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<p>The over-reliance on chemical pesticides for crop pest control has raised serious concerns about their environmental and health impacts. Biological control agents (BCAs), including entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), offer safer and more sustainable alternatives. Despite promising experimental results, adoption of BCAs in sub-Saharan Africa remains limited. In Nigeria, EPNs are largely unknown to farmers, and no commercial production or importation system exists. This study investigates the sociocultural and institutional factors influencing farmers’ willingness to adopt EPNs as a biological control strategy. We surveyed 740 smallholder farmers across ten study locations (two per agroecological zone; n = 74 farmers per location) representing five major agroecological zones of Nigeria. The survey was done from May to August 2022. Awareness of EPNs was virtually absent across all locations (mean &lt; 0.5% per location). Willingness to adopt EPNs was reported by a mean of 60.4% of farmers per location. In logistic regression, willingness was significantly associated with prior biological control knowledge (OR 2.8; 95% CI 1.4–5.5; p = 0.003), positive EPN perception index score (OR 1.5 per scale unit; p &lt; 0.001), and extension contact in the preceding year (OR 1.9; 95% CI 1.2–3.0; p = 0.005). Major adoption barriers, reported as means across the ten locations, included lack of awareness (52.8%), resource accessibility concerns (52.0%), uncertainty about effectiveness (49.3%), and cost uncertainty (48.0%). Technical training and field demonstrations were the most requested support measures. This study provides the first comprehensive, evidence-based assessment of enabling conditions for EPN adoption in Nigeria. Scaling EPN use will require coordinated awareness campaigns, field demonstrations, strengthened extension capacity, and supportive supply and regulatory systems.</p>

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Can biological control become a scalable solution for crop pest management in Nigeria? A focus on entomopathogenic nematodes

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年8月1日

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  • Christopher Tobe Okolo,
  • Christian Borgemeister

摘要

The over-reliance on chemical pesticides for crop pest control has raised serious concerns about their environmental and health impacts. Biological control agents (BCAs), including entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), offer safer and more sustainable alternatives. Despite promising experimental results, adoption of BCAs in sub-Saharan Africa remains limited. In Nigeria, EPNs are largely unknown to farmers, and no commercial production or importation system exists. This study investigates the sociocultural and institutional factors influencing farmers’ willingness to adopt EPNs as a biological control strategy. We surveyed 740 smallholder farmers across ten study locations (two per agroecological zone; n = 74 farmers per location) representing five major agroecological zones of Nigeria. The survey was done from May to August 2022. Awareness of EPNs was virtually absent across all locations (mean < 0.5% per location). Willingness to adopt EPNs was reported by a mean of 60.4% of farmers per location. In logistic regression, willingness was significantly associated with prior biological control knowledge (OR 2.8; 95% CI 1.4–5.5; p = 0.003), positive EPN perception index score (OR 1.5 per scale unit; p < 0.001), and extension contact in the preceding year (OR 1.9; 95% CI 1.2–3.0; p = 0.005). Major adoption barriers, reported as means across the ten locations, included lack of awareness (52.8%), resource accessibility concerns (52.0%), uncertainty about effectiveness (49.3%), and cost uncertainty (48.0%). Technical training and field demonstrations were the most requested support measures. This study provides the first comprehensive, evidence-based assessment of enabling conditions for EPN adoption in Nigeria. Scaling EPN use will require coordinated awareness campaigns, field demonstrations, strengthened extension capacity, and supportive supply and regulatory systems.