Adoption of Improved Maize Seed Varieties in Southern Zambia

Maize is the principal agricultural crop produced by Zambian smallholder farmers for household consumption and sale. Their production strategy is therefore important in meeting food security and income needs. This study uses data collected from a survey of a random sample of farm households in southern Zambia to develop a Tobit regression model. The model identifies farm and farmer characteristics important for adoption of improved maize seed varieties as well as to determine the role of farmer perceptions of technology attributes in maize varietal adoption. The results indicate that expectations about output price and yield are important determinants of adoption. Other factors directly correlated with the probability of adoption include the status of being male-headed, farm size and membership to farmer organizations. Households with more wealth and educated heads were also significantly more likely to adopt improved varieties. Some of the policy implications of these findings are that intervention strategies should be designed and implemented to encourage poor households and those with low levels of formal education to participate in local farmer organizations. The positive interaction between membership to organizations and the adoption of technologies also suggests that group based extension approaches should be encouraged not only for their role in collective action but also for their positive impact on information diffusion and technology adoption.