On-farm storage loss estimates of maize in Kenya using community survey methods

Muteti, Francisca Ndinda; Bruce, Anna

doi:10.1016/j.jspr.2023.102107

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Deploying climate-resilient crops and climate-smart agricultural practices is critical for closing yield gaps and reducing the high risk and vulnerability, particularly for smallholder farmers ( Cairns et al., 2021 ). To minimize G × E × M effects, the Kenyan breeding programs and their partners have focused on development of adapted and resilient maize varieties for cultivation across different agroecological zones, including the moist transitional highlands, highland tropics, mid-altitudes, moist transitional, dry-transitional, dry mid-altitudes, and tropical lowlands agroecologies ( Jatzold and Kutsch, 1982 ; Miruka et al., 2012 ; De Groote et al., 2023 ). The highland agroecological zone (1,700 m to 2,300 m above sea level, masl; mean annual rainfall of 1,000 mm to 1,800 mm) is important to Kenyan food security because it is less prone to drought, heat, and flooding than other zones ( Kostandini et al., 2013 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic trends in the Kenya Highland Maize Breeding Program between 1999 and 2020

Ligeyo,

Saina,

Awalla

et al. 2024

Front. Plant Sci.

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Optimization of a breeding program requires assessing and quantifying empirical genetic trends made through past efforts relative to the current breeding strategies, germplasm, technologies, and policy. To establish the genetic trends in the Kenyan Highland Maize Breeding Program (KHMP), a two-decade (1999–2020) historical dataset from the Preliminary Variety Trials (PVT) and Advanced Variety Trials (AVT) was analyzed. A mixed model analysis was used to compute the genetic gains for traits based on the best linear unbiased estimates in the PVT and AVT evaluation stages. A positive significant genetic gain estimate for grain yield of 88 kg ha−1 year−1 (1.94% year−1) and 26 kg ha−1 year−1 (0.42% year−1) was recorded for PVT and AVT, respectively. Root lodging, an important agronomic trait in the Kenya highlands, had a desired genetic gain of −2.65% year−1 for AVT. Results showed improvement in resistance to Turcicum Leaf Blight (TLB) with −1.19% and −0.27% year−1 for the PVT and AVT, respectively. Similarly, a significant genetic trend of −0.81% was noted for resistance to Gray Leaf Spot (GLS) in AVT. These findings highlight the good progress made by KHMP in developing adapted maize hybrids for Kenya’s highland agroecology. Nevertheless, the study identified significant opportunities for the KHMP to make even greater genetic gains for key traits with introgression of favorable alleles for various traits, implementing a continuous improvement plan including marker-assisted forward breeding, sparse testing, and genomic selection, and doubled haploid technology for line development.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic trends in the Kenya Highland Maize Breeding Program between 1999 and 2020

Ligeyo,

Saina,

Awalla

et al. 2024

Front. Plant Sci.

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“…Indeed, a meta-analysis revealed that on average, 25.6% of harvested maize in SSA is lost due to insufficient crop storage [ 35 ]. A recent article states that the PHL of maize by storage pests amount to about 36% overall, with Western Kenya being the most affected [ 36 ]. Moreover, the lean season, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of improved on-farm crop storage on perceived stress and perceived coping in pregnant women—Evidence from a cluster-randomized controlled trial in Kenya

Eichenauer,

Huss,

Brander

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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Background Food insecurity can be harmful to pregnant women, as pregnancy is a challenging period with increased maternal nutritional requirements to ensure optimal fetal development and health of the mother. Whether food insecurity negatively affects maternal health may depend on how stressful pregnant women perceive this food insecurity to be and how strongly they believe they can cope with it. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), pregnant women from smallholder households suffer from food insecurity due to post-harvest losses (PHL), i.e., loss of crops because of inadequate storage. An agricultural intervention that improves crop storage has been shown to reduce food insecurity. However, it remains to be determined whether this agricultural intervention (treatment) has an additional positive effect on pregnant women’s perceived stress levels and coping abilities. This study examines whether pregnant women from treatment households experience lower perceived stress levels and higher perceived coping abilities compared to pregnant women from control housholds. Methods and findings In a randomized controlled trial (RCT), short message service (SMS)-based mobile phone surveys were conducted to assess the causal effect of a food security intervention (improved on-farm storage of maize) on perceived stress and coping in pregnant women from smallholder households. Pregnant women were identified through these monthly surveys by asking whether someone in their household was currently pregnant. The significant results revealed that pregnant women from treatment households experienced more perceived stress but better perceived coping abilities compared to pregnant women from control households. Uncertainty due to lack of experience, this might have contributed to the higher perceived stress, as the women could not easily judge the benefits and risks of the new storage technology. However, the technology itself is a tangible resource which might have empowered the pregnant women to counteract the effects of PHL and thus food insecurity. Conclusion Our findings indicate that pregnant women from treatment households had higher perceived coping abilities but experienced more perceived stress. More research is needed on how this technology impacts maternal mental health in a broader sense and whether biological mechanisms, such as epigenetics, may underlie this association.

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Gendered investment differences among smallholder farmers: evidence from a microcredit programme in western kenya

Jindo,

Andersson,

Quist-Wessel

et al. 2023

Food Sec.

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The advent of microcredit programmes in sub-Saharan Africa provides opportunities for rural households to acquire agricultural inputs and consumer goods. This study analysed gender differences in investment behaviour and repayment performance using a unique dataset—the complete client database (21,386 clients) of a microcredit programme operating in Western Kenya. Products purchased via the microcredit programme include seeds, fertilisers, post-harvesting technologies (drying sheets, storage bags, and pesticides), chicken feed packages, and different solar panel products. A machine learning-based basket analysis identified combinations of products purchased by male and female clients. Our results showed that female farmers usually made smaller investments, had higher repayment rates, and purchased more post-harvesting technologies than male farmers. In addition, female farmers used their loans to purchase less expensive products, whereas male farmers usually purchased more fertiliser and expensive solar panel products. The basket analysis revealed that female farmers purchased multiple products simultaneously more often than male farmers did. Finally, households without mobile phones had low repayment capabilities. Collectively, our findings show that microcredit programmes serving smallholder farmers can capitalise on their business data to learn about their clients’ gendered investment preferences and repayment behaviour.

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On-farm storage loss estimates of maize in Kenya using community survey methods

Cited by 8 publications

References 30 publications

Genetic trends in the Kenya Highland Maize Breeding Program between 1999 and 2020

Genetic trends in the Kenya Highland Maize Breeding Program between 1999 and 2020

Effects of improved on-farm crop storage on perceived stress and perceived coping in pregnant women—Evidence from a cluster-randomized controlled trial in Kenya

Gendered investment differences among smallholder farmers: evidence from a microcredit programme in western kenya

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