IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/midasp/11627.html

Are Poor Farmers To Blame For Environmental Degradation? Results From The Peruvian Altiplano

Author

Listed:
  • Swinton, Scott M.
  • Quiroz, Roberto

Abstract

Links between poverty and natural resource degradation are examined in the context of soil erosion, fertility loss and overgrazing in the Peruvian Altiplano. Multiple regression analysis of 1999 farm survey data examines 1) what agricultural practices affect natural resource degradation, and then 2) what factors affect farmers' choices of those agricultural practices. Soil erosion and fertility loss appear reduced by increased fallow in crop rotations. Overgrazing and range species loss are affected by changes in herd size and rotational grazing. The effect of investment poverty on natural resource outcomes is not clear. However, social and human capital variables both tend to favor the choice of more sustainable agricultural practices. Natural resource conservation policies that build on traditional social institutions may offer promise in areas with strong social fabric where farmers tend not to invest financially in natural resource conservation.

Suggested Citation

  • Swinton, Scott M. & Quiroz, Roberto, 2002. "Are Poor Farmers To Blame For Environmental Degradation? Results From The Peruvian Altiplano," Staff Paper Series 11627, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:midasp:11627
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.11627
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/11627/files/sp02-14.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.11627?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Templeton, Scott R. & Scherr, Sara J., 1999. "Effects of Demographic and Related Microeconomic Change on Land Quality in Hills and Mountains of Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 903-918, June.
    2. Swinton, Scott M., 2002. "Capturing household-level spatial influence in agricultural management using random effects regression," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 371-381, November.
    3. Lutz, Ernst & Pagiola, Stefano & Reiche, Carlos, 1994. "The Costs and Benefits of Soil Conservation: The Farmers' Viewpoint," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 9(2), pages 273-295, July.
    4. Reardon, Thomas & Vosti, Stephen A., 1995. "Links between rural poverty and the environment in developing countries: Asset categories and investment poverty," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(9), pages 1495-1506, September.
    5. Lau, Lawrence J., 1986. "Functional forms in econometric model building," Handbook of Econometrics, in: Z. Griliches† & M. D. Intriligator (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 26, pages 1515-1566, Elsevier.
    6. Duraiappah, Anantha K., 1998. "Poverty and environmental degradation: A review and analysis of the nexus," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(12), pages 2169-2179, December.
    7. Zimmerer, Karl S., 1993. "Soil erosion and labor shortages in the Andes with special reference to Bolivia, 1953ndash;1991: Implications for "conservation-with-development"," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 21(10), pages 1659-1675, October.
    8. Clay, Daniel & Reardon, Thomas & Kangasniemi, Jaakko, 1998. "Sustainable Intensification in the Highland Tropics: Rwandan Farmers' Investments in Land Conservation and Soil Fertility," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 46(2), pages 351-377, January.
    9. Mink, S.D., 1993. "Poverty, Population, and the Environment," World Bank - Discussion Papers 189, World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kramer, Daniel Boyd & Urquhart, Gerald & Schmitt, Kristen, 2009. "Globalization and the connection of remote communities: A review of household effects and their biodiversity implications," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(12), pages 2897-2909, October.
    2. Swinton, Scott M. & Escobar, German & Reardon, Thomas, 2003. "Poverty and Environment in Latin America: Concepts, Evidence and Policy Implications," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(11), pages 1865-1872, November.
    3. Ravnborg, Helle Munk, 2003. "Poverty and Environmental Degradation in the Nicaraguan Hillsides," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(11), pages 1933-1946, November.
    4. Eskander, Shaikh M.S.U & Barbier, Edward B., 2015. "Tenure security and soil conservation in an overlapping generation rural economy," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205225, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Scott Swinton & Roberto Quiroz, 2003. "Poverty and the Deterioration of Natural Soil Capital in the Peruvian Altiplano," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 477-490, September.
    6. Joanna Noelia Kamiche, 2005. "Los Pobres Y El Medio Ambiente: An√Ålisis De La Condici√Ìn De Pobreza Y Decisi√Ìn De Uso De Fertilizantes En Los Hogares De Nicaragua," Documentos CEDE 3177, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    7. Tanui, Joseph & Groeneveld, Rolf & Klomp, Jeroen & Mowo, Jeremiahs & Ierland, Ekko C. van, 2013. "Explaining investments in sustainable land management: The role of various income sources in the smallholder farming systems of western Kenya," 2013 Fourth International Conference, September 22-25, 2013, Hammamet, Tunisia 161275, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    8. Hummera Saleem & Muhammad Bilal Khan & Seyed Mohammadreza Mahdavian & Umar Nawaz Kayani, 2024. "The role of technological innovation, economic policy uncertainty, and poverty reduction in attaining environmental sustainability agenda: contextual evidence from developing South and East Asian Economies," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(12), pages 30563-30597, December.
    9. Bekele Shiferaw & Julius Okello & Ratna Reddy, 2009. "Adoption and adaptation of natural resource management innovations in smallholder agriculture: reflections on key lessons and best practices," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 601-619, June.
    10. Arief Anshory Yusuf, 2004. "Poverty and Environmental Degradation: Searching for Theoretical Linkages," Working Papers in Economics and Development Studies (WoPEDS) 200403, Department of Economics, Padjadjaran University, revised Oct 2004.
    11. Liu, Hongmei & Huang, Qiuqiong, 2013. "Adoption and continued use of contour cultivation in the highlands of southwest China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 28-37.
    12. Muhammad Azam Khan, 2024. "Analyzing three Zeros (zero poverty, unemployment, and carbon emissions) in Asia and the Pacific region: Assessment of sustainable development goals through the STIRPAT model," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 4782-4799, October.
    13. Shively, Gerald E., 2001. "Poverty, consumption risk, and soil conservation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 267-290, August.
    14. Yergeau, Marie-Eve, 2020. "Tourism and local welfare: A multilevel analysis in Nepal’s protected areas," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    15. Eskander, Shaikh M.S.U. & Barbier, Edward B., 2017. "Tenure Security, Human Capital and Soil Conservation in an Overlapping Generation Rural Economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 176-185.
    16. Shone, Bryan M. & Caviglia-Harris, Jill L., 2006. "Quantifying and comparing the value of non-timber forest products in the Amazon," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 249-267, June.
    17. Muleba Nshimbi & Royd Vinya, 2014. "Impacts of Public-Private Partnership on Local Livelihoods and Natural Resource Dynamics: Perceptions from Eastern Zambia," Resources, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-17, June.
    18. Dependra Bhatta & Krishna P. Paudel & Kai Liu, 2023. "Factors influencing water conservation practices adoptions by Nepali farmers," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(10), pages 10879-10901, October.
    19. Shively, Gerald E., 1997. "Consumption risk, farm characteristics, and soil conservation adoption among low-income farmers in the Philippines," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 17(2-3), pages 165-177, December.
    20. Stephen Uwumbordo Nachibi & Anthony Kwame Morgan, 2025. "Understanding the relationship between poverty, environmental degradation, and power dynamics: a qualitative study in Northern Ghana," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 3283-3311, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:midasp:11627. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/damsuus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.