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

ABSTRACT: 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 at

SUBMITTER: Tennhardt LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11608173 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature