The braconid larval parasitoid Cotesia flavipes Cameron was introduced from Asia into East and Southern African region starting in 1993 to control the invasive exotic maize stemborer Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). A quasi-experiment was constructed using farmers that applied...

Women are central to food production and maize is a dominant food staple in Sub-Saharan Africa, but published gender analyses of hybrid seed use in Sub-Saharan Africa are uncommon. Building on previous work, this paper tests the effects of headship definitions on hybrid seed use and explores the...

In many African countries, as well as in other parts of the world where a significant part of the rural population is poor and food insecure, policymakers face what is called the food price dilemma. On the one hand, they need to provide farmers with incentives to increase the quantity of...

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Directorate of Economics, Republic of Mozambique

Maize meal is a staple food in South Africa, particularly among the poor. The South African government by the mid-1980s enacted a series of legislations aimed at reducing the role of government within the market and placing increasing reliance on market forces and the private sector. Ex post...

In most developing countries, historically, the main strategy for improving the food sector has focused on increasing farm-level production. But in recent years, with the emphasis on value chain analysis, there has been much more focus on subsector studies, demand-driven approaches, and...

The present work provides evidence that non linear co-integration between Mexico and the US maize prices exists, at country and regional level. The models suggest that Mexican prices adjust at changes in US prices. Despite asymmetry was statistically rejected, it is likely that it might occur...

In 2011, Zambia recorded its second consecutive record-breaking maize harvest, and aggregate maize production levels in 2011 were more than double the average level from 2006 to 2008. The expansion in maize production over the period corresponds with the scaling up of the Government of the...

The past two years are a tribute to Zambian farmers; they have responded admirably to government efforts to promote maize production. But ironically, rural poverty remains stubbornly high despite the fact that the government has spent over 2% of the nation’s gross domestic product in...

1. According to nationally representative Crop Forecast Survey data, over the past 10 years farmers have harvested between 55 and 90 percent of the area that they planted to maize. 2. In the 2009/10 and 2010/11 crop years, over 80 percent of the maize area planted by small- and medium-scale...