Abstract
In many developing countries, incentives for pesticide use often conflict with efforts to ensure the rational and safe use of agrochemicals. This paper analyzes agricultural credit requirements that obligate farmers to use large inputs of pesticides. It discusses the rationale and background for these kinds of agrochemical incentives and gives specific examples of quantities of chemicals required from bank guidelines in Central America. It is argued that this policy is inappropriate for the interests of both farmers and the wider public, for several reasons, which are summarized. Policy changes, such as eliminating the requirements for chemicals and establishing incentives for Integrated Pest Management, are suggested in the final part of the article.
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Additional information
Lori Ann Thrupp is presently Program Director for Sustainable Agriculture (a senior associate) in the Center for International Development and Environment at the World Resources Institute. Previously (from 1988–90), she was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of California, Berkeley (in the Energy and Resources Program) working on the political economy of natural resource management and sustainable agriculture in Central America. Her previous professional experiences include consulting, teaching, and research on natural resource issues and agroecology for organizations such as: Organization of Tropical Studies, International Institute of Environment and Development, Resources for the Future, U.S. Agency for International Development, Intermediate Technology Development Group, and the Worldwatch Institute. She has a PhD (1988) and MPhil (1983) in Development Studies (specializing in Natural Resource Management) from Sussex University, and a BA (1980) in Human Biology and Latin American Studies from Stanford University. She has received fellowships and scholarships from: Ciriacy-Wantrup Fellowship, Fulbright, Marshall, National Wildlife Federation, and Dudley Seers Fund. She is a co-author of a book entitledEl Uso de los Plaguicidas en Costa Rica, co-editor of a book entitledFarmer First: Farmer Innovation and Agricultural Research (with Robert Chambers and Arnold Pacey), and has many published articles in both English and Spanish. Her interests include occupational health and environmental policy, as well as resource management and sustainable agriculture/development.
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Thrupp, L.A. Inappropriate incentives for pesticide use: Agricultural credit requirements in developing countries. Agric Hum Values 7, 62–69 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01557311
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01557311