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Risks and returns from soil conservation: evidence from low‐income farms in the Philippines

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  • Gerald E. Shively

Abstract

This paper examines risks and returns associated with soil conservation on hillside farms in the Philippines. Stochastic efficiency analysis is combined with a heteroskedastic regression model to assess the impacts of contour hedgerows on low‐income corn farms. Regression analysis indicates that, over time, contour hedgerows can improve yields up to 15% compared with conventional practices. The analysis also provides weak support tor a hypothesis that hedgerows are variance reducing. However, results show that the reduction in yield variability afforded by hedgerows is modest, and that yield variability may increase by as much as 5% as hedgerow intensity rises. Tests for stochastic dominance show that, compared with the conventional tillage system, hedgerows do not constitute an unambiguously dominant production strategy. Stochastic elticiency with respect to a function is used to identify a range lor the coefficient ol relative risk aversion within which hedgerows dominate conventional tillage. Results suggest this range would be rather high; hedgerows dominate the conventional cropping strategy only lor decision‐makers with relative risk aversion coefficients in the range 3‐5.5. Implications for soil conservation adoption in low‐income settings are discussed.

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  • Gerald E. Shively, 1999. "Risks and returns from soil conservation: evidence from low‐income farms in the Philippines," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 21(1), pages 53-67, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:agecon:v:21:y:1999:i:1:p:53-67
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-0862.1999.tb00583.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Tesfaye C. Cholo & Luuk Fleskens & Diana Sietz & Jack Peerlings, 2019. "Land fragmentation, climate change adaptation, and food security in the Gamo Highlands of Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 50(1), pages 39-49, January.
    2. Matthew T. Gregg, 2009. "Cultural Persistence as Behavior Towards Risk: Evidence from the North Carolina Cherokees, 1850-1880," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 18(2), pages 3-15, June.
    3. Calatrava-Leyva, Javier & Franco, Juan Agustin & Gonzalez-Roa, Maria del Carmen, 2005. "Adoption of Soil Conservation Practices in Olive Groves: The Case of Spanish Mountainous Areas," 2005 International Congress, August 23-27, 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark 24661, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Medhin, Haileselassie A. & Köhlin, Gunnar, 2008. "Soil Conservation and Small-Scale Food Production in Highland Ethiopia: A Stochastic Metafrontier Approach," RFF Working Paper Series dp-08-22-efd, Resources for the Future.
    5. Menale Kassie & Precious Zikhali & John Pender & Gunnar Köhlin, 2010. "The Economics of Sustainable Land Management Practices in the Ethiopian Highlands," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 605-627, September.
    6. Coxhead, Ian & Shively, Gerald & Shuai, Xiaobing, 2002. "Development policies, resource constraints, and agricultural expansion on the Philippine land frontier," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(2), pages 341-363, May.
    7. Solis, Daniel & Bravo-Ureta, Boris E. & Quiroga, Ricardo E., 2006. "The Effect Of Soil Conservation On Technical Efficiency: Evidence From Central America," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21345, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    8. Dalton, Timothy J. & Lilja, Nina K. & Johnson, Nancy & Howeler, Reinhardt, 2011. "Farmer Participatory Research and Soil Conservation in Southeast Asian Cassava Systems," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 2176-2186.
    9. Liane Faltermeier & Awudu Abdulai, 2009. "The impact of water conservation and intensification technologies: empirical evidence for rice farmers in Ghana," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 40(3), pages 365-379, May.
    10. Coxhead, Ian, 2002. "Development and the Upland Resource Base: Economic and Policy Context, and Lessons from a Philippine Watershed," Philippine Journal of Development PJD 2002 Vol. XXIX No. 1-, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    11. Coxhead, Ian, 2002. "Development and the Environment in Asia: A Survey of Recent Literature," Staff Paper Series 455, University of Wisconsin, Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    12. Dorothé Yong Ngondjeb & Bernadette Dia Kamgnia & Patrick Nje & Michel Havard, 2014. "L’Évaluation économique de l'investissement dans la conservation des sols: Le cas des aménagements antiérosifs dans le bassin versant du lac Lagdo au Cameroun," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 62(3), pages 393-410, September.
    13. Lapar, Ma. Lucila A. & Ehui, Simeon K., 2004. "Factors affecting adoption of dual-purpose forages in the Philippine uplands," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 95-114, August.
    14. Menale Kassie & Gunnar Köhlin & Randy Bluffstone & Stein Holden, 2011. "Are soil conservation technologies “win‐win?” A case study of Anjeni in the north‐western Ethiopian highlands," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 35(2), pages 89-99, May.

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