PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

Maize constitutes an important source of calories and plays a crucial role in the livelihoods of most Africans. However, maize productivity in the continent remains low relative to other regions of the world. To improve the productivity of maize in the continent, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), launched the Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) project in 2016. Employing a combination of the contingent valuation methodology and Heckman's two-step model, farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for the STM and levels of payment was analysed. The factors influencing farmers' WTP and their levels of payment was also investigated. Data from 165 randomly sampled maize-based farming households was analysed to achieve the study objectives. Results of the study showed that about 75% of the farmers were willing to pay for the STM varieties with an average price of N261.52/kg ($US0.8/ kg). Farm income, years of experience in farming, membership of social group and price of other maize seeds were found to be statistically significant factors influencing farmers' WTP. The payment level was found to be influenced by farm size, level of education of the household head and access to credit. Based on the results of the study, it is recommended that governments and other stakeholders in the development sector should encourage credit institutions to grant farmers access to credit to enable them to invest on improved technologies such as the STM in order to raise their productivity.