Assessment of marketing and utilization of improved maize seed in southern Africa: The case of Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe

 M.A.R. Phiri

Agriculture remains the most important sector for economic growth and development for the majority of the SADC countries. Despite the dependence on agriculture, agricultural production in the recent past decade has failed to keep pace with rapid population growth.  While population growth rate for most of Sub-Saharan has been on average as high as 2.9 percent per year since 1980, the growth of agricultural production has only been 1.7 percent per year. Without increased agricultural production, food security, poverty reduction, and natural resource conservation goals cannot be achieved.  Food security in the region is defined in relation to the availability of maize, the main staple in these countries. Persistent drought, declining soil fertility resulting from continuous cultivation of the same piece of land, and limited access to agricultural inputs such as improved seed and inorganic fertilizer have been considered to be the major factors destabilizing maize production, income and food security in the SADC region.   Of all the inputs used in agriculture, none has the ability to affect productivity as much as seed (Morris, 1998). Through its genetic properties, seed places the upper limit on yield potential and influences the productivity of other inputs by determining the ability of plants to convert sunlight, water, air, soil and other nutrients into biomass.   Six studies were concurrently carried out in Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In Malawi and Zambia two studies were carried out in each of the two countries. The main objective of these studies was to assess smallholder farmers’ utilization of improved seed in the SADC region. This study was aimed at determining product range and customer perception of the products. This looked at characterization and quantification of the market in terms of the various segments of buyers. This study basically aimed at understanding the socio-economic characteristics, seed buying behaviour and perception of the buyers of hybrid maize seed, open pollinated varieties (OPV) and those who do not buy any improved seed at all and at factors that determine the adoption, purchasing frequency and purchased amount (demand) of/for improved maize seed.  With the exception of Zimbabwe, the studies revealed that local maize varieties were predominantly still grown by the majority of smallholder farmers, where they occupy about 60 percent of the land put to maize. Hybrids are second representing 30 percent while OPV, occupy about 10 percent of the land. Much as farmers know that there is a yield advantage by growing hybrids, continued importance of such factors as poundability, taste, resistance to storage pests and the perceived high demand for fertilizer of hybrids push the majority of smallholder farmers to continue growing local maize varieties. As for the hybrids, it was found out that farmers were sticking to the varieties they knew best mainly those that had been on the market for a longer time and those that beside the yield advantage were also similar to local varieties, such as MH 18 in Malawi.  It is recommended therefore, that maize-breeding programs should as much as possible incorporate farmers’ preferences that influence the choice of the type of maize to grow.