Table 1 Descriptive statistics of the study villages

Household head characteristics

 Average age (years)

55.7 (2.1)

54.1 (2.0)

 Gender (male = 1, female = 0)

0.79 (0.1)

0.80 (0.1)

 Educational attainment^a

1.8 (0.2)

2.1 (0.2)

Household characteristics

 Household size

6.9 (0.5)

7.0 (0.5)

 Economically inactive membership (< 16 years old)

2.6 (0.3)

2.3 (0.3)

 Average landholding, hectares

3.6 (0.5)

5.6 (0.6)

 Non-farm income as proportion of hh income (%)

43.1 (4.2)

35.0 (3.7)

 Average distance to nearest market (km)

3.5 (1.6)

9.2 (3.1)

Plot characteristics

 Average maize plot size, hectares

0.41 (0.05)

0.42 (0.04)

 Average land under fallow, hectares

1.7 (0.4)

2.9 (0.4)

 Average fertilizer quantities used (kg/ha)

15.5 (24.0)

27 (29.5)

 Proportion using improved seeds (%)

9.52

6.67

 Proportion using recycled seeds (%)

78.57

75.56