Understanding the Trade-Offs Between Environmental Service Provision through Improved Fallows and Private Welfare Using Stated Preference Approach: A Case Study in Chongwe - Zambia

Elias Kuntashula and Eric Mungatana

Sustainable Agriculture Research, 2016, vol. 05, issue 3

Abstract: The trade-offs between environmental service (ES) provision through the uptake of improved fallows and private farmer welfare losses have rarely been evaluated. Unlike inorganic fertiliser, improved fallows provide ES in addition to improving the soil fertility. This study used contingent valuation methodologies to evaluate willingness to provide ES through improved fallows among 324 farmers in Chongwe district of Zambia. Given scenarios that improved fallows, unlike inorganic fertiliser, help in mitigating soil erosion and water pollution, more than 70% of the farmers were willing to supply these services through the technology. The willingness to be pro-fertiliser oriented was positively associated with cropped land sizes and soil fertility challenges and negatively associated with total farm size. In addition, for users of improved fallows, increases in per capita income increased the probability of willingness to embrace fertiliser. Group membership decreased the probability for the users’ willingness to embrace fertiliser. For the non-users, the probability of joining the association that would ensure blockage of an improved fallow policy decreased with maize productivity. For the few farmers, there was no significant difference in the willingness to pay (WTP) (t = 1.546, p = 0.136) to ensure availability of fertiliser or blocking a policy compelling uptake of improved fallows between the users (WTP = K1, 050,000, US$1 = K5, 000) and non-users (WTP= K1, 380,000) of the technology. The trade-off between ES provisions through improved fallows and loss in immediate private welfare by not embracing fertiliser was similar across the technology’ users divide. Therefore a payment for environmental services policy could target the farmers as a homogenous group.

Keywords: Agricultural Finance; Demand and Price Analysis; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/241767/files/P12-p124-141.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:ccsesa:241767

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.241767

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Sustainable Agriculture Research from Canadian Center of Science and Education
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().