Does Access to Storage Protectant Increase Smallholder Adoption of Improved Maize Seed? Insights from Malawi

To date there is limited knowledge on the role that post-harvest storage protectants, chemical or otherwise, play in a smallholder farmer’s decision to adopt of high-yielding improved maize varieties. This is a key issue because higher yielding varieties are often more susceptible to storage pests than lower yielding traditional varieties. We present novel evidence from Malawi which shows that access to storage chemicals has a positive and significant effect on both farmer adoption of improved seed and the area that households plant to improved maize. Results have important implications for input support programs because failing to account for small holder storage challenges may reduce a farmer’s incentive to adopt modern seed varieties that can enhance staple crop production and food security.