Economic and psychosocial factors associated with management of bacteria wilt disease in smallholder potato farms: Evidence from Kenya

Q1 Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Njas-Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences Pub Date : 2020-12-01 DOI:10.1016/j.njas.2020.100331

Julius J. Okello , Bruce Ochieng , Elmar Shulte-Geldermann

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Potato is a major food staple in the tropical highlands of Africa. However, its production is constrained by seed-borne diseases, with bacteria wilt (BW) being the most devastating and difficult to manage. Currently, there is no single e remedy for the disease. This paper uses Means-End Chain analysis to assess the psychosocial factors associated with the management of BW in potato production. It focuses on smallholder farmers in Central and Rift Valley regions of Kenya. The paper finds BW management is characterized by use of several practices, majority of which are ineffective in controlling the disease. They are, however, used mainly to increase yield, hence income and profits, and to achieve the personal values or life goals farmers aspire for. The paper concludes that BW management in smallholder potato farms is driven by both economic incentives (i.e., higher incomes and profits) and psychosocial factors. It discusses the implications of these findings for policy and practice.

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与小农马铃薯农场细菌性枯萎病管理相关的经济和社会心理因素:来自肯尼亚的证据

马铃薯是非洲热带高地的主要食物。然而，它的生产受到种子传播疾病的限制，其中细菌性枯萎病(BW)是最具破坏性和难以管理的。目前，这种疾病没有单一的治疗方法。本文采用手段-末端链分析方法对马铃薯生产中体重管理相关的社会心理因素进行了评估。它的重点是肯尼亚中部和裂谷地区的小农。本文发现，白骨病管理的特点是采用了几种做法，其中大多数对控制疾病无效。然而，它们主要是用来增加产量，从而增加收入和利润，实现农民所追求的个人价值或生活目标。本文的结论是，小农马铃薯农场的体重管理受到经济激励(即更高的收入和利润)和社会心理因素的双重驱动。它讨论了这些发现对政策和实践的影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Njas-Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences 农林科学-农业综合

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

>36 weeks

期刊介绍： The NJAS - Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences, published since 1952, is the quarterly journal of the Royal Netherlands Society for Agricultural Sciences. NJAS aspires to be the main scientific platform for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research on complex and persistent problems in agricultural production, food and nutrition security and natural resource management. The societal and technical challenges in these domains require research integrating scientific disciplines and finding novel combinations of methodologies and conceptual frameworks. Moreover, the composite nature of these problems and challenges fits transdisciplinary research approaches embedded in constructive interactions with policy and practice and crossing the boundaries between science and society. Engaging with societal debate and creating decision space is an important task of research about the diverse impacts of novel agri-food technologies or policies. The international nature of food and nutrition security (e.g. global value chains, standardisation, trade), environmental problems (e.g. climate change or competing claims on natural resources), and risks related to agriculture (e.g. the spread of plant and animal diseases) challenges researchers to focus not only on lower levels of aggregation, but certainly to use interdisciplinary research to unravel linkages between scales or to analyse dynamics at higher levels of aggregation. NJAS recognises that the widely acknowledged need for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, also increasingly expressed by policy makers and practitioners, needs a platform for creative researchers and out-of-the-box thinking in the domains of agriculture, food and environment. The journal aims to offer space for grounded, critical, and open discussions that advance the development and application of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research methodologies in the agricultural and life sciences.