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The excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture is one of the main sources of pollution globally. While a significant body of research has focused on analyzing the socioeconomic drivers of deforestation in the Amazon basin, far less attention has been paid to explaining why Amazonian people use chemicals in agricultural production. Using data from a household survey, this paper aims at analyzing the drivers of expenditure on chemical fertilizers and pesticides among Kichwa and mestizo colonist populations in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon. The results show that most households in the research area use chemicals, which seems to be related to most households engaged in the production of naranjilla , a citrus fruit that requires high amounts of pesticides to prosper in the Amazon. Expenditure on chemicals is principally driven by wealth, access to credit and land use patterns, with households with more land in crops spending more on fertilizers and pesticides. An important finding is that households receiving money from government social programs spend more on both chemical fertilizers and pesticides than non-recipient households. Ethnicity does not play any role in shaping expenditures on both chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Our results reflect that clear, consistent and coordinated policies are necessary to reconcile conservation and rural development in the Amazon, since, at present, ambiguous and even contradictory policies are not effective in achieving that goal. • Uses household survey data to analyze the socioeconomic determinants of expenditure on chemicals in the Ecuadorian Amazon. • Uses a multilevel regression to model expenditure on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. • Expenditure on chemicals is principally driven by wealth, access to credit and land use patterns. • Households benefitting from social programs spend more on chemicals. • Ethnicity plays no role in explaining expenditure on chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]