Do Farmers Participating in Short Food Supply Chains Use Less Pesticides? Evidence from France

Pierre Chiaverina, Sophie Drogué and Florence Jacquet

Ecological Economics, 2024, vol. 216, issue C

Abstract: Proponents of short food supply chains (SFSC) have lauded their environmental benefits. Nevertheless, most studies on SFSCs have focused on their climate impact, while the synthetic pesticide use by farmers participating in SFSCs has received little research attention. In this study, we investigate the effect of farmers' involvement in different SFSC channels on synthetic pesticide use and crop yields. This study relies on data obtained from the 2020 French agricultural census and a 2018 French national survey on the phytosanitary practices of representative market gardeners. This paper uses a multinomial endogenous treatment effect model in order to account for endogeneity. We demonstrate that the effect of SFSC participation on farmers' synthetic pesticide use varies depending on the type of SFSC channel employed. Farmers who sell part of their vegetable crops through direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels use significantly fewer synthetic pesticides than those who only sell their crops through long food supply chains (LFSC). However, there is no evidence that farmers involved in direct-to-retailer (DTR) channels use significantly fewer synthetic pesticides. In addition, we have not found any evidence that SFSC participation decreases crop yields.

Keywords: Pesticides; Short food supply chains; Local food systems; Multinomial endogenous switching/treatment regression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Do farmers participating in short food supply chains use less pesticides? Evidence from France (2024)
Working Paper: Do farmers participating in short food supply chains use less pesticides? Evidence from France (2023)
Working Paper: Do farmers participating in short food supply chains use less pesticides? Evidences from France (2022)
Working Paper: Do farmers participating in short food supply chains use less pesticides? Evidences from France (2022)
Working Paper: Do farmers participating in short food supply chains use less pesticides? Evidences from France (2022)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:216:y:2024:i:c:s0921800923002975

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.108034

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