Mosquito Nets Increase Agricultural Productivity

Mosquito nets have saved millions of lives since they have been widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. And now a study in Zambia has shown that they also increase the local harvest.

The one year study of a farming community in Zambia demonstrated that a programme of subsidised net distribution yielded important economic benefits to rural communities due to preventative health investment.

When given access to free nets a typical harvest increased by 14.7%. 

Bednets — good for health and good for the harvest.

Health and Agricultural Productivity: Evidence from Zambia; Fink, G. and Masiye, F. Journal of Health Economics 42, 151-164, (2015).

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167629615000521?via%3Dihub