternative resources and demand for CR. Interaction of these determinants can result in pressures and trade-offs of CR use. Determinants, pressures and trade-offs are shaped by the specific socio-economic and agro-ecological context of these mixed farms. The objective of this paper is to provide a comparative analysis of the determinants of CR use and to examine some options to cope with pressures and trade-offs in 12 study sites across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Drawing on socio-economic data at household and village level, we describe how cereal intensification and livestock feed demand influence use, pressures and trade-offs of CR use across study sites, specifically cereal residue. Our results show that in low cereal production and livestock feed demand sites, despite a low demand for CR and availability of alternative biomass, pressures and trade-offs of CR use are common particularly in the dry season. In sites with moderate cereal production, and low?moderate and moderate livestock feed demand, alternative biomass resources are scarce and most residues are fed to livestock or used to cover household needs. Subsequently, pressures and potential trade-offs are stronger. In sites with low cereal production and high livestock feed demand, pressures and trade-offs depend on the availability of better feed resources. Finally, sites with high cereal production and high livestock feed demand have been able to fulfil most of the demand for CR, limiting pressures and trade-offs. These patterns show that agricultural intensification, better management of communal resources and off-farm activities are plausible development pathways to overcome pressures and trade-offs of CR use. Although technologies can largely improve these trends, research and development should revisit past initiatives so as to develop innovative approaches to tackle the well-known problem of low agricultural production in many smallholder mixed systems, creating more sustainable futures.
Publication - DTMA highlights for 2012/13(CIMMYT, 2013) Abate, T.; Menkir, A.; MacRobert, J.; Kassie, G.; Abdoulaye, T.; Setimela, P.; Badu-Apraku, B.; Makumbi, D.; Magorokosho, C.; Tarekegne, A.T.Launched in 2007, the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project aims to mitigate drought and other constraints to maize production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It targets to increase yields by 20 to 30%, benefiting 30-40 million people in 13 countries of SSA – Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe (in southern Africa); Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda (eastern Africa); and Benin, Ghana, Mali and Nigeria (West Africa). Together, these countries account for nearly 75% of all area planted to maize in SSA. The project brings together men and women farmers, research institutions, extension specialists, seed producers, farmer community organizations, and non-government organizations. It is jointly implemented by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), in close collaboration with national agricultural research systems (NARS) in participating nations. Each sub-region conducts its own annual review and planning meetings according to its objective conditions. The overall annual review and planning meeting for the project is held towards the end of September each year. Highlights presented in this publication are the result of the annual review and planning meeting held on 22-26 September 2013. The reports are presented in two broad categories. The first part deals with the overview of work carried out between October 2012 and September 2013 and jointly prepared by CIMMYT/IITA scientists. Progress in variety development and socioeconomics work is presented separately for each sub-region whereas reports for seed production and delivery are presented in one report for eastern and southern Africa and another for West Africa. Cross-cutting topics, including the overall project highlights, maize lethal necrosis, gender, and communication are also presented in the first category of reports. The second category of reports are prepared by the NARS scientists and presented for each country. Each report here summarizes the major activities carried out across the three objectives – breeding, seed production and delivery, and socioeconomics – for the reporting period.
Publication - Characterization of maize producing households in the Dry Savanna of Nigeria(IITA, 2010) Bamire, A.S.; Abdoulaye, T.; Sanogo, D.; Langyintuo, A.S.Maize is an important food security crop in the dry savanna zones of Nigeria. However, recurring droughts pose a continuous challenge to its production. In an attempt to address the drought problem on maize, a formal household survey of resource-poor farmers, targeted at major maize producing areas that are routinely affected by drought risk, was conducted in the 2005–2006 production period. The major objective of the household survey was to collect baseline data on farm households to construct indicators to be used in measuring changes in the adoption of improved drought tolerant maize varieties and the impact on adopting households in the selected locations. The household survey was conducted in Rano district in Kano State and Malumfashi district in Katsina State, Nigeria. These areas are notable for maize production and represent the zone where the probability of drought risk is about 20–40%. Ten maize producing communities were selected in each of the districts, and between 15 and 22 households were randomly selected in each community. A total of 175 household heads were selected in each district for the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, principal component analysis for wealth ranking as a basic approach to categorizing rural households, and Tobit regression technique to determine the probability of adoption of improved maize and the extent of the use of the technology by adopting households. Household livelihoods were centered on the availability of land for food crop production, as well as on livestock production and marketing. Major crops grown included cereals, mainly local maize, Hybrid maize, sorghum, and groundnut were also grown, with local, improved, and hybrid maize varieties constituting the first crops. Maize production was male dominated, although with an ageing population as a result of the reduced entry of younger farmers into the farming business. This reduction was due to out-migration by the youths to urban centers for better job opportunities, while those remaining engaged in the transport business (motor cycle riding), which was believed to be lucrative. This has led to the scarcity and high costs of farm labor. Though farm sizes were generally small, men had larger maize farms in the current season than women. Focus group discussions and key informants attributed this to the sociocultural background of the people, who considered farming the exclusive preserve of men, with access to farm productive resources limited to them. Assets owned by households largely determined their wealth status and ability to take the risks associated with the adoption of innovations for their farm production activities. Assets which had a great impact on households included total farm size, total household size, the ownership of cultivable farm land, radios, the possession of motor cycles, television sets, mobile phones, draft animals, bicycles, wheelbarrows, and private wells, and the receipt of remittances, Households also owned local cows, bulls, heifers, calves, goats, pigs, sheep, and chickens. The numbers and types of livestock owned were important measures of household wealth. Based on the varying levels of different assets owned, the distribution of households within wealth categories showed that majority of the maize producers were poorly endowed, with about 62% categorized as worse-off. Access to credit facilities was limited, but a few benefited from programs from both governmental and non-governmental organizations such as Sasakawa Global 2000, Government Starter Pack Program and the Agricultural Development Projects. The package of benefits included seeds, fertilizer, food relief, and livestock breeding stock. Drought was the most important shock that affected maize farms and hence household livelihoods. It was one of the major reasons why households sought an alternative means of livelihood. Local landraces, improved and hybrid maize, sorghum, and rice were ranked in that order as important crops that suffered most from drought stress. Three key livelihood strategies were usually employed by households: increasing agricultural production, and reducing risks to income and to health. To reduce food security risks, households stored food grain for longer periods, grew crops with differing maturity periods, replaced cash crops with food crops, increased the use of inputs for a higher yield, and engaged in dry season farming. The period from June through August was noted for food shortages during the year. The most risky crops in terms of yield fluctuations were sorghum, hybrid maize, local landrace maize, cotton, improved open-pollinated varieties, groundnut, rice, onion, millet, pepper, cowpea, soybean, and beans, while cassava, sweetpotato, and teff were the least risky. The approach used in reducing agricultural production risks included crop diversification, early planting, intensifying labor and input use, accumulating production assets, using hybrid seeds, undertaking income generating off-farm activities, learning better practices of input use, and selling livestock. Risks associated with education were addressed by attending adult literacy classes and enrolling more children in formal and informal schools. Four main price risk coping strategies were adopted by households according to wealth groups. These were asset accumulation, participation in NGO and Government programs, forward contracting, and informal insurance. Households that were worse-off or just evolving in the well-off category predominantly adopted asset accumulation and participation in NGO and Government programs as price risk coping strategies. Forward contracting and informal insurance were the preferred price risk coping strategies of wealthier households. In forward contracting, the farmers made advance contracts with the buyer of their products and the sellers of their inputs. For informal insurance, they collected information about market prices to predict future price trends.These were considered ways of maintaining wealth classes between the well endowed and the poorly endowed in the area. Wealthier households, however, tended to divert from agriculture to other economic activities as a means of livelihood. About 68% of the sampled households were adopters of improved maize while 32% were non-adopters. Farm size, extension contact, distance to market, perception of yield potential, seed availability, and wealth index were the major factors that influenced the probability of adoption of improved maize varieties. Membership of associations was the only additional variable that significantly influenced the use of improved maize after adoption. The findings have economic implications for development programs aimed at promoting and targeting new technologies to specific wealth categories for the improved livelihood of the farming households.
Publication - Characterization of maize producing households in the Dry Savanna of Mali(IITA, 2010) Fofana, M.; Abdoulaye, T.; Coulibaly, N.; Sanogo, D.; Langyintuo, A.S.Maize is one of the three most important staple foods in Mali. Zones in the country with high potential for producing maize are limited to areas where the probability of drought risk is between 20 and 40%, meaning that recurring droughts have long handicapped maize production. In an attempt to alleviate drought stress on maize production, a household survey was conducted in the two Local Government Areas of Bougouni and Koutiala, both in the Sikasso Region, during the 2007/2008 production period. These two districts were selected following an environmental characterization of drought zones in Mali. The survey was mainly oriented towards maize based farming systems. Six sample villages were selected within each of the two districts. The sample population was defined as maize farming households. A total of 150 households were randomly selected and interviewed with structured questionnaires. Interviews were conducted by trained enumerators using a formal household survey. The purpose of the study is to provide both quantitative and qualitative feedback from farmers to researchers and to the B&MGF on the impact that improved maize varieties developed in the past have had upon the livelihoods of households and to provide a detailed database for the projection of expected outcomes with the deployment of new drought tolerant maize varieties under the B&MGF drought tolerant maize project. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were used to extract from our set of variables those orthogonal linear combinations of the variables that best captured the common information. Most successful was the one proposed by Filmer and Pritchett (1998; 2001) called the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). To assess the variables affecting the adoption of improved maize varieties, the Tobit model was used. The results show that 99% of household heads are male. The size of a household is 22 persons, on average. About 47% of the household’s members are available for farm work. About 59% of household heads are illiterate, an important factor concerning the adoption of new technology. These household heads make decisions about 84% of farming activities; 86% of the households involved in the study belonged to at least one farmers’ organization in order to have easy access to inputs. This high rate is largely due to a cotton development service that has been working with farmers in this zone since colonial times. The service provides credit and inputs to village associations, but access to inputs is not allowed to individual households. In the survey area, in addition to dwellings, households generally have access to different assets such as bicycles, motorcycles, radios, tractors, wheelbarrows, animal-drawn plows, harrows, and scotch carts, private wells, tractor-drawn plows, and harrows, motor vehicles, solar energy, water pumps, diesel pumps, water tanks, cultivators, mobile phones, fixed phones, and television sets. Access to some of these assets, (motor vehicles, tractors, diesel pumps, water tanks, solar energy and generators) is limited to well endowed households. For the entire study area, the distribution of the wealth index ranking of households based on their productive capital assets indicates that 56.4% of households are poorly endowed. This tendency is corroborated by the study Observatoire du développement humain durable au Mali 2007/2008. Land ownership is positively related to the wealth status of the households, with the well endowed group possessing a larger share of land, both in total area and by land use type. Because of increased input prices (fertilizer, seeds, and insecticide), the collapse of the cotton market, drought and declining soil fertility, farmers are having difficulty coping and farm acreage is becoming smaller over time. The average household acreage is currently about 18.71 ha, divided into abandoned, pasture, fallow, and cultivated lands. The determinants of cultivated farm size range in decreasing order as follows: family food needs, family labor availability, expected cereal prices, cash availability to purchase inputs, availability of farm equipment, cash availability to hire labor, current cereal prices and seed availability, pulling out of cotton production, drought and declining soil fertility. Livestock production is incorporated into livestock ownership. Like crop production, this activity also needs some land. The distribution of mean livestock ownership by wealth group indicates that the well endowed households possess, on average, herds of 29 cattle, 10 goats, 11 sheep, 3 draft animals, and 6 pigs. The less endowed households have an average of 13 cattle, 4 goats, 5 sheep, 2 draft animals, and 2 pigs. Among resource-poor households, access to credit is important at an appropriate time for farm activities and to cope with food shortages and other problems such as health care, wedding payments, and taxes. The results indicate that there is good access to credit in the study area, with 81.2% of households having access. More than half of the households (58.1%) have access to financial institutions for production credit and 66.7% have access for consumption credit. Other sources of financial assistance are relatives, NGOs, neighbors, moneylenders, and Government programs. Support in favor of consumption credit is obtained from neighbors and relatives in essentially the same proportion (37.5%). Access to field demonstrations is quite low in general in the study area. This indicates a need for an increase in field demonstrations. Field demonstrations are organized in descending order by the cotton development service (33%), seed companies (23%), extension services (13%), research institutions (12%), other development services (10%), and NGOs (9%). In general in rural areas, the basic source of livelihood is producing crops, rearing livestock, and marketing the agricultural produce derived from these activities. Producing crops and raising livestock depend on an underlying condition of access to land, either by possessing it or getting it from others. Access to land is fundamental to crop and livestock production. According to the land area distribution among crops, the major crops grown are maize (26%), sorghum (23%), millet (20%), cotton (13%), groundnut (8%), rice (5%), and cowpea (3%). Some other minor crops such as potato, sesame, yam, and cassava are also cultivated by a few people. Most of these crops are produced either for family consumption or for sale or both. The farm family’s land area distribution among crops is based on the family’s needs or objectives. Non-seed inputs used by household in the selected districts include NPK, urea, organic manure, herbicides, and insecticides. The different sources of crop inputs are Compagnie Malienne pour le Développement des Textiles (CMDT), traders, Association Villageoise (AV), Sasakawa Global 2000, cooperatives, and other producers. Dembanyuman is the most common improved maize cultivar planted by households in the study districts, (50% of the cultivated area), followed by Sotubaka (41.5%). Crop seeds come from different sources but are most commonly collected from farm production (48%). Other sources are other producers (22%), National Seed Service (20%), cooperatives (18%), market (15%), and CMDT (13%). The adoption of improved maize cultivars is computed as the proportion of land allocated to improved maize varieties. At 5% level of significance, the Tobit regression model results show that the major factors influencing the adoption of improved maize varieties are the availability of family labor and household location. According to the results, factors such as the age of the household head, (Hhage), farm size (Fsize in ha), membership of farmers’ associations/cooperatives (Fasst), and access to public or private extension services (Ext) have little or no influence on the adoption of an improved maize variety in the study area. Crop disposal results indicate that the greatest proportion goes to family consumption, followed by sales. Households draw their income from farming (crop and livestock production and marketing) and off-farm activities. These range from grain, seeds, and fruit sales, animal and fish sales, and petty trading, to salaries, self-employment, and other sources of income. The expenditure patterns of households range from spending on basic food to tobacco, cola nuts, school fees, health care, clothing, and fuelwood, to social contributions, sending money to others, etc. Farmers in the region commonly express the opinion that “life is not easy” and “life is a battle.” The shocks experienced in the study areas include drought, flood, large increases in input prices, death or loss of livestock, illness or handicap of the household head or spouse, drastic decreases in crop prices, death of the household head or spouse, plant pests and diseases, livestock diseases, dangerous weeds, etc. While facing shocks, households in the study area also engineer positive livelihood outcomes, such as increasing agricultural production, improving the health status of household members, increasing food security, reducing agricultural production risks, increasing access to land, improving revenue and reducing income risk, reducing trade risk, improving the formal education level of household members, and improving employment opportunities. These are strategies tending to alleviate the effect of shocks. Local maize, open pollinated (OPV) maize, and hybrid maize are seen as the most risky crops in terms of yield fluctuation. When yield is below normal, the coping mechanism suggested for all crops is to increase the land area or keep it unchanged. The only situation where farmers do not increase the land area is when fertilizer is unavailable or expensive. In this situation, farmers tend to reduce the land area or keep it unchanged for all crops. Land area reduction is the coping mechanism least often employed to handle risk. The two most cited coping adjustments in the crop portfolio to mitigate selected production risks are diversification in general and cultivated variety diversification for all crops. For the majority of households in the area, price does not seem to be the determining factor in the quantity of crops to be sold. Fewer than 50% of households in all cases cited this factor. The same behavior was observed in acquiring more credit if the selling price of OPV maize, hybrid maize, cotton, sorghum, or millet was attractive. In the case of attractive selling prices, households in both LGAs attempted to increase their input use or keep it unchanged. Very few seek to decrease their input use. If product prices decrease, the great majority of households are more likely to sell more assets. If local product prices increase, almost all said they would buy more assets.
Publication - Characterization of maize producing households in the Northern Region of Ghana(IITA, 2010) Wiredu, A.N.; Gyasi, K.O.; Abdoulaye, T.; Sanogo, D.; Langyintuo, A.S.The characterization of households for the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) project in the Northern Region of Ghana was implemented to provide a profile of maize producing households in the project area, and assess the rate of adoption of existing maize varieties and their impact on the welfare of maize producing farm households. Maize is indeed an important food and cash crop, therefore, improving the production and productivity of the crop will enhance food self-sufficiency among the households. About two thirds of the of the sampled households are less endowed, as indicated by the wealth indices computed using principal component analysis (PCA) which gives an indication of the incidence of poverty. The few well endowed farm households have access to large areas of land resources. Despite the numerous constraints associated with maize production in the study area, the estimated rate of adoption of existing improved maize varieties is about 95%. However, low level of farmer participation in field demonstrations is a source of concern for the newly improved DT maize varieties that are yet to be released. High rates of adoption of the DT maize varieties are assured if proper targeting is undertaken. For this project to be successful there is a need to foster strong linkages between the DTMA working group in the country and the associated development agencies to identify synergies to ensure the effective dissemination of the DT maize varieties through intensive field demonstrations. Farmers from Tolon-Kumbungu, by virtue of their proximity to research and development agencies, are more likely to adopt newly improved maize varieties. From the Probit adoption regression model, the area allocated to improved maize, the cost of fertilizer, and household income all have significant effects on the adoption of improved maize varieties. The results also suggest that farmers with high incomes tend to invest in off-farm activities. Moreover, the high cost of fertilizer is a disincentive for the adoption of improved maize varieties. The technology development process must therefore consider the cost implications in terms of the fertilizer and labor requirements to enable the farmers with a lower income to adopt the technologies. Finally, since the technology development process and dissemination occur simultaneously, it is also necessary to progressively track the rate of diffusion and the potential impact.
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