Market research on farmer demand for climate resistant maize: Uganda, Mozambique and Ghana

The study aimed to assess and analyze the demand for climate-resistant maize seed in the three countries. Desk research, in-depth stakeholder interviews, focus group discussions, and questionnaires with maize farmers were conducted in Masindi, Iganga, and Masaka in Uganda, Tete and Nampula in Mozambique, and Ejura and Kpene in Ghana. Improving farmers' understanding of the potential of climate-resistant maize and increasing their willingness to purchase requires awareness building that goes beyond general marketing communication or sharing of information. Farmers need to be convinced of the value of new varieties and learn how to optimize the use of seeds through demonstrations, agronomic/technical training, and even financial literacy training to understand the return on investment. Extension services are effective in raising farmers' awareness of climate-resistant maize varieties, but the limited reach and quality require the use of other complementary information channels. The study identified several pilot initiatives that could be further strengthened and scaled to address the accessibility challenge, which is a real constraint given the remote location of many farmers. An average Mozambican farmer has to travel 67km to the closest agro-dealer. In addition, many agro-dealers often stock-out due to insufficient working capital and/or difficulty predicting demand. The study identified various innovative initiatives to address accessibility issues, such as delivery services, pre-ordering, and creating village-based small-scale agro-dealers. On the supply-side, the largest constraint identified is the limited capacity for seed producers to multiply climate-resistant varieties at scale, rather than an inability to develop new varieties. The insufficient supply is most pronounced in Ghana, though Mozambique will also have supply constraints if demand for climate-resistant seeds increases. In these countries, while new varieties have been developed, stakeholders emphasized the insufficiencies of breeder and foundation seeds, limiting the total production of the seeds available. Despite its potential to improve profitability of maize production, most farmers view climate-resistant varieties as too expensive due to a perceived low investment return and/or lack of access to appropriate credit. While climate-resistant varieties can improve farmer income when compared with the varieties widely used by smallholders, farmers perceive the price of climate-resistant seed as too expensive. This misperception results from a poor understanding of the benefits and financial returns of new varieties, a lack of knowledge on how to capture the full yield potential of new climate-resistant varieties, and a lack of access to markets to sell the subsequent produce. In Uganda, a large proportion of farmers produce maize primarily for sale, and most farmers sell at least some maize and are able to make a fair, though not large, profit from it. Reflecting their market-orientation, farmers have a high willingness to invest in inputs and a relatively high awareness of climate-resistant varieties. Key challenges to improving uptake include the prevalence of fake seeds, limited last-mile accessibility of seeds, and lack of access to finance. In Mozambique, the maize seed market is much more challenging than in Uganda or Ghana. Smallholders are less market-oriented, and those farmers who do sell surplus maize for cash have no bargaining power and face low margins. This results in a limited willingness to invest in inputs and a low awareness of improved varieties. Farmers face multiple challenges that need to be tackled together, including limited willingness to invest in seeds and other inputs, limited accessibility, and access to finance. In Ghana, there are distinctive regional variances. Farmers in the north of Ghana primarily grow maize for their own consumption (though some sell surplus when they can), while farmers in other regions commercially grow maize. Key challenges include insufficient availability of seeds, low awareness of new varieties and inappropriate use, and limited last-mile accessibility of seeds. Recommendations for developing interventions to increase adoption of climate-resistant maize seed in the three countries include tailoring solutions by region and complementing existing initiatives. Within the country level solutions proposed, regional differences have been identified to the extent possible, but also acknowledge that there may be other regions within these countries that face unique challenges.