IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agisys/v103y2010i3p153-160.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social costs and incentives for optimal control of soil nutrient depletion in the central highlands of Ethiopia

Author

Listed:
  • Yirga, Chillot
  • Hassan, Rashid M.

Abstract

This study analysed trade-offs between short- and long-term objectives of soil use by smallholder teff farmers in Ethiopia. Compared to socially optimal solutions it was found that smallholder farmers discount the future at higher private rates leading to overexploitation of soil nutrients. Current soil conservation efforts, however, are well above static optimization levels suggesting smallholder farmers consider the long-term (dynamic) costs of soil degradation. There is evidence of high social gains from better utilization of soil resources through appropriate policy such as tenure security, to improve incentives for smallholder farmers to adjust input use towards socially desirable dynamic optimization levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Yirga, Chillot & Hassan, Rashid M., 2010. "Social costs and incentives for optimal control of soil nutrient depletion in the central highlands of Ethiopia," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(3), pages 153-160, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:103:y:2010:i:3:p:153-160
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308-521X(09)00123-1
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Suresh Chandra Babu & Arne Hallam & B. Rajasekaran, 1995. "Dynamic modelling of agroforestry and soil fertility interactions: implications for multi‐disciplinary research policy," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 13(2), pages 125-135, November.
    2. Renan U. Goetz, 1997. "Diversification in Agricultural Production: A Dynamic Model of Optimal Cropping to Manage Soil Erosion," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(2), pages 341-356.
    3. Brekke, Kjell Arne & Iversen, Vegard & Aune, Jens B., 1999. "Tanzania's soil wealth," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(3), pages 333-356, July.
    4. Holden, Stein T. & Shiferaw, Bekele & Wik, Mette, 1998. "Poverty, market imperfections and time preferences: of relevance for environmental policy?," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(1), pages 105-130, February.
    5. Kenneth E. McConnell, 1983. "An Economic Model of Soil Conservation," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 65(1), pages 83-89.
    6. Shiferaw, Bekele & Holden, Stein, 1999. "Soil Erosion and Smallholders' Conservation Decisions in the Highlands of Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 739-752, April.
    7. Shiferaw, Bekele & Holden, Stein T., 2001. "Farm-level benefits to investments for mitigating land degradation: empirical evidence from Ethiopia," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 6(3), pages 335-358, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Loos, T. & Sariyev, O. & Zeller, M., 2018. "The effect of gendered decision-making considering all household members on the adoption of crop rotation and livelihood outcomes in Ethiopia," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277120, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Hassan, R.M. & Crafford, J.G., 2015. "Measuring the contribution of ecological composition and functional services of ecosystems to the dynamics of KwaZulu-Natal coast fisheries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 306-313.
    3. Issanchou, Alice, 2016. "Soil resource, at the core of competitiveness and sustainability issues in agriculture: an economic approach," Working Papers 230002, Institut National de la recherche Agronomique (INRA), Departement Sciences Sociales, Agriculture et Alimentation, Espace et Environnement (SAE2).
    4. Kibret, K. S. & Haileslassie, Amare & Mekuria Bori, Wolde & Schmitter, Petra, 2020. "Multicriteria decision-support system to assess the potential of exclosure-based conservation in Ethiopia," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 1-15.().
    5. Alice Issanchou, 2016. "Soil resource, at the core of competitiveness and sustainability issues in agriculture: an economic approach," Working Papers SMART 16-01, INRAE UMR SMART.
    6. Amare Haileslassie & Wolde Mekuria & Petra Schmitter & Stefan Uhlenbrook & Eva Ludi, 2020. "Changing Agricultural Landscapes in Ethiopia: Examining Application of Adaptive Management Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-19, October.
    7. Yigezu, Yigezu A. & Tizale, Chilot Y. & Aw-Hassan, Aden, 2015. "Modeling Farmers’ Adoption Decisions of Multiple Crop Technologies: The Case of Barley and Potatoes in Ethiopia," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211867, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Emerton, Lucy & Snyder, Katherine A., 2018. "Rethinking sustainable land management planning: Understanding the social and economic drivers of farmer decision-making in Africa," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 684-694.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Teddie Nakhumwa & Rashid Hassan, 2012. "Optimal Management of Soil Quality Stocks and Long-Term Consequences of Land Degradation for Smallholder Farmers in Malawi," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 52(3), pages 415-433, July.
    2. Shiferaw, Bekele & Holden, Stein T., 2000. "Policy instruments for sustainable land management: the case of highland smallholders in Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 217-232, April.
    3. Ekbom, Anders & Brown, Gardner M. & Sterner, Thomas, 2009. "Muddy Waters: Soil Erosion and Downstream Externalities," Working Papers in Economics 341, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    4. Ekbom, Anders, 2009. "Determinants of Soil Capital," Working Papers in Economics 339, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    5. Bond, Craig A. & Farzin, Y. Hossein, 2004. "A Portfolio Of Nutrients: Soil And Sustainability," 2004 Annual meeting, August 1-4, Denver, CO 20035, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    6. Wiebe, Keith D., 2003. "Linking Land Quality, Agricultural Productivity, And Food Security," Agricultural Economic Reports 34073, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    7. World Bank, 2007. "Determinants of the Adoption of Sustainable Land Management Practices and Their Impacts in the Ethiopian Highlands," World Bank Publications - Reports 7938, The World Bank Group.
    8. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing, 2006. "Tenure security and land-related investment: Evidence from Ethiopia," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(5), pages 1245-1277, July.
    9. Gilles Lafforgue & Walid Oueslati, 2007. "Optimal soil management and environmental policy," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 17(3), pages 1-10.
    10. Brady, Mark & Hedlund, Katarina & Cong, Rong-Gang & Hemerik, Lia & Hotes, Stefan & Machado, Stephen & Mattsson, Lennart & Schulz, Elke & Thomsen, Ingrid K., 2015. "Valuing Supporting Soil Ecosystem Services in Agriculture: a Natural Capital Approach," MPRA Paper 112303, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Amrita Chatterjee & Arpita Ghose, 2016. "A dynamic economic model of soil conservation and drought tolerance involving genetically modified crops," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 18(1), pages 40-66, October.
    12. Nkonya, Ephraim M. & Barkley, Andrew P. & Hamilton, Stephen F. & Bernardo, Daniel J., 1999. "Environmental And Economic Impacts Of Soil Erosion And Fertility Mining In Northern Tanzania," 1999 Annual meeting, August 8-11, Nashville, TN 21623, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    13. Gebremedhin, Berhanu & Swinton, Scott M., 2003. "Investment in soil conservation in northern Ethiopia: the role of land tenure security and public programs," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 69-84, July.
    14. Kabubo-Mariara, Jane, 2007. "Land conservation and tenure security in Kenya: Boserup's hypothesis revisited," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 25-35, October.
    15. Holden, Stein T., 2018. "The Economics of Fertilizer Subsidies," CLTS Working Papers 9/18, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 16 Oct 2019.
    16. Amrita Chatterjee & Arpita Ghose, 2015. "A Dynamic Economic Model of Soil Conservation Involving Genetically Modified Crop," Working Papers id:6623, eSocialSciences.
    17. Holden, Stein & Shiferaw, Bekele, 2004. "Land degradation, drought and food security in a less-favoured area in the Ethiopian highlands: a bio-economic model with market imperfections," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 31-49, January.
    18. Shively, Gerald E., 2001. "Poverty, consumption risk, and soil conservation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 267-290, August.
    19. Cacho, Oscar J., 1999. "Valuing Agroforestry In The Presence Of Land Degradation," Working Papers 12931, University of New England, School of Economics.
    20. Birungi, Patrick & Hassan, Rashid M., 2010. "Poverty, property rights and land management in Uganda," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 4(1), pages 1-22, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:103:y:2010:i:3:p:153-160. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agsy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.