Maize and Sorghum Technologies and the Effects of Marketing Strategies on Farmers’ Income in Mozambique

Uaiene, Rafael N., M.S., Purdue University, December, 2004. Maize and Sorghum Technologies and the Effects of Marketing Strategies on Farmers’ Income in Mozambique. Major Professor: John H. Sanders, College of Agriculture. About three-quarter of Mozambicans depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Maize and sorghum are major crops and food staples. Given limited off-farm employment opportunities, increase in farm household income and food security will come from gains in agricultural productivity through better more profitable technologies. The adoption of agricultural technologies, especially of new maize-fertilizer based technologies is constrained by the low prices received by farmers in Mozambique. While urban and rural poor benefit from low agricultural prices, it is bound to harm the incentives of producers, the agricultural technology users, and ultimately affecting the momentum of agricultural growth. There are three principal factors responsible for these low prices: seasonal price variation, price collapse in good years, and public policies that depress producer prices in adverse weather years. The thesis analyzes the effect of higher output prices on the adoption of new technologies and farmers’ income for maize and sorghum-fertilizer based technologies in Manica. A farm household model is used to evaluate the potential impacts of the improved technologies with and without marketing strategies to address