Abstract

The continuous use of the synthetic chemicals to mitigate the damage by pests is generally fraught with problems of undesirable poverty-inducing effects. These problems necessitated the use of indigenous method by rural farmers as a possible alternative. However, there is a paucity of information on the potential ability of the indigenous method to improve the welfare of farmers. Hence, this study examined the utilisation of indigenous pest management method and poverty status of cocoa farmers in Osun State. Cross sectional data were collected from 300 cocoa farmers used for study. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, poverty depth analysis and propensity score matching method. Results indicated that poverty lines estimated for the users and non-users showed different levels of welfare for the two categories of farmers. The poverty incidence, depth and severity were 25%, 7% and 2.9% for the adopters respectively while 33%, 9% and 3.1% were for the non-adopters. The propensity score matching estimates revealed a positive and significant effect (t= 5.51 at p < 0.05) of the indigenous method on adopter?s income. The study concluded that the adoption of indigenous pest management method has positive effect on welfare of cocoa farmers.

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