| Sumario: | The Importance of Maize Improvement in Kenya Agriculture is the leading sector in Kenya’s economy, providing employment to more than two-thirds of the population. Maize continues to be the major food staple, and Kenyans have one of the highest rates of maize consumption per capita in Africa. Kenya experienced spectacular maize breeding successes in the 1960s and 1970s, with diffusion curves for hybrids as steep as those of the U.S. Corn Belt in preceding decades (Gerhart 1975). In the past few decades, however, a number of factors have contributed to stagnating national maize production, including a secular (long-term) decline in soil fertility and decreasing public research investments.
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