EfD-MaK Policy Brief on Changes in Lake Victoria's Hydrology, Water Quality and Livelihoods
KEY MESSAGES
Lake Victoria Basin is facing a number of challenges:
Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Conservation, Fisheries, Forestry, Land, Waste, Water
Environmental Implication of Sesame Production in Tanzania: A Case Study of Kilwa District, Lindi Region
EfD Authors:
This paper analyses the possibilities for sustainable land use management at farm level to preserve the tropical rainforest in the Lindi region, Tanzania. It investigates the implication of agricultural production, in particular a high valued sesame production on household deforestation in Kilwa district, in Lindi region.
Smallholder farmers’ response to climate change in Zambia – What are the drivers and hindrances?
Long-rains crops, short-rains crops, permanent crops and fruit crops: The ‘hidden’ multiple season-cropping system for adaptation to rain variability by smallholder farms
EfD Authors:
To adapt is to survive. However, sub-Saharan Africa, although highly dependent on agriculture, is vulnerable, most affected, with low-adaptive capacity.
COVID-19: impacts on the environment and the achievement of the SDGs in Latin America
EfD Authors:
The social and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures to contain it in Latin America could lead to a series of long run consequences that could impact the region’s achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). This article is the result of the collaboration of environmental economists from eight of the region’s countries and it discusses the possible pandemic effects on air pollution, deforestation, and other relevant environmental aspects related to the SDG.
Scenario planning for climate adaptation in agricultural systems
EfD Authors:
Effective climate adaptation in sub-Saharan African agriculture will require coordination across multiple scales of governance. Decision-makers from local to national scales will be tasked with planning under conditions of high uncertainty, often with minimal data. Participatory scenario planning is a method for devising adaptation strategies under high uncertainty, and we hypothesized that it could also be used for identifying systemic, inclusive, and transformative adaptation options at the community scale, and for highlighting opportunities for cross-scalar collaboration.
Climate Policy and Innovation in the Absence of Commitment
EfD Authors:
We compare the effects of price and quantity instruments (an emissions tax and a quota with tradable permits) on the incentive to innovate to reduce the cost of an emission-free technology. We assume that the government cannot commit to the level of a policy instrument before R&D occurs but sets the level to be socially optimal after the results of R&D are realized. The equivalence of price and quantity instruments in inducing innovation that is seen in end-of-pipe abatement models does not hold.
Saving Africa's tropical forests through energy transition - a randomized controlled trial in Tanzania
EfD Authors:
Abstract
The production of charcoal to meet cooking needs of urban households is one of the main causes of deforestation and degradation of Africa’s tropical forests, which offer significant carbon sequestration capacity to the global economy.
In collaboration with a reputable local micro-finance institution, we designed a randomized controlled trial in urban Tanzania and offered LPG stoves through subsidy and on credit to measure their impact on charcoal consumption and the corresponding reduction in deforestation.
Beef value chain analysis and climate change adaptation and investment options in the semi-arid lands of northern Kenya
EfD Authors:
The purpose of this paper is to examine the beef value chain and identify climate change adaptation and investment options in the semi-arid areas of northern Kenya. The research uses an innovative approach to value chain analysis, namely the three-step Value Chain Analysis for Resilience in Drylands (VC-ARID) that considers the specific characteristics of semi-arid systems.
Emissions trading schemes and directed technological change: Evidence from China
EfD Authors:
Many countries have implemented policies to tackle climate change, with Emissions Trading Schemes (ETS) being one of the foremost attempts. Under such schemes, firms receive emission allowances. The firms that are covered by the rules are required to submit allowances for their emissions or, if they emit more than the allocated allowances, to purchase emission reduction from other firms. This imposes an emission price for carbon emissions and provides a cost-effective way for firms to comply.