A subsample of 10 randomly chosen farmers in each treated and untreated area in Pinda was selected to store 5 kg of their maize cobs in an open-topped basket. The basket of commodity was placed in the same area of food storage as the main household stocks over the usual storage period (May to December 2001), and householders were instructed not to remove any cobs from the basket. The baskets were weighed every 4 weeks from May to December 2001. Maize cobs were assessed for rodent damage by counting the number of missing maize grains on 10 randomly chosen maize cobs from each basket every 4 weeks and calculating the percentage of missing grains per cob. Data from treated and untreated areas were evaluated using the non-parametric Mann–Whitney U-test.