Payments for Ecosystem Services, Poverty and Sustainability: The Case of Agricultural Soil Carbon Sequestration

John M. Antle and Jetse J. Stoorvogel
Additional contact information
John M. Antle: Montana State University
Jetse J. Stoorvogel: Wageningen University

Chapter 7 in Payment for Environmental Services in Agricultural Landscapes, 2009, pp 133-161 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract This chapter explores the potential impacts of payments for ecosystem services on poverty and sustainability of farm households, using the example of agricultural soil carbon sequestration. Economic analysis shows that there is a variety of technical and economic factors affecting adoption of practices that increase soil carbon and their impacts on poverty, hence, the net effect of these factors is an empirical question. The evidence suggests that carbon payments could have a positive impact on the sustainability of production systems while also raising incomes and reducing poverty. However, carbon contracts are found to have only modest impacts on poverty, even at relatively high carbon prices. Moreover, the participation of poor farmers in carbon contracts is likely to be constrained by the same economic and institutional factors that have inhibited their use of more productive, more sustainable practices in the first place. Thus, payments for ecosystem services are most likely to have a positive impact on poverty and sustainability when they are implemented in an enabling economic and institutional environment.

Keywords: Ecosystem Service; Transaction Cost; Food Insecurity; Carbon Sequestration; Soil Carbon (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

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:spr:nrmchp:978-0-387-72971-8_7

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9780387729718

DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-72971-8_7

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Natural Resource Management and Policy from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().