Explaining smallholder maize marketing in southern and eastern Africa: The roles of market access, technology and household resource endowments

•We use econometric analysis to investigate smallholder maize sales behavior in Africa.•We analyze the roles of market access, technology and resource endowments in maize sales.•Improvements in market access alone are likely insufficient to stimulate increases in sales.•Public goods that improve farm-level productivity and land access are also essential. Research on household food grain sales behavior in developing countries has tended to focus on the roles of market access and prices to explain why many rural households do not sell staple crops, though recent literature suggests that low household asset endowments may also be key constraints. We use econometric analysis of panel data from smallholders in Kenya, Mozambique, and Zambia to inform the design of public investments that will enable smallholders to increase their maize sales. Results show that investments that raise farm-level productivity and land access are an essential complement to investments that improve market access.