Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics
Working Papers in Economics,
University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics
No 400: Economics of Soil Conservation Adoption in High-Rainfall Areas of the Ethiopian Highlands
Menale Kassie (), Stein Holden (), Gunnar Köhlin () and Randy Bluffstone ()
Additional contact information
Menale Kassie: Environmental Economics Policy Forum for Ethiopia and Ethiopian Development Research Institute, Postal: P.O. Box 2479, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Stein Holden: Department of Economics and Resource management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Postal: P.O. Box 5033, 1430 Ås, Norway
Gunnar Köhlin: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: Box 640, SE 40530 GÖTEBORG
Randy Bluffstone: Department of Economics, Portland State University, Postal: P.O Box 752, Portland, Oregon 97207, USA
Abstract: This study measures the impact of fanya juu bunds (an important soil and water conservation technology and the most popular type of contour bund in east Africa) on the value of crop production in a high-rainfall area in the Ethiopian highlands using cross-sectional multiple plot observations. We applied switching regression, stochastic dominance analysis (SDA), and decomposition and propensity score matching methods to ensure robustness. The switching regression, SDA, and decomposition analyses relied on matched observations, which was important because regression and SDA often do not ensure that comparable plots with conservation technology (conserved) and plots without (unconserved) actually exist in the distribution of covariates. All models told a consistent story that the value of crop production for plots with bunds was lower than for plots without bunds. In addition, the yield decomposition results showed that, although there was little difference in endowments between conserved and unconserved plots, the returns to endowments were substantially higher for unconserved plots. Based on these findings, it was hard to avoid the conclusion that these technologies might reduce soil erosion and associated off-site effects, but they did so at the expense of poor farmers in the Ethiopian highlands. We concluded that unless productivity was increased—for example by increasing fodder grass production on bunds—fanya juu bunds reduced on-farm production and therefore could not be characterized as a “win-win” measure to reduce soil erosion.
Keywords: Ethiopia; soil conservation; matched data; decomposition
JEL-codes: C21; C23; Q12; Q15; Q16
36 pages, November 30, 2009
Full text files
21491 HTML file
Questions (including download problems) about the papers in this series should be directed to Jessica Oscarsson ()
Report other problems with accessing this service to Sune Karlsson ().
RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0400This page generated on 2024-11-14 18:33:27.