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This paper reports results from a study of resource degradation and conservation behavior of peasant households in a degraded part of the Ethiopian highlands. Peasant households' choice of conservation technologies is modeled as a two-stage process: recognition of the erosion problem, and adoption and level of use of control practices. An ordinal logit model is used to explain parcel-level perception of the threat of the erosion problem and the extent of use of conservation practices. Results show the importance of perception of the threat of soil erosion. household, land and farm characteristics; perception of technology-speciûc attributes, and land quality differentials in shaping conservation decisions of peasants. Furthermore, where poverty is widespread and appropriate support policies are lacking, results mdicate that population pressure per se is unable to encourage sustainable land use. The challenge of breaking the poverty-environment trap and initiating sustainable intensification thus require policy incentives and technologies thal confer short-term benefits to the poor while conserving the resource base.(1) 1998 Elsevier Science B.Y. Ali rights rcserved.

This paper reports results from a study of resource degradation and conservation behavior of peasant households in a degraded part of the Ethiopian highlands. Peasant households' choice of conservation technologies is modeled as a two-stage process: recognition of the erosion problem, and adoption and level of use of control practices. An ordinal logit model is used to explain parcel-level perception of the threat of the erosion problem and the extent of use of conservation practices. Results show the importance of perception of the threat of soil erosion. household, land and farm characteristics; perception of technology-speciûc attributes, and land quality differentials in shaping conservation decisions of peasants. Furthermore, where poverty is widespread and appropriate support policies are lacking, results mdicate that population pressure per se is unable to encourage sustainable land use. The challenge of breaking the poverty-environment trap and initiating sustainable intensification thus require policy incentives and technologies thal confer short-term benefits to the poor while conserving the resource base. (1) 1998 Elsevier Science B.Y. Ali rights rcserved.

Rates of time preference (RTPs) of rural households in Indonesia, Zambia and Ethiopia have been measured using hypothetical questions about preferences for current versus future consumption. In general, the rates were found to be very high. Factors influencing or correlated with the personal rates of time preference were investigated through regression methods. OLS was the technique used in the estimation. Market imperfections, particularly in credit and insurance markets lead to variation in RTPs. Poverty in assets, or cash liquidity constraints, was leading to or correlated with higher rates of time preference. The poor are, therefore, less likely to invest in environmental conservation. In Zambia, independent estimates of risk preferences were made. More risk-averse people tended to have lower RTPs. The results support the hypothesis that poverty and/or liquidity scarcity lead to high RTPs. Poverty reduction may thus reduce the RTPs of the poor and reduce the 'intertemporal externality' due to high RTPs. The high average RTPs indicate, however, that complementary policies may be needed to ensure sufficient levels of investment in conservation. Another logical implication is that institutionalization of private property rights may not be a sufficient tool to initiate sustainable resource management.