Farmers’ Preferences for PES Contracts to Adopt Silvopastoral Systems in Southern Ecuador, Revealed Through a Choice Experiment

This study investigates farmers’ preferences to participate in payment contracts to adopt silvopastoral systems in Ecuador. A choice experiment was used to elicit preferences between different contract attributes, including differing payment amounts and land management requirements. The research was carried out in the buffer zone of Podocarpus National Park in Southern Ecuador, an area where most land is dedicated to cattle husbandry. A choice experiment was conducted to measure farmers’ interest in different types of contracts. Based on existing incentive programs, contract choices varied with respect to the type of silvopastoral system, extra land-use requirements, payment levels and contract duration. In addition, contracts differed with regards to access by cattle to streams. Although the farmers did not show strong preferences for every contract attribute, the majority of farmers in the area showed interest in the proposed contracts. A latent class model identified three classes of respondents, based on their preferences for different contracts attributes or the “business as usual” option. The results suggest that farmland area, agricultural income, and landowners’ perceptions of environmental problems provide a partial explanation for the heterogeneity observed in the choices for specific contracts. Participation might increase if contracts were targeted at specific groups of farmers, such as those identified through our latent class model. Offering flexible contracts with varying additional requirements within the same scheme, involving farmers from the start in payments for environmental services design, and combining payments for environmental services with integrated conservation and development projects may be a better way to convince more farmers to adopt silvopastoral systems.