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Farmers' demand for and use of agricultural extension services in post-conflict countries is key not only to agricultural productivity but for economic transformation and maintenance of peace. This paper examined the effect of socio-economic characteristics of smallholder rice farmers on demand for extension services and the intensity of their use in Gibi District of Liberia. Multistage sampling technique was used in select 296 smallholder rice farmers. Descriptive statistics were used to compare farmers' socio-economic characteristics and the heckpoisson model was used to simultaneously estimate the effect of socio-economic characteristics on demand for extension services and the intensity of their use. The results showed that farm income, sale of crops and mobile phone ownership had significant effect on farmers' demand for extension services, while gender, cash-crop ownership, use of improved seeds, and awareness of extension services had significant effects on the intensity of their use. The study suggests that government implements programs that promote increased provision of needed farm inputs for greater use of extension services and encourages commercialization among farmers. Also, service providers should tailor their services to the farmers' socio-economic characteristics.

Storage is an important aspect of food security in developing countries. Therefore, it is crucial for farmers to have access to sustainable storage technologies to cope with storage losses. Maize is an important staple and commercial food in Rwanda, but maize farmers are still being challenged by storage losses because of the lack of proper storage facilities. It is in that regard that advanced maize storage technology, notably hermetic maize storage technology, has been introduced in Rwanda in 2012. However, since its introduction, the adoption rate is low among smallholder maize farmers. Understanding the factors influencing farmers’ choice of alternative maize storage technology could provide Rwandan policymakers with important information for designing policies and programs aimed at reducing maize post-harvest losses to enhance household food security. This study used a multivariate probit model on a randomly selected cross-sectional sample of 301 smallholder maize farmers from the Gatsibo District of Rwanda to take part. The results revealed that the common maize storage technologies used among smallholder farmers were polypropylene sacks with and without chemicals, hermetic bags, and silos. Only 41% of respondents used hermetic maize storage technology. The model results showed that membership in a farmer group, access to credit, the quantity of maize produced, access to training, and selling maize soon after it dries, were the major factors influencing the decision of smallholder farmers to use alternative maize storage technologies. The study recommends that the policymakers and other stakeholders in post-harvest loss reduction should support the dissemination of advanced storage technologies to facilitate access. The government should support farmer acquisition of post-harvest maize loss reduction technologies either through subsidization of hermetic bags or provision of cheap credit.

Rapid population growth has increased the global demand for food. However, some studies have revealed that more than one-third of the global food production is lost during postharvest operations along the food supply chain. Managerial and technical limitations such as a lack of proper storage facilities, poor handling practices and, associated knowledge are among the main causes of food losses particularly in Africa. Maize is among the most important staple food and cash crops across sub-Saharan Africa. In Rwanda, most of the maize produced incurs losses during storage. Hermetic storage technologies (HST) have been proven to be effective in the control of post-harvest storage losses in maize. However, their adoption in maize storage has been low with farmers continuing to use less effective technologies. Therefore, this study assessed the impact of hermetic maize storage technologies adoption, on the income of 301 randomly selected smallholder maize farmers in Gatsibo District of Rwanda, using the endogenous switching regression (ESR). The results revealed that household size, post-harvest training, access to credit, distance to input provider, and the household head's experience in maize production were the major factors influencing farmers' decision to adopt HST. The occupation of the household head, number of plots reserved for other crops, training, household size, age of the household head, and household maize self-sufficiency goal significantly influenced income for both HST adopters and non-adopters. Overall, the adoption of HST had a positive and significant impact on income from stored maize, among those who adopted it. The study recommends that the government of Rwanda and other stakeholders should support the dissemination of HST to facilitate access. Thus, increased access to institutional support services such as post-harvest training, credit access, and agricultural input supply, should be a major part of efforts aimed at promoting the effective use of hermetic maize storage technologies among smallholder maize farmers in Rwanda.