Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 251-263 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Agricultural economics |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue number | 3-4 |
| Publication status | Published - 26 Apr 2010 |
Abstract
This article evaluates the impact of adoption of European Union (EU) private-sector standards on farmers' health in rural Kenya. The study utilizes cross-sectional farm household-level data collected in 2006 from a randomly selected sample of 439 small-scale export farmers. We estimate the casual impact by utilizing a two-stage Poisson regression model, two-stage standard treatment effect model, as well as by regression based on propensity score, to assess the robustness of the results. Using these techniques, we demonstrate that the pesticide-ascribed incidence of acute illness symptoms and the associated cost of illness significantly decrease with the adoption of standards. Ceteris paribus, farmers who adopt standards experience 70% lesser incidence of acute illness and spent about 50-60% less on restoring their health than nonadopters. Although standards can potentially prevent resource-poor smallholders from maintaining their position in lucrative export markets, they can also result in positive changes in the health of those farmers who do adopt them, as shown by these results. This implies that, if adopted on a large scale, standards may reduce production externalities, corroborating the view that they may serve as a catalyst to transform production systems in developing countries.
Keywords
- Adoption, Farmers' health, GlobalGAP standards, Kenya, Pesticide
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Agronomy and Crop Science
- Economics, Econometrics and Finance(all)
- Economics and Econometrics
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In: Agricultural economics, Vol. 41, No. 3-4, 26.04.2010, p. 251-263.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Agrifood supply chain, private-sector standards, and farmers' health
T2 - Evidence from Kenya
AU - Asfaw, Solomon
AU - Mithöfer, Dagmar
AU - Waibel, Hermann
PY - 2010/4/26
Y1 - 2010/4/26
N2 - This article evaluates the impact of adoption of European Union (EU) private-sector standards on farmers' health in rural Kenya. The study utilizes cross-sectional farm household-level data collected in 2006 from a randomly selected sample of 439 small-scale export farmers. We estimate the casual impact by utilizing a two-stage Poisson regression model, two-stage standard treatment effect model, as well as by regression based on propensity score, to assess the robustness of the results. Using these techniques, we demonstrate that the pesticide-ascribed incidence of acute illness symptoms and the associated cost of illness significantly decrease with the adoption of standards. Ceteris paribus, farmers who adopt standards experience 70% lesser incidence of acute illness and spent about 50-60% less on restoring their health than nonadopters. Although standards can potentially prevent resource-poor smallholders from maintaining their position in lucrative export markets, they can also result in positive changes in the health of those farmers who do adopt them, as shown by these results. This implies that, if adopted on a large scale, standards may reduce production externalities, corroborating the view that they may serve as a catalyst to transform production systems in developing countries.
AB - This article evaluates the impact of adoption of European Union (EU) private-sector standards on farmers' health in rural Kenya. The study utilizes cross-sectional farm household-level data collected in 2006 from a randomly selected sample of 439 small-scale export farmers. We estimate the casual impact by utilizing a two-stage Poisson regression model, two-stage standard treatment effect model, as well as by regression based on propensity score, to assess the robustness of the results. Using these techniques, we demonstrate that the pesticide-ascribed incidence of acute illness symptoms and the associated cost of illness significantly decrease with the adoption of standards. Ceteris paribus, farmers who adopt standards experience 70% lesser incidence of acute illness and spent about 50-60% less on restoring their health than nonadopters. Although standards can potentially prevent resource-poor smallholders from maintaining their position in lucrative export markets, they can also result in positive changes in the health of those farmers who do adopt them, as shown by these results. This implies that, if adopted on a large scale, standards may reduce production externalities, corroborating the view that they may serve as a catalyst to transform production systems in developing countries.
KW - Adoption
KW - Farmers' health
KW - GlobalGAP standards
KW - Kenya
KW - Pesticide
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77952680729&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1574-0862.2010.00443.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1574-0862.2010.00443.x
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:77952680729
VL - 41
SP - 251
EP - 263
JO - Agricultural economics
JF - Agricultural economics
SN - 0169-5150
IS - 3-4
ER -