Agri-Food Economics Africa was contracted by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) in December 2018 to undertake a study “Assessing the capacities, strategies, and needs of agro-dealers to scale improved maize seed in Kenya” under the Stress Tolerance Maize for Africa (STMA) project.

The study aims to understand how interventions for seed systems development can better engage with agro-dealers for a more effective uptake of improved maize varieties. The study involves interviewing agro-dealers and farmers in various maize growing zones, data management, analysis and writing. A total of 80 agro-dealers and 550 farmers have already been interviewed as part of this study during the March-April 2019 planting season. Agri-Food Economics Africa is also partnering with CIMMYT in analysis and writing of journal papers from this work.