Determinants of Farm-Level Conservation Investments in Rwanda

This paper analyzes the determinants of conservation investments at the farm level in Rwanda. The following tend to be important promoters of investment: (a) own-sources of liquidity, especially from off-farm employment; (b) smaller landholdings; (c) household labour; and, under certain circumstances (d) conservation knowledge (possibly from extension). But insecurity of land tenure (reflected in the share of rented land) tends to decrease investment. The policy implications are: (a) projects and policies aimed at developing off-farm enterprises by farm families can also indirectly promote soil conservation on-farm; this should be important to the Rwanda government and to external donors that are actively pursuing both to promote rural food security; (b) extension service's emphasis on conservation measures has clear pay-offs at the farm level, and also increases the compatibility of conservation and income diversification; (c) the nature of the land market and land tenure policy affect conservation investments.