Benimana Gilberthe Uwera, Ritho Cecilia, Irungu Patrick
Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 29053, 00625, Nairobi, Rwanda.
Development Strategy and Governance Division, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), KG 563 Street #7, Kacyiru, P.O. Box 1269, Kigali, Rwanda.
Heliyon. 2021 Oct 21;7(10):e08235. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e08235. eCollection 2021 Oct.
Storage is an important aspect of food security in developing countries. Therefore, it is crucial for farmers to have access to sustainable storage technologies to cope with storage losses. Maize is an important staple and commercial food in Rwanda, but maize farmers are still being challenged by storage losses because of the lack of proper storage facilities. It is in that regard that advanced maize storage technology, notably hermetic maize storage technology, has been introduced in Rwanda in 2012. However, since its introduction, the adoption rate is low among smallholder maize farmers. Understanding the factors influencing farmers' choice of alternative maize storage technology could provide Rwandan policymakers with important information for designing policies and programs aimed at reducing maize post-harvest losses to enhance household food security. This study used a multivariate probit model on a randomly selected cross-sectional sample of 301 smallholder maize farmers from the Gatsibo District of Rwanda to take part. The results revealed that the common maize storage technologies used among smallholder farmers were polypropylene sacks with and without chemicals, hermetic bags, and silos. Only 41% of respondents used hermetic maize storage technology. The model results showed that membership in a farmer group, access to credit, the quantity of maize produced, access to training, and selling maize soon after it dries, were the major factors influencing the decision of smallholder farmers to use alternative maize storage technologies. The study recommends that the policymakers and other stakeholders in post-harvest loss reduction should support the dissemination of advanced storage technologies to facilitate access. The government should support farmer acquisition of post-harvest maize loss reduction technologies either through subsidization of hermetic bags or provision of cheap credit.
在发展中国家，粮食储存是粮食安全的一个重要方面。因此，农民能够获得可持续的储存技术以应对储存损失至关重要。玉米是卢旺达一种重要的主食和商业粮食，但由于缺乏合适的储存设施，玉米种植户仍面临储存损失的挑战。正是在这方面，先进的玉米储存技术，尤其是气密玉米储存技术，于2012年被引入卢旺达。然而，自引入以来，小农户对其采用率较低。了解影响农民选择替代玉米储存技术的因素，可为卢旺达政策制定者提供重要信息，以设计旨在减少玉米收获后损失、增强家庭粮食安全的政策和项目。本研究对卢旺达加齐博区随机抽取的301户小农户玉米种植户组成的横截面样本使用了多元概率模型。结果显示，小农户中常用的玉米储存技术有带或不带化学药剂的聚丙烯袋、气密袋和筒仓。只有41%的受访者使用气密玉米储存技术。模型结果表明，加入农民团体、获得信贷、玉米产量、获得培训以及玉米干燥后尽快出售，是影响小农户使用替代玉米储存技术决策的主要因素。该研究建议，负责减少收获后损失的政策制定者和其他利益相关者应支持先进储存技术的推广，以便利获取。政府应通过补贴气密袋或提供低息贷款来支持农民获取减少玉米收获后损失的技术。
