Addressing the root causes of poverty and environmental degradation through restoring degraded areas using proper soil and water conservation, reforestation, afforestation, grazing land management practices, etc., has been one of the development priorities in Ethiopia. To this end, community-led watershed-based land restoration and natural resource management (NRM) programs have been imple-mented and have brought some desired changes in the landscapes of Tigray, northern Ethiopia. However, the land restoration successes have not been studied for scaling up. The aim of this chapter is to review the participatory and integrated watershed-based land restoration efforts and practices in northern Ethiopia and to draw lessons for better understanding so as to scale out to similar agro-ecologies. This chapter reviews the historical process of landscape restoration in Tigray and discusses key factors, especially, direct and indirect benefits of land restoration, which contributed to sustainable adoption and scale-up. Comparing the land restoration approaches before and after the 2000s, this chapter highlights the importance of enabling institutions including coordinating programs and policies for extension approaches among key stakeholders on watershed restoration, as well as establishing and enacting local bylaws for the mobilization of community members, including women, the elderly, and youth.
Tag: cost analysis
A Bayesian network framework for project cost, benefit and risk analysis with an agricultural development case study
Successful implementation of major projects requires careful management of uncertainty and risk. Yet such uncertainty is rarely effectively calculated when analysing project costs and benefits. This paper presents a Bayesian Network (BN) modelling framework to calculate the costs, benefits, and return on investment of a project over a specified time period, allowing for changing circumstances and trade-offs. The framework uses hybrid and dynamic BNs containing both discrete and continuous variables over multiple time stages. The BN framework calculates costs and benefits based on multiple causal factors including the effects of individual risk factors, budget deficits, and time value discounting, taking account of the parameter uncertainty of all continuous variables. The framework can serve as the basis for various project management assessments and is illustrated using a case study of an agricultural development project. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
An ecological and economic analysis of phosphorus replenishment for Vihiga Division, western Kenya
Soil scientists have identified phosphorus deficiency as a major constraint to improved maize and bean yields in the highland areas of western Kenya. This study evaluated the economic costs and benefits as well as ecological impacts of different phosphorus replenishment strategies from both a farm-level and a regional perspective using an economic-ecological simulation model. The study associated soil properties with representative farm types and showed how the impact of soil fertility replenishment depends on initial soil conditions as well as the resource endowment level of the farmer. Two hundred and ten different strategies for phosphorus replenishment with different sources of phosphorus applied at various levels were analyzed for seven farm types. The farm-level analysis showed that phosphorus replenishment was generally profitable for farms with low and medium pH (4.9–6.2) soils, but not for farms with high pH (6.2–7.0) soils. A regional analysis showed that benefits were higher when phosphorus replenishment was targeted to farmers with low and medium resource endowments on low and medium pH soils rather than spread evenly across all soil and farm types.
An economic view on the costs and benefits of forest restoration
This chapter focuses on assessing the costs and benefits of forest restoration. It provides key findings and knowledge gaps drawing on a review of available studies and data, assessing the costs and benefits of forest restoration across six different restoration options. It looks at both financial analysis of the costs incurred and benefits accrued by private actors or enterprises and wider economic analysis of the returns of forest restoration to society at large. It shows that while financial costs and benefits vary widely across and within forest restoration options, almost all forest restoration options are financially attractive. Natural regeneration options are the least costly options, followed by tree plantations. Agroforestry systems are most costly, requiring higher upfront investments, yet may yield higher economic and ecological benefits depending on the agroforestry system. There are several trade-offs associated with forest restoration, mainly regarding the financial, socioeconomic, and environmental benefits of restoration.
Modest forest and welfare gains from initiatives for reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation
Reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) projects and programmes promise to deliver performance-based, cost-effective climate change mitigation. Fifteen years after its conception, we analysed the rigorous counterfactual-based evidence for environmental and welfare effects from such national and subnational initiatives, along with a Theory of Change. Using machine-learning tools for literature review, we compared 32 quantitative studies including 26 primary forest-related and 12 socioeconomic effect sizes. Average environmental impacts were positively significant yet moderately sized, comparable to impacts from other conservation tools, and mostly impermanent over time. Socioeconomic impacts were welfare-neutral to slightly positive. Moderator analysis showed that environmental additionality was likely restricted by project proponents’ adverse spatial targeting of low-threat areas. Scarce funding flows from carbon markets and ill-enforced conditionality probably also limited impacts. Hence, important policy and implementation lessons emerge for boosting effectiveness in the current global transition towards larger-scale, jurisdictional action.
Financial Revenues from Timber Harvesting in Secondary Cloud Forests: A Case Study from Mexico
Secondary forests, i.e., those arising after the clearance and abandonment of previously forested land, dominate tropical forest landscapes, rapidly sequester carbon, provide essential ecosystem services and are prone to re-clearance. Secondary cloud forests (SCF) play a particularly critical role for biodiversity and hydrological regulation. To promote their persistence, sustainable management is necessary; however, there is limited information regarding SCF potential for sustainable timber production. We estimated the revenue from selective timber harvesting in a pilot study in a 20-year-old SCF in Mexico. We explored the effect of the harvested timber volume, harvesting costs and price of forest products on the Net Present Value (NPV). Small landowners could only extract 17% of the harvestable standing volume due to a high number of small trees, a high (34%) volume of non-timber species, and their limited capacity to process timber. A third of the income derived from fuelwood, and overall financial returns were negative. A positive NPV may result from a 20% harvesting intensity, a 10% reduction in harvesting costs, or a 20% increase in stumpage price. Our results warrant the development of forest policy instruments and economic incentives for small-scale SCF landowners to alleviate poverty and meet national and global restoration and climate mitigation goals.
Qualitative cost-benefit analysis of using pesticidal plants in smallholder crop protection
Assessing the potential drivers of farmers using pesticidal plants for crop protection is essential for wider adoption. However, few studies have focused on collaborative assessments of the underlying trade-offs when using pesticidal plant extracts for pest control. Smallholder farmers in northern Tanzania involved in farmer driven research assessing pesticidal plants evaluated the costs, benefits, trade-offs and areas for future investment. A questionnaire was used to collect demographic information from 77 farmers and their views on pest problems and crop protection in common bean production. This was followed by small focus group discussions (n = 9) using a participatory framework to elucidate the costs and benefits of adopting pesticidal plant technology. A multiple correspondence analysis showed that pesticidal plant use was associated with men greater than 50 years old, and synthetic pesticide use was associated with younger aged farmers and women. Farmers who used synthetics generally did not report the presence of common pest species found in common bean production, whereas farmers who used pesticidal plants were associated with more frequent reports of pest species. This participatory cost–benefit analysis highlighted that tools and processing challenges were the main costs to using pesticidal plants. The main benefit reported when using pesticidal plants was a general improvement to family health. Farmers expressed overall a positive outcome when using pesticidal plants for crop protection and recommended that future investments focus on improving access to tools and education regarding plant processing and extraction to improve uptake of the technology by smallholder farmers. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Analysis of challenges, costs, and governance alternative for peatland restoration in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
Restoration of degraded tropical peatland is considered to be one of the most cost-efficient measures in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and conserving biodiversity. Although benefits of restoration are often expected to substantially exceed the costs, most restoration projects are being carried out without clear cost analyses. This study provides empirical assessments of challenges and costs of the four peatland restoration projects managed by different proponents in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia based on key informant interviews, a follow-up survey and document analyses. We also reviewed existing policy contexts that can address some of the challenges to propose a governance alternative to sustain peatland restoration efforts. We found that many ecological challenges of peatland restoration projects were created by drainage canals leaving the peat to be dry and fire prone. Peatland degradation has been exacerbated by human activities and human-caused fires, and restoration efforts have faced many challenges due to lack of secure funding and complexity of governing the project implementation. The key informants we interviewed easily recognized direct costs for implementing restoration activities, but often left out indirect costs of addressing social challenges, such as expenses to engage local communities, in their assessments of the costs. Although our accounting is far from exhaustive, we found that indirect costs can add up to half of the total cost of peatland restoration projects. Current funding mechanisms for these projects mostly rely on international donors and private sectors, which make the long-term sustainability of the projects questionable. We argue that hybrid governance for a green business model, such as restoration and ecosystem services enterprises, with active participation from the public sector should be mainstreamed. The accounting framework developed in this study can be applied in other projects and should be further revised to systematically assess cost-effectiveness of restoration interventions.
International policy opportunities for true cost accounting in food and agriculture
The international policy level with respect to True Cost Accounting (TCA) is relatively undeveloped but pivotal. Many of the current externalities in the global food systems stem from the embrace of “cheap food” as a political necessity for national governments; addressing the fallacy in this paradigm will require greater global recognition of the determinants of healthy diets for all. International trade in foodstuffs also merits global attention from the standpoint of costs and benefits of externalities. An emerging feature of global food systems is the existence of multiple, insidious forms of visible and invisible flows of natural resources and externalities, across borders and continents. Building on a growing understanding of TCA in food and agriculture, the concept has been brought forward in recent policy venues, which are featured here.
Cost-benefit analysis of landscape restoration: A stocktake
With the increase in demand for landscape restoration and the limited resources available, there is need for economic analysis of landscape restoration to help prioritize investment of the resources. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is a commonly applied tool in the economic analysis of landscape restoration, yet its application seems limited and varied. We undertake a review of CBA applications to understand the breadth, depth, and gaps. Of the 2056 studies identified in literature search, only 31 met our predefined criteria. Three studies offered a global perspective, while more than half were conducted in Africa. Only six countries benefit from at least 2 CBA studies, including Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya, Vietnam, South Africa, and Tanzania. About 60% focus on agroforestry, afforestation, reforestation, and assisted natural regeneration practices. Only 16% covered all cost categories, with opportunity costs being the least covered. Eighty-four percent apply direct use values, while only 16% captured the non-use values. Similarly, lack of reliable data due to predictions and assumptions involved in data generation influenced CBA results. The limited number of eligible studies and the weaknesses identified hereinabove suggest strong need for improvements in both the quantity and quality of CBA to better inform planning, policies, and investments in landscape restoration. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.