Adoption of Hybrid maize in Zambia: effects on gender roles, food consumption, and nutrition

Shubh K. Kumar

No 37917, Research Reports from CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Abstract: Enhanced agriculture productivity in sub-Saharan Africa is critical to promote economic growth and poverty alleviation and to avoid increasing food scarcities in the region. The impact of commercialization and intensification of agriculture on the well- being of the rural poor depends on how they are carried out. Past research by IFPRI and collaborating institutions on commercialization of small- scale farming in about a dozen countries provided new knowledge about the relationships between commercialization and rural well- being as measured by incomes, consumption, and nutrition. These links were shown to depend greatly on household behavior, which in turn is influenced by intrahousehold processes. A better understanding of these processes is likely to identify policy measure that will be effective in achieving both productivity and household welfare goals. This report contributes to improve understanding by examine household and intrahousehold processes influencing the welfare effects of the adoption of hybrid maize among farmers in a region of Zambia. The report identifies a number of key policy options likely to be central to achieving higher agricultural productivity and improve rural welfare simultaneously. While extending previous research on agricultural commercialization and technological change in several countries, the research reported here is a part of a larger collaborative research project undertaken with the University of Zambia, Rural Development Studies Bureau, and the Zamian National Food and Nutrition Commission. Several other IFPRI reports are available from this project, including an occasional paper, Adopting improved farm technology: A study of Smallholder Farms in Eastern Province, Zambia, buy Dayanatha Jha and Behjat Hoijai. Past research on commercialization of small- case agriculture is synthesized in a book published for IFPRI by the johns Hopkins University Press, Agricultural Commercializaton, Economic Development, and Nutrition, edited by Joachin von Braum and Eilleen Kennedy.

Keywords: Crop Production/Industries; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 138
Date: 1994
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/37917/files/rr100.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
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:ags:iffp21:37917

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.37917

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Research Reports from CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().