Insect Resistant Maize for Africa Project (IRMA) aims at developing and deploying insect resistant maize varieties to reduce grain losses due to insect pests. As part of incorporating farmer’s perceptions and improving the adoption of the developed varieties, participatory approaches are...

Biofortified crops, bred for improved nutritional quality, can alleviate nutritional deficiencies if they are produced and consumed in sufficient quantities. These varieties can be promoted based on their agronomic performance or based on their nutritional qualities. Quality protein maize (QPM)...

Upcoming technologies for maize storage have sometimes been promoted without being subjected to trials and economic analysis. In the recent past, new storage technologies, actellic super, super grain bag and the metal silo have been developed. In this paper, the results of crop loss trials are...

Deficiencies of micronutrients such as vitamin A are widespread, expecially in Africa. Biofortified crops such as maize, bred for high levels of provitamin A might offer a solution, but these crops are often bright orange, and African maize consumers prefer white. To estimate the consumers...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sensory characteristics and consumer acceptability of quality protein maize (QPM) in rural Tanzania. Due to the malnutrition problem facing consumers in developing countries, QPM which has almost double the amount of tryptophan and lysine, has been...

Maize is the staple food crop and source of income for majority of the Kenyan population and many sub-Saharan African countries. The increasing Kenyan population demands an increase in maize production if intermittent food deficits have to be averted. Since the introduction of improved maize...

Market liberalization created a situation where there are no guaranteed grain prices, no central information source and the need for marketing information increased. Unfortunately, most farmers have little or no access to marketing information. This study evaluates farmers’ perceptions of...

Since the beginning of 1970’s, more than 40 improved maize varieties have been released and disseminated to maize potential areas in Ethiopia. Using cross-sectional survey data collected in 2011 from 39 districts in five Regional States, this paper examines smallholder farmers’ knowledge,...

Zambia’s maize seed industry is one of the strongest in the region, and smallholder farmers grow numerous varieties, with no single variety dominating more than a small share of maize area. Yet, the foremost consumer (purchaser) of maize seed over the past decade has been the Government of...

This paper assesses the feasibility of the maize storage structures used in Kenya. Maize is the most important staple crop, but produced seasonally, and consumed continuously at farm level, hence the need for on-farm storage. However, heavy post harvest losses occur mainly during harvesting and...