Relationships among production systems, preschool nutritional status, and pesticide-related toxicity in seven ecuadorian communities: a multi-case study approach.

Background: Among small Andean potato farmers, greater pesticide use and better linkage to markets are promoted as ways to improve farm outputs and incomes. The health of household members is assumed to improve with higher incomes, although evidence to support such an assumption remains scarce.

Objective: Using a multidisciplinary approach, we sought to characterize agricultural systems producing potatoes and to assess relationships between these characteristics and farm household health indicators.