Namibia is currently in the process of phasing out water subsidies in its government-sponsored irrigation schemes. However, the financial effects on the affected farmers are frequently unclear, and so are the economic effects on society as a whole.

The net back method provides a framework for estimating rough values of irrigation water in situations such as those in Namibian agriculture, where farmers face a number of constraints which are difficult to model explicitly due to the dearth of reliable data.

This paper studies the impact of the largest conservation set-aside program in the developing world, China’s Grain for Green program, on poverty alleviation in rural areas. Based on a large-scale survey, we find that although poor households in rural China were not disproportionately targeted, they have benefited.

We analyze how land conservation policies affect income distribution looking at changes in wages and rents. Land conservation policies restrict the land for agricultural use. We study how these restrictions affect workers and landowners incomes. Aggregate rents rise when protected areas increase despite the reduction of land availability. Real wages decrease as a consequence of higher prices.

We tested a theoretical model with the Marshallian inefficiency (H1) and threat of eviction (H2) hypotheses having opposite effects on land productivity on sharecropped plots. The model also assumes that kinship contracts may eliminate or reduce the Marshallian inefficiency (H3) and threat of eviction (H4) effects on land productivity.

This study stakes on the debate on whether or not increased off-farm employment compromises the adoption and the intensity of adopting some labor intensive soil conserving technologies.

This study investigates the linkage between attitudes towards risk and adoption.

This paper reports the results of a stated preference survey in the highlands of Ethiopia where the farmers are given a choice between an agricultural extension package and a local public - representing two major developing strategies. The study finds that a majority of people prefers the public good.

The objective of this report is to explore the impact of agriculture on biodiversity conservation in Central America, identify the factors which perpetuate or exacerbate agricultural systems or management practices that adversely impact biodiversity conservation, and examine different strategies and approaches that could be used to potentially mitigate some of the negative impacts of agriculture on biodiversity conservation, either by making the agricultural systems more compatible with biodiversity conservation, or by removing the stimuli for agricultural expansion into rem

The Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative is intended to improve the situation of the poorest developing countries by reducing their debt burden and by permitting increased spending on education and health services. However, at the same time the developed countries funding the HIPC initiative retain agricultural policies that hinder exports form the developing countries in those sectors where they have comparative advantages.

Groundwater can augment total agricultural water supply in areas where rainfall is persistently low, but can also function as a buffer source of water in areas where rainfall is high but variable. In arid countries it is important to examine which of these functions dominates, as this has implications for water policy.