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Carbon sequestration and farm income in West Africa: Identifying best management practices for smallholder agricultural systems in northern Ghana

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  • González-Estrada, Ernesto
  • Rodriguez, Luis C.
  • Walen, Valerie K.
  • Naab, Jesse B.
  • Koo, Jawoo
  • Jones, James W.
  • Herrero, Mario
  • Thornton, Philip K.

Abstract

The interest in agricultural soils as global storage of carbon has increased in recent years, along with the prospect of farmers' participation in payment schemes under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto protocol. Thus, a better understanding of agricultural practices that can increase soil carbon and enhance the livelihoods of farmers is necessary, particularly in smallholder farming systems of West Africa. This study evaluates different crop management strategies both by their capacity to sequester carbon in agricultural soils and by their contribution to household income. A case study in Wa, Upper West Region of Ghana is used to test 48 different cropping strategies by means of a crop simulation model and a household-level multiple-criteria optimisation model. Each cropping strategy is evaluated after a 20-year simulation period by its capacity to accrue carbon in the soil, by its economic performance at the plot-level, and by its contribution to the farm income with and without carbon payments. A set of best management practices that concomitantly increase soil carbon and farm income are identified and classified by their cost of investment.

Suggested Citation

  • González-Estrada, Ernesto & Rodriguez, Luis C. & Walen, Valerie K. & Naab, Jesse B. & Koo, Jawoo & Jones, James W. & Herrero, Mario & Thornton, Philip K., 2008. "Carbon sequestration and farm income in West Africa: Identifying best management practices for smallholder agricultural systems in northern Ghana," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 492-502, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:67:y:2008:i:3:p:492-502
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    Cited by:

    1. Anderson, Blake & M'Gonigle, Michael, 2012. "Does ecological economics have a future?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 37-48.
    2. De Pinto, Alessandro & Robertson, Richard D., 2010. "Adoption Of Carbon-Sequestering Practices In Developing Countries And Risk-Averse Farmers," 2010: Climate Change in World Agriculture: Mitigation, Adaptation, Trade and Food Security, June 2010, Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Germany 91272, International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.
    3. Thornton, P.K. & van de Steeg, J. & Notenbaert, A. & Herrero, M., 2009. "The impacts of climate change on livestock and livestock systems in developing countries: A review of what we know and what we need to know," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 113-127, July.
    4. Richard Ansong Omari & Sonoko Dorothea Bellingrath-Kimura & Elsie Sarkodee Addo & Yosei Oikawa & Yoshiharu Fujii, 2018. "Exploring Farmers’ Indigenous Knowledge of Soil Quality and Fertility Management Practices in Selected Farming Communities of the Guinea Savannah Agro-Ecological Zone of Ghana," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-16, March.
    5. repec:bla:afrdev:v:29:y:2017:i:s2:p:163-178 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Elizabeth Bryan & Claudia Ringler & Barrack Okoba & Jawoo Koo & Mario Herrero & Silvia Silvestri, 2013. "Can agriculture support climate change adaptation, greenhouse gas mitigation and rural livelihoods? insights from Kenya," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 151-165, May.
    7. Tang, Kai & He, Chuantian & Ma, Chunbo & Wang, Dong, 2019. "Does carbon farming provide a cost-effective option to mitigate GHG emissions? Evidence from China," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 63(3), July.
    8. Zingore, S. & González-Estrada, E. & Delve, R.J. & Herrero, M. & Dimes, J.P. & Giller, K.E., 2009. "An integrated evaluation of strategies for enhancing productivity and profitability of resource-constrained smallholder farms in Zimbabwe," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 101(1-2), pages 57-68, June.
    9. Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline & Sébastien Roussel, 2010. "Contract Design to Sequester Carbon in Agricultural Soils," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 10060, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    10. Li, Ziwei & Qi, Zhiming & Jiang, Qianjing & Sima, Nathan, 2021. "An economic analysis software for evaluating best management practices to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from cropland," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    11. Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline & Sebastien Roussel, 2014. "Payments for Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Soils: Incentives for the Future and Rewards for the Past," CEEES Paper Series CE3S-01/14, European University at St. Petersburg, Department of Economics.
    12. Tang, Kai & Hailu, Atakelty & Kragt, Marit E. & Ma, Chunbo, 2018. "The response of broadacre mixed crop-livestock farmers to agricultural greenhouse gas abatement incentives," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 11-20.
    13. Kneteman Christie & Green Andrew, 2009. "The Twin Failures of the CDM: Recommendations for the "Copenhagen Protocol"," The Law and Development Review, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 225-256, October.
    14. Larson, Donald F. & Dinar, Ariel & Frisbie, J. Aapris, 2011. "Agriculture and the clean development mechanism," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5621, The World Bank.
    15. Thornton, Philip K. & Jones, Peter G. & Alagarswamy, Gopal & Andresen, Jeff & Herrero, Mario, 2010. "Adapting to climate change: Agricultural system and household impacts in East Africa," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(2), pages 73-82, February.
    16. Bryan, Elizabeth & De Pinto, Alessandro & Ringler, Claudia & Asuming-Brempong, Samuel & Bendaoud, Luís Artur & Givá, Nicia & Anh, Dao The & Mai, Nguyen Ngoc & Asenso-Okyere, Kwadwo & Sarpong, Daniel, 2012. "Institutions for agricultural mitigation: Potential and challenges in four countries," CAPRi working papers 107, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

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