likely to push up demand for meat
and dairy products, increasing the
derived demand for livestock feed.
Second, if incentives for dairy
production improve, intensification
of the dairy industry will likely lead
to increased demand for maize as
feed. While the timing of these two
developments remains uncertain,
most analysts agree that sooner or
later demand for feed maize will in-
crease dramatically in Africa.

In addition to being used for human
food and animal feed, maize is also
used in processed foods like break-
fast cereals and in beer. Industrial
uses of maize are expected to grow
as more affluent urban consumers
shift to foods that are easier and
quicker to prepare. Future efforts
in maize improvement will there-
fore need to consider the quality re-
quirements of industrial users such
as brewers and food manufacturers.


To a certain extent, increased
utilization of maize in sub-Saharan
Africa will depend on whether
myriad production constraints can
be overcome. The next section of
this report deals specifically with
that issue.


 Critical Constraints to
 Maize Production

Throughout sub-Saharan Africa,
farmers' efforts to increase and
stabilize maize production are
frustrated by numerous con-
straints, ranging from low soil
fertility and unavailability of
improved germplasm, to unremu-
nerative prices and uncertain
access to markets. However, al-
though the production constraints
faced by African farmers are
serious, in many instances strate-
gies have been or can be devised to
overcome them. Success in some


Use (million t)
120


 Latin South, East. West Asia Sub-Saharan
 America and Southeast and Africa
 Asia North Africa
Source: Calculated from FAO data.

Figure 14. Food, feed, and other uses of maize by developing country
region, 1986-88.


areas, such as parts of eastern and
southern Africa where improved
maize has been adopted by small-
holders, has proven that progress
against even a few constraints can
go a long way toward realizing the
potential of maize for raising food
production.

Soil Fertility Problems
Inadequate soil fertility ranks
among the most serious constraints
on maize production in sub-
Saharan Africa. Management
practices have depleted soil fertility
in many maize-growing areas, espe-
cially the reduction in fallowing
brought about by increased popula-
tion pressure. After years of con-
tinuous cropping, most African soils
are deficient in macronutrients.
Nitrogen is usually the most limit-
ing nutrient, followed in impor-
tance by phosphorus. Sulfur and
zinc deficiencies frequently also
depress maize yields, particularly
in the savanna.

Providing sufficient nitrogen and
other essential nutrients to maize
can be difficult. Without long fallow
periods, slash-and-burn land
preparation cannot support high
and sustained maize yields unless
nutrients are added regularly. In
view of limited availability of
organic nutrient sources (animal
manure and green manure), many
farmers rely on chemical fertilizer
as the principal method of main-
taining soil fertility. Although it is
difficult to estimate how much fer-
tilizer is applied specifically to
maize, because data on fertilizer
use are usually not disaggregated
by crop, total fertilizer use per hec-
tare of arable land for sub-Saharan
Africa remains extremely low by
global standards, having increased
from 3.3 kg of mineral nutrients in
1970 to 8.6 kg in 1986. However,