The response of maize production in Kenya to economic incentives (original) (raw)
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Aggregate supply response to price incentives: the case of smallholder maize production in Kenya
Afr. Crop Sci. Conf. Proc. 8, 2007
Abstract: Increased aggregate supply response has been one of the food policy objectives of the government of Kenya. Increased supply response enhances food security and household incomes. The government expected households individually and on the aggregate to respond to producer and input price incentives the government provided and liberalized markets provide in the pre-and post-liberalisation eras, respectively. But has this objective been achieved? To answer this question, we estimated aggregate supply ...
Poverty Impact of Rising Maize Prices in Kenya
2010
The recent hike in food prices has been of great concern to policymakers, international organisations and donor agencies. In this paper we discuss, both from a partial and general equilibrium perspective, the impact of the recent price increase on maize on Kenyan households. Simulating a 100% increase in maize prices, we find that the headcount ratio in urban areas increased by 3-4 percentage unit points, depending on the size of windfall gain to producers. Based on the assumption that the price shock is passed through in total to the farmers, food poverty in the rural areas could be reduced by almost 14%. If incomes are not passed through, rural food poverty would increase quite significantly in some provinces. It is the poorest of the poor in both urban and rural areas who are most adversely affected. Policy reforms, which would reduce marketing margins and fertiliser prices, would be important factors in promoting a positive impact on performance in the maize sector. The regional maize trade within East Africa seems to have a role to play, and exploring the impact of total integration of the maize markets could be a topic of further research.
INVESTIGATION INTO POSSIBLE DETERMINANTS OF HOUSEHOLD MAIZE DEMAND IN KENYA
This study covers the period from 1967 to 2008 on the amount of maize demanded in Kenya and respective prices of maize and wheat as a related commodity. Makori Masese Obed (Independent Researcher) This paper is mainly based on the factors that determine the maize demand in Kenya. The factors considered were price of maize, price of related commodity, wheat and the rest of the factors were captured by the stochastic term. Secondary data was used. It was obtained from publications by the government, ministries, NGOs and other institutions of higher learning. It covers from 1967 to 2008. The data was used to run a regression to show how quantity demanded of maize responds to changes in its own price, that of wheat and/other factors. The study realized that quantity demanded of maize has a positive relationship to changes in its price and that of wheat. It was realized that Kenyans consume maize so much that price does not very much restrain their demand. In this case maize was found to behave as a giffen good; a good whose demand increases with increase in price, when price increases by a unit, quantity demanded increases by 4.24 units. This however small margin shows that Kenyans have to consume maize however high the price may be. A unit increase in price of wheat also increases the maize demanded by 9.3 units. This indicates that wheat is a substitute to maize. When price of wheat goes up, people resort to maize. This indicates the inverse relationship in demand. These two variables could explain 80.75% of the changes in quantity demanded of maize in Kenya. The study goes head to conclude from the findings and gives recommendations on what the government needs to do to meet demand for maize in the country, being a staple food and generally food security. BACKGROUND Maize is a stable food for almost all tribes in Kenya. It is also by far, the main agricultural crop in Kenya, both in terms of cultivated area and volume of production. Maize cultivation accounts for approximately 45 percent of the national crop hectarage and for about one third of the physical output of cropped land. As the leading food grain, it represents about 75% of the aggregate cereals and pulses in the country (FAO and UNDP, 1978). About 90% of the rural population is engaged in production of this grain and for most of the population, maize meal and the grain itself are an essential component of the average diet.
SUPPLY RESPONSIVENESS OF MAIZE FARMERS IN KENYA: A FARM-LEVEL ANALYSIS
2009
sensitive fertilizer and labour demand are to prices and non-price factors using crosssectional farm-level data for 334 maize producing households in the High Potential Maize Zone of Kenya. The study employed normalized restricted translog profit function to estimate maize supply and variable input demand elasticities. Results show that maize price support is an inadequate policy for expanding maize supply. Fertilizer use was found to be particularly important in the decisions on resource allocation in maize production. Of the fixed inputs, land area was found to be the most important factor contributing to the supply of maize. It is suggested that making fertilizer prices affordable to small holder farmers by making public investment in rural infrastructure and efficient port facilities, and promoting standards of commerce that provide the incentives for commercial agents to invest in fertilizer importation, wholesaling and retailing would be desirable. Encouraging more intensive use of other productivity enhancing inputs in addition to fertilizer is also suggested, since land consolidation to achieve economies of scale may seem untenable in the light of the existing extensive sub-division of land parcels into uneconomical units.
Farmers Willingness to Pay and the Sustainability of Irrigated Maize Production in Rural Kenya
2017
with a mandate to undertake empirical research and analysis on contemporary economic and agricultural policy issues in Kenya. The institute is widely recognized as a centre of excellence in policy analysis on topical agricultural and food security issues of the day, and in its wide dissemination of findings to government and other key stakeholders with a view to influencing policy direction and the decision making processes. Tegemeo's empirically based analytical work, and its objective stance in reporting and dissemination of findings has over the past decade won the acceptance of government, the private sector, civil society, academia, and others interested in the performance of Kenya's agricultural sector.
Impact of Fertilizer Input Subsidy on Maize Production in Nandi North District, Kenya
International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research, 2014
This study addressed the interface between Fertilizer Input Subsidy use and maize productivity. The context is set by confronting the first Millennium Development Goal which targets increased and satisfactory access to food for half of those currently undernourished by the year 2015. Due to the decline of maize production in the country, its’ consumption is over and above what is produced. It was therefore important for this study to investigate the effect of fertilizer input subsidies as one of the leading means of raising maize yields and livelihood in Kenya and given that land holdings in the country are not increasing while population growth is on the upward trends on yearly basis. It is well recognized that small scale farming is generally low external input use system in Kenya. It has been established that smallholder farmers are so resource poor such that without external intervention, they will never get to use these inputs; they will remain poor and will not be able to part...
Determinants of Maize Production and Its Supply Response in Kenya
International Journal of Agronomy
Maize (Zea mays L.) is an essential crop in Kenya and its production has a direct implication on food and economic security. However, in Kenya, there is a gap between what is being produced and what is being consumed. This gap is growing and, hence, remains a policy concern. Under this backdrop, this study aimed to estimate thecombined contribution of maize area harvested, expenditure on fertilizers,number of tractors used, and maize seed quantity to national maize productionin Kenya using the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) and Nerlove Model. The findings indicate that maize production in Kenya is negatively associated with maize area harvested, expenditure on fertilizers, and the number of tractors used. However, there is a positive relationship between maize production and maize seed quantity. The response of maize production depicted that the price of maize in the previous period determined the production levels in the current period positively; however, as we move further ...
Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Kenya
Agricultural …, 2007
This is a product of a research project on Distortions to Agricultural Incentives, under the leadership of Kym Anderson of the World Bank's Development Research Group. The authors are grateful for helpful comments from workshop participants and for funding from World Bank Trust Funds provided by the governments of Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands (BNPP) and the United Kingdom (DfID). This Working Paper series is designed to promptly disseminate the findings of work in progress for comment before they are finalized. The views expressed are the authors' alone and not necessarily those of the World Bank and its Executive Directors, nor the countries they represent, nor of the institutions providing funds for this research project.
The impact of agricultural market liberalization on maize output in Kenya and Zambia and its effect on food security in these countries is evaluated in this paper. The findings suggest a weak policy influence on maize output, but the precipitation and acreage variables stand out as core determinants of maize output. Overall, the obtained results, agricultural markets in general, and the maize sub-sector in particular, responded more positively to implemented policies in Kenya, than in Zambia. Pre-existing economic structures would have contributed to the outcome. Effective policy implementation would have to be tailored to meet regional needs and local conditions. Region and sector dynamics were not considered when formulating and implementing structural adjustment policies in the 1980s. It can be inferred from the study that countries with strong economic institutions performed better than those which had weak ones.
FERTILIZER SUBSIDIES: A STUDY OF POLICY EFFECTS ON MAIZE IN KENYA.
The National Accelerated Agricultural Inputs Access Programme (NAAIAP) a subsidy programme established in 2006 was envisioned as a safety net programme that would address the problem of food insecurity and poverty among resource poor farmers. This study using cross-sectional data obtained from 200 farmers employs Linear Regression, Multinomial Logistic and Probit analysis and data from the 2009/2010 agricultural season to estimate the subsidy effects of the NAAIAP program on poor and vulnerable farmers of Tana River Sub-County. To control for errors of inclusion and exclusion the study focused on those farmers who had actually received vouchers. Observations point to predominantly aging male farmers with primary level of education and whose main source of income was farming earning them an average of $1 a day. These Farmers owning on average four(4) acres lack titles to their pieces of land for which only half was utilized for production, had not accessed financial services despite such services being within reach a factor that could be attributed to their lack of collateral and low levels of realized annual incomes from sales though roadside markets and general information asymmetries. Model results show that returns on investments to various income categories from using use of fertilizer is sensitive to residual effects of previous fertilizer application, timing or use of fertilizer during the right season, and communal financial support structures such as group saving. These findings therefore confirm the importance of this study providing deeper insight to policy makers and providing valuable information which has implications on policy, design, targeting and programme implementation.