Economic analysis of spillover effects of an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy for suppression of mango fruit fly in Kenya

The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) recently developed and disseminated an integrated pest management (IPM) strategy to suppress the invasive oriental fruit fly species Bactrocera dorsalis in mango-growing communities in Africa. While the economic benefits of the strategy in mango production have been established, the cross-commodity benefits have not been assessed, despite evidence of the target fruit fly species' effect on a wide range of cultivated host crops. Using propensity score matching, we analysed data on 371 households obtained from a survey of an icipe project in Kenya and sought to determine whether applying an IPM strategy for fruit fly had a spillover effect on gross margins. We focused on four alternative cultivated hosts of B. dorsalis, namely avocado, pawpaw, citrus and banana. We found positive and significant cross-commodity spillover effects in respect of employing the IPM strategy for fruit fly targeting pawpaw and citrus, suggesting a wide scope for IPM investment in Kenya and other fruit-producing regions in sub-Saharan Africa.