Smale, MelindaByerlee, DerekJayne, Thom2012-03-192012-03-192011-05-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3421There have been numerous episodes of widespread adoption of improved seed and long-term achievements in the development of the maize seed industry in Sub-Saharan Africa. This summary takes a circumspect view of technical change in maize production. Adoption of improved seed has continued to rise gradually, now representing an estimated 44 percent of maize area in Eastern and Southern Africa (outside South Africa), and 60 percent of maize area in West and Central Africa. Use of fertilizer and restorative crop management practices remains relatively low and inefficient. An array of extension models has been tested and a combination of approaches will be needed to reach maize producers in heterogeneous agricultural environments. Yield growth overall has been 1 percent over the past half-century, although this figure masks the high variability in maize yields, as well as improvements in resistance to disease and abiotic pressures that would have caused yield decline in the absence of maize breeding progress. The authors argue that conducive policies are equally, if not more, important for maize productivity in the region than the development of new technology and techniques. Currently popular, voucher-based subsidies can "crowd out" the private sector and could be fiscally unsustainable.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO CREDITAGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICSAGRICULTURAL ECONOMYAGRICULTURAL EXTENSIONAGRICULTURAL GROWTHAGRICULTURAL INPUTAGRICULTURAL INPUTSAGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATIONAGRICULTURAL POLICYAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITYAGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICESAGRICULTURAL SCIENCEAGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITYAGRICULTUREAGRICULTURE ORGANIZATIONAGROFORESTRYANIMAL FEEDANIMAL TRACTIONANIMALSAVERAGE YIELDSBIODIVERSITYBREADBREEDING RESEARCHBUDGETSCAPACITY BUILDINGCASSAVACEREAL PRODUCTIONCEREALSCERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTSCERTIFIED SEEDCIMMYTCOMMERCIAL FARMERSCOMMERCIAL SEEDCONSERVATION FARMINGCONSERVATION TILLAGECONSUMER WELFARECORNCORN BELTCOTTONCROPCROP MANAGEMENTCROP MANAGEMENT PRACTICESCROP PRODUCTIONCROP RESIDUESCROP WASTECROP YIELDSCROPSCROSS-POLLINATIONCULTIVATIONDEGRADATIONDEVELOPMENT RESEARCHEXTENSION AGENTSFAOFARMFARM HOUSEHOLDSFARM REVENUESFARM WORKFARMERFARMER ORGANIZATIONSFARMERSFARMINGFARMING SYSTEMSFARMING SYSTEMS RESEARCHFARMLANDFARMSFERTILIZERFERTILIZER MARKETSFERTILIZER SUBSIDIESFERTILIZER SUBSIDYFERTILIZER SUPPLYFERTILIZER USEFERTILIZERSFIELD CROPSFOODFOOD CONSUMPTIONFOOD CROPFOOD GRAINFOOD INSECURITYFOOD MARKETINGFOOD POLICYFOOD POLICY RESEARCHFOOD PRICESFOOD PRODUCTIONFOOD PRODUCTSFOOD REQUIREMENTSFOOD SECURITYFOOD STAPLESFOOD SUPPLIESGENETIC IMPROVEMENTSGERMPLASMGERMPLASM IMPROVEMENTGRAINGRAIN MARKETSGRAIN RESERVESGRAIN TRADEGRAIN YIELDSGREEN REVOLUTIONGROWING SEASONHARVESTHARVESTSHERBICIDESHIGH YIELDSHIGHER PROTEINHOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITYHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHUNGRYHUNGRY SEASONHYBRID MAIZEHYBRID SEEDHYBRID VIGORHYBRIDSIDENTITYIFPRIIITAIMPROVED SEEDINDICATORSINFRASTRUCTUREINTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENTINTERCROPPINGINTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCHINTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH CENTERSINTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTEINTERNATIONAL MAIZE AND WHEAT IMPROVEMENT CENTERINTERNATIONAL RICE RESEARCH INSTITUTEINVESTMENTKARILAND PREPARATIONLAND PRODUCTIVITYLAND USELANDSLARGE FARMLEGUMESLIVESTOCKLIVESTOCK PRODUCTSLOGISTICSMAIZEMAIZE EXPORTSMAIZE GRAINMAIZE HYBRIDSMAIZE IMPORTSMAIZE MARKETINGMAIZE PLANTSMAIZE PRODUCERSMAIZE PRODUCTIONMAIZE PRODUCTIVITYMAIZE RESEARCHMAIZE REVOLUTIONMAIZE SEEDMAIZE SUPPLYMAIZE SURPLUSMAIZE TECHNOLOGYMAIZE VARIETIESMAIZE YIELDSMALE FARMERSMANUREMARKET DEVELOPMENTMARKET EFFICIENCYMARKETSMEXICOMONOCULTURENATIONAL FOOD SECURITYNATIONAL RESEARCHNONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONSORGANIC MANUREORGANIC MATTERPEST MANAGEMENTPESTICIDEPESTICIDE USEPLANT BREEDINGPLANTINGPOOR FARMERSPOOR SOIL FERTILITYPOORER FARMERSPOPULATIONPOPULATIONSPOST HARVEST LOSSESPOTATOESPRICE VOLATILITYPRIVATE SEED COMPANIESPRIVATE SEED SECTORPRODUCEPRODUCE FOODPRODUCTION GAINSPRODUCTION SYSTEMSPRODUCTIVITY GROWTHRAINFED AREASRECYCLINGREGIONAL MARKETSRESEARCH IMPACTRESEARCH ORGANIZATIONSRESISTANCE TO DISEASERICERICE RESEARCHRICE YIELDSRURAL DEVELOPMENTSASAKAWA GLOBAL 2000SEASONSSEEDSEED CERTIFICATIONSEED COMPANIESSEED COMPANYSEED ENTERPRISESEED INDUSTRYSEED LAWSSEED PRODUCTIONSEED SECTORSEED SYSTEMSEEDSSMALL-SCALE FARMERSSMALLHOLDER MAIZE PRODUCTIONSOIL FERTILITYSOIL MANAGEMENTSOIL QUALITYSOILSSOUTH AFRICASPACINGSTAPLE FOODSSTRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENTT&V SYSTEMTARIFFSTECHNOLOGYTECHNOLOGY ADOPTIONTHAILANDTILLAGETRAININGUNITED NATIONSURBAN CONSUMERSURBANIZATIONUSAIDVARIETY IMPROVEMENTVARIETY RELEASEWEEDINGWHEATWHITE MAIZEWOMEN FARMERSYELLOW MAIZEYIELD RESPONSEWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-5659