Heterogeneous multidimensional efficiency effects of agro-ecological pest management transition and intensification in smallholder systems: Evidence from mango fruit fly control in Kenya

Heterogeneous multidimensional efficiency effects of agro-ecological pest management transition and intensification in smallholder systems: Evidence from mango fruit fly control in Kenya | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Heterogeneous multidimensional efficiency effects of agro-ecological pest management transition and intensification in smallholder systems: Evidence from mango fruit fly control in Kenya Sulman Olieko Owili, David Jakinda Otieno, Evans Ligare Chimoita, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6895402/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 18 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Agro-ecological transition is an important step towards sustainable and resilient food systems in the face of systemic threats from climate-change-induced disturbances. In smallholder systems, the transition towards agro-ecological pest management (APM) offers the prospect of reconciling agronomic performance with environmental and social imperatives by replacing indiscriminate chemical applications with locally-derived biorational options. However, the efficiency implications of APM transitions remain insufficiently documented, particularly in smallholder systems and in relation to invasive alien pests that are prone to resurgence and reinfestation under suboptimal management. This paper evaluates whether the adoption and intensification of APM improve both technical and eco-efficiency in smallholder settings, with a focus on the Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis L.) in mango (Mangifera indica L.) orchards. We apply a latent class stochastic metafrontier model to a sample of 418 orchard managers from Makueni County, Kenya, selected through a multistage sampling procedure. This approach enables us to classify orchard managers into non-adopters, nonintensive adopters, and intensive adopters, and to compute meta-technical and meta-eco-efficiency scores, from which we derive an environmentally adjusted efficiency measure. We find no significant sample selection bias and treatment effects are estimated using a doubly robust Inverse-probability-weighted regression adjustment estimator. Intensive adoption had a positive average treatment effect (ATE) and average treatment effect on the treated (ATT) of 8.1% and 5.6%, respectively, whereas non-intensive adoption showed no significant effect (ATE = –1.1%, ATT = –1.5%). Efficiency effects were heterogeneous and inefficiency varied with orchard manager’s APM adoption intensity, education level, orchard prospects, group membership, and participation in knowledge co-creation activities. Policymakers and development practitioners should support farmers by institutionalising continuous learning and establishing multi-pronged participatory training platforms that use existing social networks. JEL Classification: C38 , D24 , Q12 , Q16 , Q57 agroecology agro-ecological pest management fruit fly technical efficiency eco-efficiency environmentally adjusted efficiency mango latent class stochastic metafrontier Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 06 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 04 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 22 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 15 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 12 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 06 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 21 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 02 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 01 Jul, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 30 Jun, 2025 Editor invited by journal 26 Jun, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 19 Jun, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 19 Jun, 2025 First submitted to journal 14 Jun, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6895402","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":528766241,"identity":"532fbd45-7c3f-43e4-8bb7-6a77fcd3de05","order_by":0,"name":"Sulman Olieko Owili","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA8UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACdsYGxgYgzQfifABiNnZCWpihWtiAmHEGiMFMUAtQJUwLMw9UBC/gZ2ZufDijoi6xTezws8c2v7bJ8zEzMH74mINbi2QzY7PhhjOHE9uk08yNc/tuG7YxMzBLztyGW4vBYcY2yYdtB4BaEsykc3tuMwK1sDHz4tfS/vNhG9Bh0unfpC17btsTo6WNcWMbM1BLjpk0w4/biQS1gPwiOePMYWOgljLJ3obbyW3MQBF8fuFnb3/4saeiTrZfOn2bxI8/t23ntzcf/PARjxZUwNgGJhuIVQ8Cf0hRPApGwSgYBSMFAADbVU07ie9mSQAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"University of Nairobi","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sulman","middleName":"Olieko","lastName":"Owili","suffix":""},{"id":528766243,"identity":"c9933641-b3de-4246-89e8-deb2a04b8c21","order_by":1,"name":"David Jakinda Otieno","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Nairobi","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"David","middleName":"Jakinda","lastName":"Otieno","suffix":""},{"id":528766245,"identity":"fd0784c5-fd3c-4c6b-bcd8-507bbd1cb1d4","order_by":2,"name":"Evans Ligare Chimoita","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Nairobi","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Evans","middleName":"Ligare","lastName":"Chimoita","suffix":""},{"id":528766246,"identity":"ac6cc991-2616-4c55-972d-fa9198a56d36","order_by":3,"name":"Frederick Philbert Baijukya","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"International Institute of Tropical Agriculture","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Frederick","middleName":"Philbert","lastName":"Baijukya","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-14 18:53:06","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6895402/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6895402/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":93534111,"identity":"9129c0ab-1a30-4279-9b3f-c6d9efb4cdb8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-15 00:00:28","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":5037075,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"mainspda1725.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6895402/v1_covered_da063670-4eb6-4c5e-aab5-1a8bac663847.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Heterogeneous multidimensional efficiency effects of agro-ecological pest management transition and intensification in smallholder systems: Evidence from mango fruit fly control in Kenya","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-agriculture","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Agriculture](https://www.springer.com/journal/44279)","snPcode":"44279","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/44279/3","title":"Discover Agriculture","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"agroecology, agro-ecological pest management, fruit fly, technical efficiency, eco-efficiency, environmentally adjusted efficiency, mango, latent class stochastic metafrontier","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6895402/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6895402/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eAgro-ecological transition is an important step towards sustainable and resilient food systems in the face of systemic threats from climate-change-induced disturbances. In smallholder systems, the transition towards agro-ecological pest\u0026nbsp;management (APM) offers the prospect of reconciling agronomic performance with environmental and social imperatives by replacing indiscriminate chemical applications with locally-derived biorational options. However, the efficiency\u0026nbsp;implications of APM transitions remain insufficiently documented, particularly in smallholder systems and in relation to invasive alien pests that are prone to resurgence and reinfestation under suboptimal management. This paper evaluates\u0026nbsp;whether the adoption and intensification of APM improve both technical and eco-efficiency in smallholder settings, with a focus on the Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis L.) in mango (Mangifera indica L.) orchards. We apply a latent class stochastic metafrontier model to a sample of 418 orchard managers from Makueni County, Kenya, selected through a multistage sampling procedure. 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