IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/man/sespap/0404.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Technology, Policy and Population Growth Impacts on Economic Performance, Nutrient Flows and Soil Erosion at Watershed Level: The Case of Ginchi in Ethiopia

Author

Listed:
  • B N Okumu
  • N Russell
  • M A Jabbar
  • D Colman
  • M A Mohamed Saleem
  • J Pender

Abstract

A dynamic bio-economic model is used to show that, without technological and policy intervention, soil nutrient balances, income and nutrition could not be substantially or sustainably improved in a highland area of Ethiopia. Although cash incomes could rise from a very low base by more than 50% over a twelve-year planning period, average per ha nutrient balances indicate significant nutrient mining and associated soil losses of about 31 tons per ha. With the adoption of an integrated package of new technologies (involving new high yielding crop varieties, agroforestry, animal manure and inorganic fertilizers use, construction of a communal drain to reduce water logging and some limited land user rights), results show the possibility of an average twoand- a-half-fold increase in cash incomes and a 28% decline in aggregate erosion levels over a twelve year period with a population growth rate of 2.3%. Moreover, a minimum daily calorie intake of 2000 per adult equivalent could be met from on-farm production, and per ha nutrient balances, while still negative for nitrogen and potassium, could be reduced by 36 and 6 % respectively, with phosphorous balances being reversed to positive values. However, these gains might be eroded by the need to meet increased nutritional demands arising both from increasing consumption levels and a more rapid population growth of over 2.8%. From a policy perspective, this reduction in nutrient losses in the face of higher reliance on the watershed for subsistence food requirements, would imply an increasing need for a more secure land tenure policy than currently prevailing, provision of credit to facilitate uptake of the new technology package and a shift from the current livestock management strategy that emphasizes use of livestock as a store of wealth to the one that encourages livestock keeping as a commercial activity. It would also imply a shift from a general approach to land management to a relatively more site-specific approach
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • B N Okumu & N Russell & M A Jabbar & D Colman & M A Mohamed Saleem & J Pender, 2004. "Technology, Policy and Population Growth Impacts on Economic Performance, Nutrient Flows and Soil Erosion at Watershed Level: The Case of Ginchi in Ethiopia," Economics Discussion Paper Series 0404, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    • Handle: RePEc:man:sespap:0404
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/schools/soss/economics/discussionpapers/EDP-0404.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ehui, S. K. & Kang, B. T. & Spencer, D. S. C., 1990. "Economic analysis of soil erosion effects in alley cropping, no-till and bush fallow systems in South Western Nigeria," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 349-368.
    2. Okumu, B N & Jabbar, Mohammad A. & Colman, D & Russel, N, 1999. "Bio-Economic Modeling Of Watershed Resources In Ethiopia," Research Reports 182899, International Livestock Research Institute.
    3. Shiferaw, Bekele & Holden, Stein, 1998. "A Farm Household Analysis of Land Use and Soil Conservation Decisions of Smallholder Farmers in the Ethiopian Highlands," 1998 Fourth AFMA Congress, January 26-30, 1998, Stellenbosch, South Africa 187624, African Farm Management Association (AFMA).
    4. Oscar R. Burt, 1981. "Farm Level Economics of Soil Conservation in the Palouse Area of the Northwest," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 63(1), pages 83-92.
    5. A. P. Moxey & B. White & R. A. Sanderson & S. P. Rushton, 1995. "An Approach To Linking An Ecological Vegetation Model To An Agricultural Economic Model," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 381-397, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kuhn, Arnim & Gaiser, Thomas & Gandonou, Esaïe, 2010. "Simulating the effects of tax exemptions on fertiliser use in Benin by linking biophysical and economic models," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(8), pages 509-520, October.
    2. Josephson, Anna Leigh & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob & Florax, Raymond J.G.M., 2014. "How does population density influence agricultural intensification and productivity? Evidence from Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 142-152.
    3. B.N. Okumu & N. Russell & M.A. Jabbar & D. Colman & M A Mohamed Saleem & J. Pender, 2004. "Economic Impacts of Technology, Population Growth And Soil Erosion At Watershed Level: The Case Of the Ginchi in Ethiopia," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 503-523, November.
    4. Jabbar, Mohammad & Ayele, Gezahyegn, 2011. "Land degradation in the Oromiya highlands in Ethiopia," Research Reports 208727, International Livestock Research Institute.

    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. Okumu, B N & Jabbar, Mohammad A. & Colman, D & Russel, N & Mohamed saleem, M A & Pender, J, 2000. "Technology And Policy Impacts On Economic Performance, Nutrient Flows And Soil Erosion At Watershed Level:The Case Of Ginchi In Ethiopia," Research Reports 182897, International Livestock Research Institute.
    2. Subhrendu Pattanayak & D. Evan Mercer, 1998. "Valuing soil conservation benefits of agroforestry: contour hedgerows in the Eastern Visayas, Philippines," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 18(1), pages 31-46, January.
    3. Eaton, Derek J.F., 1996. "The Economics of Soil Erosion: A Model of Farm Decision-Making," Discussion Papers 24134, International Institute for Environment and Development, Environmental Economics Programme.
    4. Chandra Babu, Suresh & Hallam, Arne & Rajasekaran, B., 1995. "Dynamic modelling of agroforestry and soil fertility interactions: implications for multi-disciplinary research policy," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 13(2), pages 125-135, November.
    5. Hoag, Dana L., 1998. "The intertemporal impact of soil erosion on non-uniform soil profiles: A new direction in analyzing erosion impacts," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 415-429, April.
    6. Pagoulatos, Angelos & Debertin, David L. & Sjarkowi, Fachurrozi, 1989. "Soil Erosion, Intertemporal Profit, and the Soil Conservation Decision," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(2), pages 55-62, December.
    7. Coxhead, Ian A. & Demeke, Bayou, 2006. "Modeling Spatially Differentiated Environmental Policy in a Philippine Watershed: Tradeoffs between Environmental Protection and Poverty Reduction," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21115, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    8. Medwid, Laura J. & Lambert, Dayton M. & Clark, Christopher D. & Hawkins, Shawn A. & McClellan, Hannah A., 2016. "Estimating Soil Loss Abatement Curves with Primary Survey Data and Hydrologic Models: An Empirical Example for Livestock Production in an East Tennessee Watershed," 2016 Annual Meeting, February 6-9, 2016, San Antonio, Texas 230052, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    9. Pagoulatos, Angelos & Debertin, David L. & Sjarkowi, Fachrurrozie, 1987. "Soil Erosion and Yield Uncertainty in the Soil Conservation Decision," Agricultural Economics Research Reports 140066, University of Kentucky, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    10. Topp, C. F. E. & Mitchell, M., 2003. "Forecasting the environmental and socio-economic consequences of changes in the Common Agricultural Policy," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 227-252, April.
    11. Okumu, B N & Jabbar, Mohammad A. & Colman, D & Russel, N, 1999. "Bio-Economic Modeling Of Watershed Resources In Ethiopia," Research Reports 182899, International Livestock Research Institute.
    12. Schilizzi, Steven & Breustedt, Gunnar & Latacz-Lohmann, Uwe, 2011. "Does tendering conservation contracts with performance payments generate additional benefits?," Working Papers 100883, University of Western Australia, School of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    13. Walker, D. J. & Peng, M. & Hamilton, J. R., 1991. "Comparing The Cost Of Erosion Damage In Idaho With A Nonlinear Yield Function," A.E. Research Series 305086, University of Idaho, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology.
    14. Latacz-Lohmann, U. & Schilizzi, S. & Breustedt, G., 2012. "Auctioning outcome-based conservation contracts," Proceedings “Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.”, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA), vol. 47, March.
    15. Lakshminarayan, P. G. & Atwood, J. D. & Johnson, Stanley R. & Sposito, V. A., 1991. "Compromise Solution for Economic-Environmental Decisions in Agriculture," Staff General Research Papers Archive 375, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    16. Ekbom, Anders & Brown, Gardner M. & Sterner, Thomas, 2009. "Muddy Waters: Soil Erosion and Downstream Externalities," Working Papers in Economics 341, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    17. Renan Goetz & David Zilberman, 1995. "Mining the soil: Agricultural production system on peatland," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 6(2), pages 119-138, September.
    18. Cooke, Stephen C., 1991. "The Impact Of Conservation Tillage Technology On U.S. Wheat Productivity Growth And Regional Competitive Advantage," A.E. Research Series 140527, University of Idaho, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology.
    19. Brady, Mark & Hedlund, Katarina & Cong, Rong-Gang & Hemerik, Lia & Hotes, Stefan & Machado, Stephen & Mattsson, Lennart & Schulz, Elke & Thomsen, Ingrid K., 2015. "Valuing Supporting Soil Ecosystem Services in Agriculture: a Natural Capital Approach," MPRA Paper 112303, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Amrita Chatterjee & Arpita Ghose, 2015. "A Dynamic Economic Model of Soil Conservation Involving Genetically Modified Crop," Working Papers 2015-096, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.

    More about this item

    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:man:sespap:0404. 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: Marianne Sensier (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/semanuk.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.