One of the main drivers of food insecurity is pests, which are estimated to cause around 40% of crop losses worldwide. We examine the food security effects of plant clinics, a novel agricultural extension model that aims to reduce crop losses due to pests through the provision of demand‐driven plant health diagnostic and advisory services to smallholder farmers. The study is based on survey data from maize‐growing households in Rwanda, where 66 plant clinics have been established. Using switching regression and matching techniques as well as various food security metrics, including the food insecurity experience scale, we find evidence that participation in plant clinics is significantly associated with a reduction in household food insecurity. For instance, among the participating households, plant clinics contribute to a decrease in the period of food shortage by one month and a reduction in the severity of food insecurity by 22 percentage points. We also show that these effects are more pronounced for female‐headed households. Overall, our findings suggest that plant clinics can play an important role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 2 of zero hunger.

中文翻译：

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植物诊所会改善家庭粮食安全吗？卢旺达的证据

粮食不安全的主要驱动力之一是虫害，据估计，虫害造成全球约40％的农作物损失。我们研究了植物诊所对食品安全的影响，这是一种新型的农业推广模式，旨在通过为小农提供需求驱动的植物健康诊断和咨询服务来减少由于有害生物造成的作物损失。这项研究基于卢旺达玉米种植户的调查数据，那里已经建立了66家工厂诊所。使用转换回归和匹配技术以及包括粮食不安全经验量表在内的各种粮食安全指标，我们发现有证据表明，参与植物诊所与减少家庭粮食不安全显着相关。例如，在参与的家庭中，工厂诊所有助于将粮食短缺期减少一个月，并将粮食不安全的严重程度降低22个百分点。我们还表明，对于以女性为户主的家庭，这些影响更为明显。总体而言，我们的发现表明，植物诊所可以在实现零饥饿的可持续发展目标2中发挥重要作用。