Off-farm work accounts for a substantial and growing share of household income among smallholder farmers in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, but evidence on the effects of these earnings on farm investments remains sparse. We use panel data from a sample of smallholder farmers in Kenya to estimate...

High poverty rate persists in rural Kenya, where farming households continue to depend on agriculture for food and income, despite economic growth. Maize is the most widely grown crop, with the maize-growing smallholder population quite heterogeneous and diversified.However, less than half the...

We test the hypotheses that subsidies on hybrid seed change maize production, total household income, the severity of poverty, and relative deprivation among smallholder maize growers in Zambia. The analysis contributes to the literature by measuring the quantitative effects of seed (as compared...

When farmers consume much of their grain output, end-use quality, in addition to standard production characteristics, affects farmers' seed choice and the economic returns to investment in crop breeding. Evidence from Malawi suggests that despite a lengthy research lag, emphasizing grain quality...

Use of soil amendments, including organic materials and mineral fertilizers, is highly recommended for the replenishment of soil nutrients, improved soil health and more efficient use of fertilizers in sub-Saharan Africa. Along with other constraints, underdeveloped markets are often cited as a...

Sorghum is one of the world’s most important cereals in terms of total production. Grown largely as livestock feed in the US, sorghum is a primary food staple and source of cash for smallholder farming families in the West African savannah. The dominant type of sorghum produced in this region...

Land degradation cripples smallholder crop production in Sub-Saharan Africa, including those found in the densely populated, grain basket areas of Kenya. Research in the early nineties already documented and rated nutrient depletion to be very high in the east African Highlands. Whereas some of...

The development and diffusion of hybrid maize seed in Kenya is a widely documented success story. Yet, to our knowledge, a missing link in existing research on maize hybrids in Kenya has been a rigorous analysis of the impacts of seed adoption on farmer welfare. The objective of this study is to...