@article{Gebremedhin:11749,
      recid = {11749},
      author = {Gebremedhin, Berhanu and Swinton, Scott M.},
      title = {INVESTMENT IN SOIL CONSERVATION IN NORTHERN ETHIOPIA: THE  ROLE OF LAND TENURE SECURITY AND PUBLIC PROGRAMS},
      address = {2002},
      number = {1099-2016-89065},
      series = {Staff Paper 2002-13},
      pages = {40},
      year = {2002},
      abstract = {Soil erosion seriously threatens the future agricultural  productivity of Ethiopia's highlands. In analyzing the  determinants of soil conservation investments there, this  study goes beyond the conventional physical factors to  examine institutional, social capital and public program  effects.  The double hurdle statistical analysis from 250  farms in the Tigray region reveals different causal factors  for soil conservation adoption versus intensity of  use.

The determinants of adoption of soil conservation  measures vary sharply between stone terraces and soil  bunds. Physical propensity toward erosion (e.g., slope,  slope shape and soil texture) and land suitability for  conservation helped determine conservation investments in  all cases.  But institutional and social determinants of  investment differed importantly between bunds and terraces.   Long-term investments in stone terraces were associated  with secure land tenure, labor availability, proximity to  the farmstead, and learning opportunities via the  availability of food-for-work projects.  By contrast,  short-term investments in soil bunds were strongly linked  to insecure land tenure and the absence of food-for-work  projects.  Farm beneficiaries of public soil conservation  programs were less likely to invest privately in either  type of conservation practice.  Social capital, as measured  by farmer perception of community pressure to curb soil  erosion, did not contribute significantly to either kind of  conservation investment.

The intensity of stone terrace  adoption (measured as meters of terrace per hectare) was  determined by expected returns but not by capacity to  invest.  Higher intensity of stone terrace construction was  favored by fertile-but-erodible silty soils in (rainy)  highland settings that offered valuable yield benefits from  soil conservation.  Intensity of terracing was also greater  in remote villages where limited off-farm employment  opportunities made construction costs relatively  low.

Previous research has highlighted the need for public  policy interventions to supplement private incentives to  make soil conservation investments in erosion-prone  mountain areas.  Our results highlight the importance of  the right kind of public interventions.  Direct public  involvement in constructing soil conservation structures on  private lands appears to undermine incentives for private  conservation investments.  When done on public lands,  however, public conservation activities may encourage  private soil conservation by example.  Secure land tenure  rights clearly reinforce private incentives to make  long-term investments in soil conservation.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/11749},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.11749},
}