Greenpeace Africa has released a
report documenting the income
benefits for farmers practising ecological farming in
Malawi and Kenya. It is based on field research with
the World Agro-Foresty Centre and ICIPE comparing
groups of farmers using chemical
pesticides/fertilizers, with those not. There is an
increasing literature on the YIELD benefits of
ecological farming but very few studies show the
INCOME benefits to farmers, comparing the two
agricultural models. Remarkably, our report finds that
the average profitability of maize (per acre, per
year) for small farmers is three times greater for
farmers promoting 'push-pull' technology (ie, no use
of chemical pesticides) than for farmers using
pesticides. The income benefits are especially
large for women farmers.
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