Adoption of Climate-smart Maize Varieties and Its Impact on Household Income Among Small-scale Farmers in Embu County, Kenya

Abstract

Abstract Climate unpredictability and declining soil fertility affect agricultural production, especially in Sub-Sahara Africa thus threatening global food security. This has prompted the seed sector to introduce various varieties of climate-smart maize in Kenya and release them in the market. However, there is little empirical evidence on their adoption rate and impacts on household income for efficient formulation of policies aimed at reducing food insecurity and poverty level. Therefore, this study aimed at examining the adoption of climate-smart maize varieties and its impact on household income in Embu County, Kenya. A multi-stage random sample of 550 maize farmers comprising of 346 adopters and 204 non-adopters of climate-smart maize varieties was used. Double hurdle model and endogenous switching regression model were used to analyze intensity of adoption and impact on household income respectively. The descriptive results indicated that adoption rate for climate-smart maize varieties was about 63 %. The results further indicated that land size, land ownership, size of the family, contact to extension officer, and previous yield had a significant influence on the intensity of adoption. The results on impact of adoption indicated that adoption of climate-smart maize varieties increased household income by 60 %. The results justify the need for creating awareness to ensure widespread adoption of climate-smart maize varieties both nationally and globally. In addition, adequate policies and development programs for promoting use of climate-smart maize varieties in Kenya should be directed towards input and output delivery, land under climate-smart maize varieties, extension service provision, affordable credit, education and age mechanism that are more effective and youth oriented initiatives.