Provision of pest alerts is associated with better farm performance in Africa

Crop pests cause substantial crop yield and economic losses, food insecurity, and negative impacts on human health and environment globally. Timely provision of pest risk alerts - that is, the optimum time to intervene against key pests before invasion or establishment - to smallholder farmers on pest management could improve farm performance. However, there is little quantitative evidence testing this hypothesis.

To address this gap, we use primary survey data from over 4000 smallholder farmers across four African countries: Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia. Our results suggest that providing pest alerts to smallholder farmers is associated with a higher probability of adopting integrated pest management (IPM) practices by 8-32 percentage points, as well as an increase in crop yield and income by 18-26%.

Improving timely access to information on pest risks and management could have substantial benefits on farm productivity and income in Africa. Our findings provide a practical pathway on how pest-induced crop losses could be minimized by addressing informational barriers. © 2025 The Author(s). Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.