气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Maize seed choice and perceptions of climate variability among smallholder farmers

CCPortal

DOI	10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.09.007
	Maize seed choice and perceptions of climate variability among smallholder farmers
	Waldman K.B.; Blekking J.P.; Attari S.Z.; Evans T.P.
发表日期	2017
ISSN	0959-3780
卷号	47
英文摘要	Despite decades of research and interventions, crop yields for smallholder farmers across sub-Saharan Africa are dramatically lower than in developed countries. Attempts to address low yields of staple crops in Africa since the Green Revolution through policies and investments in advanced seed cultivars have had mixed results. Numerous countries have heartily embraced and promoted hybrid cultivars through government subsidy programs and investments in research and seed multiplication. One possible explanation for why these programs have not resulted in more significant yield improvements is the challenge faced by farmers to select cultivars that are suited to their local environmental conditions. The question of what seeds farmers choose is exceptionally complex as it is often affected by local seed availability, the availability of information on seed performance, and the transfer of that information to farmers. At the foundation of this choice are farmers’ perceptions of different seed varieties coupled with their perceptions of climate variability. We examine seed choice in Zambia, a country with decades of hybrid maize seed development and supporting policies. We demonstrate how input subsidy programs and seed market liberalization have led to choice overload and a discontinuity in information exchange between farmers and seed companies. The decision making environment is further complicated by the heterogeneity in growing conditions and its variable impact on seed performance, which complicates characterization of seed duration at the farm level. Perceptions and biases related to climate variability effect seed choice, and potentially lead farmers to make risk averse decisions, which ultimately depress maize yields. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd
英文关键词	Biases; Choice overload; Climate variability; Hybrid maize; Perceptions; Zambia
学科领域	climate change; crop improvement; crop yield; cultivar; decision making; environmental conditions; green revolution; hybrid; liberalization; maize; perception; smallholder; Zambia; Zea mays
语种	英语
scopus关键词	climate change; crop improvement; crop yield; cultivar; decision making; environmental conditions; green revolution; hybrid; liberalization; maize; perception; smallholder; Zambia; Zea mays
来源期刊	Global Environmental Change
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/117198
作者单位	Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Indiana University, 513 N. Park Avenue, Bloomington, IN 47408, United States; Department of Geography, Indiana University, Student Building 120, Bloomington, IN 47405, United States; School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, SPEA 347, Bloomington, IN 47405, United States
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Waldman K.B.,Blekking J.P.,Attari S.Z.,et al. Maize seed choice and perceptions of climate variability among smallholder farmers[J],2017,47.
APA	Waldman K.B.,Blekking J.P.,Attari S.Z.,&Evans T.P..(2017).Maize seed choice and perceptions of climate variability among smallholder farmers.Global Environmental Change,47.
MLA	Waldman K.B.,et al."Maize seed choice and perceptions of climate variability among smallholder farmers".Global Environmental Change 47(2017).