Tropentag, October 11 - 13, 2006 in Bonn "Prosperity and Poverty in a Globalized World – Challenges for Agricultural Research"

Impact Assessment of Farmer Field School on Cotton Production in Asia: a Cross Country Comparison

¹Leibniz Universität Hannover, Development and Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Economics and Mangement, Germany
²Kasetsart University, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Faculty of Economics, Thailand

Abstract

From 2000 to 2004, Food and Agricultural Organisation of United Nations (FAO) was supporting the Farmer Field School (FFS) project on the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) training farmers under “FAO-EU IPM Programme for Cotton in Asia”. The major purpose of the programme is detoxifying, existing pest control strategies, and replacing them with more sustainable, environmentally friendly cotton production technologies. In addition, the programme also develops, implements, and evaluates sustainable farmer education program.

The impact of FFS on cotton production was assessed by many studies on individual country level. Results varied considerably according to the setting, the evaluation methods and the yardstick used to assess impact. In addition, whether the investment in the programme is worth to the society is an interesting question. Hence, in this study will be an alternative choice to confirm the impact results.

The objective of this study is to assess and compare the impact of FFS on productivity and efficiency of cotton production in three major cotton producing countries in Asia, namely are India, Pakistan, and China. Farm level panel data were collected during the year 2000 to 2003, organised and supported by “FAO-EU IPM Programme for Cotton in Asia”. Baseline surveys were conducted before the start of training (India and China is year 2000, and Pakistan is year 2001) and repeated in the year after the FFS participated.

A methodology applying the “difference in difference” concept will be used in this study to evaluate the impact of FFS using impact parameters like pesticide cost, yield, gross margin, and net farm benefit. The model will be measured in each group of FFS pre and post-training.

Keywords: Cotton, different in different model, impact assessment, IPM

Contact Address: Hermann Waibel, Leibniz-University Hannover, Development and Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Königsworther Platz 1, 30167 Hannover, Germany, e-mail: waibelifgb.uni-hannover.de