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Big Constraints or Small Returns? Explaining Nonadoption of Hybrid Maize in Tanzania
Author(s) -
Kathage Jonas,
Kassie Menale,
Shiferaw Bekele,
Qaim Matin
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
applied economic perspectives and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.4
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 2040-5804
pISSN - 2040-5790
DOI - 10.1093/aepp/ppv009
Subject(s) - tanzania , constraint (computer aided design) , productivity , function (biology) , business , economics , industrial organization , economic growth , mathematics , socioeconomics , geometry , evolutionary biology , biology
New technologies are often not widely adopted by farmers in Africa. Several adoption constraints have been discussed in the literature, including limited access to information. Using data from maize farmers in Tanzania, we challenge the hypothesis that limited information is an important constraint for hybrid seed adoption. While we find an adoption gap from lack of hybrid awareness, this gap is sizeable only in regions where productivity gains of hybrids are small. Hence, awareness of a new technology may be a function of expected returns. Other constraints related to assets and credit are not significant. We conclude that not adopting a technology is not always a sign of constraints but may also indicate low benefits from its use.