Impact of adoption of drought-tolerant maize varieties on total maize production in south Eastern Zimbabwe

Abstract

Drought is a huge limiting factor in maize production, mainly in the rain-fed agriculture of sub-Saharan Africa. In response to this threat, drought-tolerant (DT) maize varieties have been developed with an aim to ensure maize production under mild drought conditions. We conducted a study to assess the impact of smallholder farmers’ adoption of DT maize varieties on total maize production. Data for the study came from a survey of 200 randomly sampled households in two districts of Chiredzi and Chipinge in southeastern Zimbabwe. The study found that 93% of the households were growing improved maize varieties and that 30% of the sampled households were growing DT maize varieties. Total maize yield was 436.5 kg/ha for a household that did not grow DT maize varieties and 680.5 kg/ha for households that grew DT maize varieties. We control for the endogeneity of the DT adoption variable, by using the control function approach to estimate total maize production in a Cobb–Douglas model. The results show that households that grew DT maize varieties had 617 kg/ha more maize than households that did not grow the DT maize varieties. Given that almost all farmers buy their seeds in the market, a change in varieties to DT maize seeds gives an extra income of US$240/ha or more than nine months of food at no additional cost. This has huge implications in curbing food insecurity and simultaneously saving huge amounts of resources at the household and national levels, which are used to buy extra food during the lean season.

Developing and deploying climate-resilient maize varieties in the developing world

“…Small increases in yield in regions with a high frequency of drought can translate into a considerable increase in food security. For example, in two regions of Zimbabwe households that grew climate-resilient maize had more than nine months of food at no additional cost [ 17 ].…”

African food insecurity in a changing climate: The roles of science and policy

“…The adoption of stress-tolerant crop varieties can lead to an increase in yields. For instance, in Zimbabwe climateresilient maize translated into an income of US$240 per hectare equivalent to 9 months of extra food (Lunduka, Mateva, Magorokosho, & Manjery, 2017). By adopting stress-tolerant maize across 13 countries in Africa over a 7-year period, both yield gains and an increase in yield stability could potentially generate income of US$ 362 million -US$ 590 million (Kostandini, Abdoulaye, & La Rovere, 2013).…”

Drought Risk to Agricultural Systems in Zimbabwe: A Spatial Analysis of Hazard, Exposure, and Vulnerability

“…Maize is the most commonly grown staple food in Zimbabwe, cultivated by smallholder farmers for subsistence farming, but is highly sensitive to dry conditions and erratic rainfall [23,[35][36][37]. Rural households face enormous challenges due to drought impacts that, in combination with crop diseases and pest attacks, lead to yield losses and highly uncertain incomes, representing the biggest poverty trap in Zimbabwe [38][39][40]. By threatening agricultural livelihoods, droughts are also hampering the achievement of the sustainable development goals in Zimbabwe, notably SDG1 (no poverty), SDG2 (zero hunger), and SDG3 (good health and well-being).…”