Organic certification, agro-ecological practices and return on investment: Evidence from pineapple producers in Ghana

- Organic certification increases agro-ecological practice use.
- Agro-ecological practice use and return on investment have related nonlinear.
- Organic certification serves as a catalyst for the use of agro-ecological practices.
- Farmers need to surmount a low impact gap.

The recent empirical literature on economic sustainability of certified export crops shows that certification standards that enhance yields are important for improving farm revenues and household welfare. However, limited evidence exists on the impact of organic certification on the adoption of agro-ecological practices. In this study, we use unique farm-level data from pineapple producers in Ghana to examine the impact of organic certification on the use of agro-ecological practices such as organic fertilizers, organic pest and weed control, crop rotation, and soil and water conservation, as well as how using these measures affect farm outcomes such as return on investment. Our empirical results reveal that organic certification increases agro-ecological practice use, although from a very low starting point. Using a generalized propensity score approach, we show that there is a positive, but nonlinear relationship between the intensity of agro-ecological practice use and return on investment.