IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jageco/v72y2021i1p97-116.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do Plant Clinics Improve Household Food Security? Evidence from Rwanda

Author

Listed:
  • Justice A. Tambo
  • Bellancile Uzayisenga
  • Idah Mugambi
  • Mary Bundi

Abstract

One of the main drivers of food insecurity is pests, which are estimated to cause around 40% of crop losses worldwide. We examine the food security effects of plant clinics, a novel agricultural extension model that aims to reduce crop losses due to pests through the provision of demand‐driven plant health diagnostic and advisory services to smallholder farmers. The study is based on survey data from maize‐growing households in Rwanda, where 66 plant clinics have been established. Using switching regression and matching techniques as well as various food security metrics, including the food insecurity experience scale, we find evidence that participation in plant clinics is significantly associated with a reduction in household food insecurity. For instance, among the participating households, plant clinics contribute to a decrease in the period of food shortage by one month and a reduction in the severity of food insecurity by 22 percentage points. We also show that these effects are more pronounced for female‐headed households. Overall, our findings suggest that plant clinics can play an important role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 2 of zero hunger.

Suggested Citation

  • Justice A. Tambo & Bellancile Uzayisenga & Idah Mugambi & Mary Bundi, 2021. "Do Plant Clinics Improve Household Food Security? Evidence from Rwanda," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(1), pages 97-116, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jageco:v:72:y:2021:i:1:p:97-116
    DOI: 10.1111/1477-9552.12391
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12391
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1477-9552.12391?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yao Pan & Stephen C Smith & Munshi Sulaiman, 2018. "Agricultural Extension and Technology Adoption for Food Security: Evidence from Uganda," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 100(4), pages 1012-1031.
    2. Thomas Dohmen & Armin Falk & David Huffman & Uwe Sunde & Jürgen Schupp & Gert G. Wagner, 2011. "Individual Risk Attitudes: Measurement, Determinants, And Behavioral Consequences," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 522-550, June.
    3. Doris Läpple & Thia Hennessy & Carol Newman, 2013. "Quantifying the Economic Return to Participatory Extension Programmes in Ireland: an Endogenous Switching Regression Analysis," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(2), pages 467-482, June.
    4. Alessandro Romeo & Janice Meerman & Mulat Demeke & Antonio Scognamillo & Solomon Asfaw, 2016. "Linking farm diversification to household diet diversification: evidence from a sample of Kenyan ultra-poor farmers," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(6), pages 1069-1085, December.
    5. Sibhatu, Kibrom T. & Qaim, Matin, 2018. "Review: Meta-analysis of the association between production diversity, diets, and nutrition in smallholder farm households," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1-18.
    6. Salvatore Di Falco & Marcella Veronesi & Mahmud Yesuf, 2011. "Does Adaptation to Climate Change Provide Food Security? A Micro-Perspective from Ethiopia," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 93(3), pages 825-842.
    7. Tambo, Justice A. & Uzayisenga, Bellancile & Mugambi, Idah & Bundi, Mary & Silvestri, Silvia, 2020. "Plant clinics, farm performance and poverty alleviation: Panel data evidence from Rwanda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    8. Anderson, Jock R. & Feder, Gershon, 2007. "Agricultural Extension," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: Robert Evenson & Prabhu Pingali (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 44, pages 2343-2378, Elsevier.
    9. Silvia Silvestri & Martin Macharia & Bellancile Uzayisenga, 2019. "Analysing the potential of plant clinics to boost crop protection in Rwanda through adoption of IPM: the case of maize and maize stem borers," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(2), pages 301-315, April.
    10. Shiferaw T. Feleke & Richard L. Kilmer & Christina H. Gladwin, 2005. "Determinants of food security in Southern Ethiopia at the household level," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 33(3), pages 351-363, November.
    11. Michael Lokshin & Zurab Sajaia, 2004. "Maximum likelihood estimation of endogenous switching regression models," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 4(3), pages 282-289, September.
    12. Marco Caliendo & Sabine Kopeinig, 2008. "Some Practical Guidance For The Implementation Of Propensity Score Matching," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 31-72, February.
    13. Deon Filmer & Lant Pritchett, 2001. "Estimating Wealth Effects Without Expenditure Data—Or Tears: An Application To Educational Enrollments In States Of India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 38(1), pages 115-132, February.
    14. Jones, Andrew D. & Shrinivas, Aditya & Bezner-Kerr, Rachel, 2014. "Farm production diversity is associated with greater household dietary diversity in Malawi: Findings from nationally representative data," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 1-12.
    15. Larsen, Anna Folke & Lilleør, Helene Bie, 2014. "Beyond the Field: The Impact of Farmer Field Schools on Food Security and Poverty Alleviation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 843-859.
    16. Shiferaw, Bekele & Kassie, Menale & Jaleta, Moti & Yirga, Chilot, 2014. "Adoption of improved wheat varieties and impacts on household food security in Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 272-284.
    17. Michael Lokshin & Zurab Sajaia, 2011. "Impact of interventions on discrete outcomes: Maximum likelihood estimation of the binary choice models with binary endogenous regressors," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 11(3), pages 368-385, September.
    18. Regan Early & Bethany A. Bradley & Jeffrey S. Dukes & Joshua J. Lawler & Julian D. Olden & Dana M. Blumenthal & Patrick Gonzalez & Edwin D. Grosholz & Ines Ibañez & Luke P. Miller & Cascade J. B. Sort, 2016. "Global threats from invasive alien species in the twenty-first century and national response capacities," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-9, November.
    19. Robert Evenson & Prabhu Pingali (ed.), 2007. "Handbook of Agricultural Economics," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 3, number 1.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Okyere, Charles Yaw & Kornher, Lukas, 2022. "Carbon Farming Training and Welfare: Evidence from Northern Ghana," Discussion Papers 324738, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    2. Festus O. Amadu & Daniel C. Miller, 2024. "Food security effects of forest sector participation in rural Liberia," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 16(5), pages 1099-1124, October.
    3. Tambo, Justice A. & Romney, Dannie & Mugambi, Idah & Mbugua, Fredrick & Bundi, Mary & Uzayisenga, Bellancile & Matimelo, Mathews & Ndhlovu, Mathias, 2021. "Can plant clinics enhance judicious use of pesticides? Evidence from Rwanda and Zambia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    4. Tambo, Justice & Matimelo, Mathews & Ndhlovu, Mathias & Mbugua, Fredrick & Phiri, Noah, 2021. "Who Benefits? the Gender-Differentiated Impacts of Plant Clinics in Zambia," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315871, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Okyere, Charles Yaw & Kornher, Lukas, 2023. "Carbon farming training and welfare: Evidence from Northern Ghana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    6. Justice A. Tambo & Mathews Matimelo, 2022. "An act of defiance? Measuring farmer deviation from personalised extension recommendations in Zambia," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(2), pages 396-413, June.
    7. Tambo, Justice A. & Matimelo, Mathews & Ndhlovu, Mathias & Mbugua, Fredrick & Phiri, Noah, 2021. "Gender-differentiated impacts of plant clinics on maize productivity and food security: Evidence from Zambia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tambo, Justice A. & Matimelo, Mathews & Ndhlovu, Mathias & Mbugua, Fredrick & Phiri, Noah, 2021. "Gender-differentiated impacts of plant clinics on maize productivity and food security: Evidence from Zambia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    2. Tambo, Justice & Matimelo, Mathews & Ndhlovu, Mathias & Mbugua, Fredrick & Phiri, Noah, 2021. "Who Benefits? the Gender-Differentiated Impacts of Plant Clinics in Zambia," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315871, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Tambo, Justice A. & Romney, Dannie & Mugambi, Idah & Mbugua, Fredrick & Bundi, Mary & Uzayisenga, Bellancile & Matimelo, Mathews & Ndhlovu, Mathias, 2021. "Can plant clinics enhance judicious use of pesticides? Evidence from Rwanda and Zambia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    4. Tesfaye, Wondimagegn & Tirivayi, Nyasha, 2018. "The impacts of postharvest storage innovations on food security and welfare in Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 52-67.
    5. Emiliano Magrini & Mauro Vigani, 2016. "Technology adoption and the multiple dimensions of food security: the case of maize in Tanzania," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(4), pages 707-726, August.
    6. Amadu, Festus O. & McNamara, Paul E. & Davis, Kristin E., 2021. "Soil health and grain yield impacts of climate resilient agriculture projects: Evidence from southern Malawi," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    7. Bairagi, Subir & Bhandari, Humnath & Kumar Das, Subrata & Mohanty, Samarendu, 2021. "Flood-tolerant rice improves climate resilience, profitability, and household consumption in Bangladesh," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    8. Ragasa, Catherine & Lambrecht, Isabel & Kufoalor, Doreen S., 2018. "Limitations of Contract Farming as a Pro-poor Strategy: The Case of Maize Outgrower Schemes in Upper West Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 30-56.
    9. Adetomiwa Kolapo & Akeem Abiade Tijani & Seyi Olalekan Olawuyi, 2024. "Exploring the Role of Farmer-Led Jumpstarting Project on Adoption of Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato in Nigeria: Implications on Productivity and Poverty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-35, August.
    10. Martey, Edward & Etwire, Prince M. & Mockshell, Jonathan, 2021. "Climate-smart cowpea adoption and welfare effects of comprehensive agricultural training programs," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Amadu, Festus O. & McNamara, Paul E. & Miller, Daniel C., 2020. "Yield effects of climate-smart agriculture aid investment in southern Malawi," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    12. Coromaldi, Manuela & Pallante, Giacomo & Savastano, Sara, 2015. "Adoption of modern varieties, farmers' welfare and crop biodiversity: Evidence from Uganda," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 346-358.
    13. Abdoulaye Diagne Author-Name: Fran ois J. Cabral, 2017. "Agricultural Transformation in Senegal: Impacts of an integrated program," Working Papers PMMA 2017-09, PEP-PMMA.
    14. Girma Gezimu Gebre & Yuichiro Amekawa & Asmiro Abeje Fikadu & Dil Bahadur Rahut, 2023. "Do climate change adaptation strategies improve farmers’ food security in Tanzania?," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(3), pages 629-647, June.
    15. Federica Di Marcantonio & Enkelejda Havari & Liesbeth Colen & Pavel Ciaian, 2022. "Do producer organizations improve trading practices and negotiation power for dairy farms? Evidence from selected EU countries," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(S1), pages 121-137, November.
    16. Justice A. Tambo & Mathews Matimelo, 2022. "An act of defiance? Measuring farmer deviation from personalised extension recommendations in Zambia," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(2), pages 396-413, June.
    17. Paudel, Gokul P. & KC, Dilli Bahadur & Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Justice, Scott E. & McDonald, Andrew J., 2019. "Scale-appropriate mechanization impacts on productivity among smallholders: Evidence from rice systems in the mid-hills of Nepal," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 104-113.
    18. S. Wagura Ndiritu & Geoffrey Muricho, 2021. "Impact of climate change adaptation on food security: evidence from semi-arid lands, Kenya," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 1-20, July.
    19. Gazali Issahaku & Lukas Kornher & Abu Hayat Md. Saiful Islam & Awal Abdul-Rahaman, 2023. "Heterogeneous impacts of home-gardening on household food and nutrition security in Rwanda," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(3), pages 731-750, June.
    20. Lin, Bin & Wang, Xiaoxi & Jin, Songqing & Yang, Wanjiang & Li, Houjian, 2022. "Impacts of cooperative membership on rice productivity: Evidence from China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jageco:v:72:y:2021:i:1:p:97-116. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0021-857X .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.