Maize seed systems analysis
These four reports by KIT are analysis of four maize seed systems in Malawi (PDF), Zambia (PDF), Bihar in India (PDF) and Chiapas in Mexico (PDF). The four documents describe the adoption and impact of improved maize germplasm at small scale farmer level in these four areas. The objective is to understand whether smallholder farmers have access to seed of improved maize varieties, and if so, how the seed sector supports this. The analysis show that the maize seed sectors in the four areas are quite advanced, although need better quality controls. At all 4 places hybrid varieties are now widely grown by small farmers, although in Chiapas, Malawi and Zambia local varieties remain popular for local food preparation. The studies were carried out with support from the CGIAR Research Program (CRP) MAIZE.