Designing local institutions for cooperative pest management to underpin market access: the case of industry-driven fruit fly area-wide management

Abstract

Area-wide management of mobile pests offers advantages over<br />uncoordinated farm-by-farm efforts through increased effectiveness of pest<br />control and by reducing the need for pesticides. The literature about area-wide pest<br />management focuses predominantly on the technical aspects of these programs,<br />but tends to neglect the importance of social and institutional aspects. In this<br />article the eight design principles for robust common-pool resource institutions<br />are applied to industry-driven area-wide pest management. Three case studies<br />are compared to gain insight about the social and institutional aspects that affect<br />the success of these undertakings. These cases are focused on Queensland Fruit<br />Fly control to underpin market access. Growers face a particular challenge to<br />gain support from town residents, as backyard fruit trees can be pest breeding<br />spots. The paper illustrates that social aspects – such as heterogeneous incentives,<br />social capital and the ratio between town residents and main beneficiary growers<br />– influence the ease of which the design principles can be applied. Market access<br />opportunities impact the ratio of cost and benefits to different participants. The<br />paper concludes that disconnecting the technical aspects of successful programs<br />from the social and institutional aspects in which they are embedded can create<br />unrealistic expectations in socially different regions that intend to replicate these<br />programs.