Environmental crisis or ‘lie of the land’? The debate on soil degradation in Africa

Koning, N.B.J.; Smaling, E.M.A.

doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2003.08.003

Cited by 86 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…These findings further demonstrate the importance of local-level organizations in reducing enforcement costs and increasing sustainability. Nonetheless, land degradation cannot be changed by participatory approaches and community action alone; public investment in infrastructure and other policies that support land management are also needed (Koning and Smaling 2005).…”

Section: Decentralization Involvement Of Local Communities and Capamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Economics of Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought Toward an Integrated Global Assessment

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte.

show abstract

Section: Decentralization Involvement Of Local Communities and Capamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Economics of Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought Toward an Integrated Global Assessment

et al. 2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Consequently, soil degradation remains a serious threat to agricultural productivity, particularly in the tropics (Oldeman et al, 1990;Koning and Smaling, 2005). Many explanations for this situation have been offered in the literature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiple equilibria, soil conservation investments, and the resilience of agricultural systems

Antle¹,

Stoorvogel²,

Valdivia³

2006

Envir. Dev. Econ.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT. This paper provides a new explanation for the persistent land degradation in some parts of the world, despite the availability of seemingly effective soil conservation technologies. We demonstrate that soil conservation technologies may induce agricultural systems to exhibit equilibria characterized by both low and high levels of soil degradation. These two equilibria are separated by a threshold level of soil degradation beyond which a conservation investment will not yield a positive return. Once a parcel of land crosses this productivity threshold, soil degradation becomes economically irreversible (it is not profitable to invest in soil conservation) even though the degradation may be technically reversible. A case study of terracing investments in Peru is used to demonstrate the existence of multiple equilibria under conditions typical of many marginal agricultural areas. These findings help explain why attempts to encourage permanent adoption of soil conservation practices often fail, and how more successful policies could be designed.

show abstract

“…Decentralisation of competencies and the involvement of local communities are often associated with improvements in management of natural resources, in particular pastures and forests. Nonetheless, participatory or community action alone is not sufficient to revert back land degradation; public policies and public investment that support land management are also needed (Koning and Smaling 2005). Policies could target the poor through investments that increase their off-farm employment opportunities and thus reduce dependency on natural resources (Barbier 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Institutional Framework of (In)Action Against Land Degradation

Baumgartner

Cherlet²

2015

Economics of Land Degradation and Improvement – A Global Assessment for Sustainable Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

While econometric and spatial data are increasingly helpful to quantify and locate the extent and costs of land degradation, there is still little understanding of the contextual factors that determine or influence the land users' practices that aggravate or counteract land degradation. In this chapter, we take an institutional economic approach to analyse the persistence of degrading practices, the low adoption of sustainable land management (SLM), or the eventual organisational reaction to land degradation. The chapter reviews four examples of land degradation in different contexts to reveal the multiple driving forces and contextual factors. We then propose a conceptual framework to better understand the incentive structure and factors determining the land users' decision making. A layered analysis of the social phenomena is applied, following Williamson (2000). The chapter shows how actions at different layers can help improve land management. The chapter concludes with practical recommendations for the institutional economic analysis of land degradation.

show abstract

Environmental crisis or ‘lie of the land’? The debate on soil degradation in Africa

Cited by 86 publications

References 21 publications

The Economics of Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought Toward an Integrated Global Assessment

The Economics of Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought Toward an Integrated Global Assessment

Multiple equilibria, soil conservation investments, and the resilience of agricultural systems

Institutional Framework of (In)Action Against Land Degradation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About