Smallholder maize-based systems: A piece of the puzzle for sustaining food security in Nigeria

Abstract

Maize is the basis for up to half of the diet in sub-Saharan Africa. African maize lags global maize productivity development, partly due to rainfed production and poor access to new planting material and inputs. Moreover, in Nigeria, smallholder farmers are the main producers, and their predominant practice includes multiple-cropping systems with maize in crop rotations and in mixed and intercropping systems. This reduces production risks and improves fertiliser and labour efficiency at the farm level. These types of land uses have evolved despite the instability in agricultural policies that do not take smallholders’ preferences into account. The opportunity exists to enhance productivity through improved support for these farmers. This chapter unravels the rarely recognised multifunctional benefits of smallholder maize-based multiple-cropping systems and their contribution to national food security. Better recognition and promotion of these benefits among agricultural-extension and policy-intervention stakeholders can incentivise adoption of sustainable cropping practices among farmers. This can translate into a wider opportunity to improve livelihoods of smallholder maize-based farmers in Nigeria and in other maize-producing countries in sub-Saharan Africa.