Pesticides are an important and widely used tool for crop protection, but they also pose significant risks to agricultural sustainability, human health and the environment. In this paper, we examine whether mass media campaigns can help improve pesticide knowledge and change pesticide use behaviour ...

In recent years, fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, has emerged as one of the most serious invasive species in many countries across Africa, Asia and Oceania. The pest is causing extensive damage to maize production and the intensification of pesticide use. In this paper, we examined the...

Fee-based agricultural extension programmes have been proposed in response to the constraints of funding public extension services. This has piqued researchers' interest in determining farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for extension services in recent decades. The current study examines farmers'...

Biological invasions can dramatically impact natural ecosystems and human societies. However, although knowledge of the economic impacts of biological invasions provides crucial insights for efficient management and policy, reliable syntheses are still lacking. This is particularly true for low...

This study assessed implications of the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic on household income and food security in two East African countries - Kenya and Uganda, using online survey data from 442 respondents. Results show that more than two-thirds of the respondents experienced income...

Background: Quality seed is at the core of the technological packages needed to increase crop production, nutrition, and rural wellbeing. However, smallholder farmers in Tanzania have limited access to affordable quality seeds, and over 90% of seed sown is saved by farmers from previous harvests,...

The United Nation's declaration of 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health underscores the crucial role of crop protection in achieving the sustainable development goals. In this article, we analyse the gendered impacts of plant clinics-an innovative extension approach that aims to help...

Conservation farming (CF) aims to achieve increased agricultural productivity while ensuring environmental sustainability through a system of agronomic practices, including minimum soil disturbance (MSD), crop residue retention (RR), and crop rotation (CR). Although inconclusive, there is some...

Recent outbreaks of crop pests such as fall armyworm and desert locusts are threatening food security and have spurred increased use of pesticides in sub-Saharan Africa. While pesticides can prevent crop losses, they can also have adverse effects on human health and the environment, if not used...

Given the recognised role of blanket extension advice in the low uptake of productivity-enhancing technologies among developing country farmers, personalised or site-specific extension approaches are gaining attention. Focusing on the case of the plant clinic extension model which provides...