The role of agro-input dealer certification in promoting sustainable pest control: insights from Uganda

Abstract

Pesticides are crucial for increasing agricultural productivity, but they have also been linked to a range of health and environmental risks.In this paper, we used nationally representative data from 557 agro-dealers in Uganda to assess the role of agro-dealer certification in improving knowledge and practices related to environmentallyfriendly pest control.We found that almost half of the sampled agro-dealers were not certified or accredited by regulatory bodies, even though this is a prerequisite for selling pesticides in the country.Results further showed that only 16% of the agro-input shops were selling biopesticide products, largely due to a lack of awareness, access and demand from farmers.Regression results showed that certified agro-dealers were 9-12 percentage points more likely to know about biopesticides and integrated pest management, and 8-10 percentage points more likely to sell biopesticide products, compared to their non-certified counterparts.Our findings imply that agro-dealer certification courses can play an important role in raising knowledge and stimulating the supply of environmentally-benign pest control products.We identified regulatory enforcement, a decentralized certification system and agro-dealer associations as some of the potential pathways for incentivising compliance with certification requirements, thereby promoting lower-risk pest control products and strategies.