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The role of household labour for sustainable intensification in smallholder systems: a case study in cocoa farming systems

Tennhardt, Lina M.; Lazzarini, Gianna; Schader, Christian; Martin, Kagimu and Lambin, Eric F. (2024) The role of household labour for sustainable intensification in smallholder systems: a case study in cocoa farming systems. Regional Environmental Change, 24 (83), pp. 1-16.

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Document available online at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10113-024-02243-2


Summary in the original language of the document

Sustainable agricultural intensification aims at increasing yields on existing agricultural land without negative environmental impacts. Managing pests and diseases contributes to increasing yields. Without synthetic pesticides, this management is labour intensive. Smallholder farming systems heavily rely on manual and household labour, which will be affected by future demographic changes. Knowledge on how these changes will affect sustainable intensification is limited. Based on a case study of Ugandan cocoa farms, we tested the impact of increased household labour availability on pest and disease management (PDM) practices and pesticide use. We made use of a unique quasi-experimental design, in which household labour increased during the national COVID-19 lockdowns as children did not attend school and family members returned from cities. Our interview data from 2019 to 2021 showed that household labour availability increased on average by 0.8 (±2.5) household members and 16% of labour days per hectare. Using different regression models complemented with qualitative insights, we found that the uptake of alternative PDM practices significantly reduced pesticide quantities and expenditures. The implementation of alternative PDM practices was only weakly influenced by household labour availability and increased with farmer training and trust in alternative practices. These results imply that alternative PDM practices are an important pillar for production with little or without synthetic pesticides and their adoption requires support and incentives, especially on labour or resource-constrained farms.


EPrint Type:Journal paper
Keywords:Uganda, Cocoa, Labour availability, Sustainable agricultural intensifcation, Pest and disease management, COVID-19, Abacus, FiBL35152
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
pest management
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_13262
English
sustainable agriculture
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_33561
English
cocoa (plant) -> Theobroma cacao
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_7713
English
disease management
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_330751
Subjects: Food systems > Community development
Crop husbandry > Production systems
Crop husbandry > Crop health, quality, protection
"Organics" in general > Countries and regions > Africa
Research affiliation:Belgium > Other Organizations Belgium
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > International > Regions > Africa
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Crops > Special crops > Cocoa
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Crops > Crop protection
Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Society > Rural sociology
Uganda
DOI:10.1007/s10113-024-02243-2
Related Links:https://www.fibl.org/en/themes/projectdatabase/projectitem/project/1478
Deposited By: Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau, FiBL
ID Code:53515
Deposited On:19 Jun 2024 08:30
Last Modified:19 Jun 2024 11:34
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

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