Integrated pest management (IPM) potentially reduces pesticide use and costs of agricultural production. However, IPM is knowledge intensive and its spread may dissipate over time due to knowledge required for its effective implementation and to competing messages about pest control. We examine IPM spread and adoption several years after formal intensive IPM outreach efforts ceased in a potato‐producing region in Ecuador. We describe adoption patterns and sources of IPM knowledge in 2012 and compare them with patterns that existed when outreach ceased in 2003. Results show that IPM adoption continues in the area but with a lower proportion of farmers fully adopting all practices and a higher proportion adopting low to moderate levels as compared to 2003. Almost all potato farmers in the area use some IPM practices, reflecting a major increase in IPM use. Farmer‐to‐farmer spread has supplanted formal training and outreach mechanisms. IPM adoption significantly lowers pesticide use and saves production costs for adopters.

This study measures the effect of text message receipt on behavioral change by Ecuadorean blackberry farmers. We examine whether text messages affect knowledge about specific technologies or serve as reminders to farmers to employ practices as part of their crop management strategy. Drawing from well-known theories of behavioral change, we identify pathways relevant to technology adoption. We then describe results from a randomized experiment and measure the impact of the intervention through these pathways. Results suggest that in the blackberry context, timely text messages remind farmers about recommended practices and increase adoption. Effects on knowledge enhancement are not significant.

No abstract

Since the initial outbreak in December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in more than four million deaths worldwide. Ecuador initially experienced one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the world. The pandemic quickly overwhelmed health care systems resulting in excess deaths of 37 000 from March to October, 2020. The public health measures taken to stop the spread of the virus had a devastating impact on the economy. There was a sharp contraction (7.8%) in Ecuador’s GDP in 2020. Furthermore, income poverty and inequality increased dramatically. The lasting effects of the pandemic will be harder to overcome. This article recounts and analyzes the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador, to draw lessons from this complex experience, and from the benefit of limited but important successes. We also aim to provide suggestions for best practices moving forward.

No abstract