Filling a niche? The maize productivity impacts of adaptive breeding by a local seed company in Kenya

Samuel Bird (), Michael R. Carter, Travis Lybbert, Mary Mathenge, Timothy Njagi and Emilia Tjernström

Journal of Development Economics, 2022, vol. 157, issue C

Abstract: This paper studies whether the absence of locally adapted seed varieties constrains the productivity and incomes of farm households residing in small, agro-ecological niches. We empirically examine the disruption of the maize seed market in Western Kenya that took place when public sector foundation breeding and social impact investment capital came together and allowed a local seed company to expand and target a niche area with adaptively-bred maize varieties. The three-year randomized controlled trial reveals that these seed varieties increased farmer yields and revenues, both for better-resourced farmers (who used non-adapted hybrids and fertilizer prior to the intervention) as well as less well-resourced farmers (who did not). This theoretical and empirical evidence suggests news ways for thinking about seed systems in areas typified by high levels of agro-ecological heterogeneity.

Keywords: Technology adoption; Innovation; Randomized controlled trial; Kenya; Maize; Seed systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387822000517
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
Working Paper: Filling a Niche? The Maize Productivity Impacts of Adaptive Breeding by a Local Seed Company in Kenya (2020)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:157:y:2022:i:c:s0304387822000517

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2022.102885

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Development Economics is currently edited by M. R. Rosenzweig

More articles in Journal of Development Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().