Payments for environmental services in Indonesia: What if economic signals were lost in translation?

This article provides an analysis of a payment for environmental services (PES) scheme in the Cidanau watershed, Indonesia. It contributes to the debate on the alleged effectiveness of such economic incentives to actually change decisions among land users. Building on the standard PES theory of change, one would assume that farmers respond to payments and change their land use decisions accordingly for the delivery of environmental services. However, at the project level the impacts of economic incentives depend on how the signal is transmitted to decision-makers. An extensive household survey was undertaken among 270 participating farmers in order to investigate these assumptions. Results indicate that farmers join the scheme for intrinsic motivations rather than because of economic incentives. Besides, the scheme does not target farmers whose decisions could be changed for the sake of service provision. Finally, farmer group leaders display disproportionate power of decision while individual farmers have a low level of understanding of the PES programme. As a consequence, land use patterns might not depend on the economic incentive only; rather they are likely to be determined by the local social context, traditions and economic dependency on forests. This in turn casts some doubts on the strong (yet contested) economic assumptions that underlie the emergence of PES schemes and on their modus operandi in developing countries.     

福建省农户分化对林地流转行为的影响研究

基于集体林权制度改革后福建省10个县(市)274户农户的抽样调查数据,运用二元Logistic回归模型,分别建立农户林地转入模型、转出模型,实证检验农户分化对林地流转的影响。研究将农户分化分为农户收入水平上的分化和农户职业上的分化。研究表明:农户分化对农户林地流转行为影响显著,其中农户收入水平对福建省农户的林地转入行为在统计上有显著的负向影响,同时,对农户林地转出行为也有负向显著的影响;农户职业分化对农户林地转入行为有显著的负向影响,却对农户林地转出有正向影响。基于研究提出以城乡发展一体化推进林地流转、建立林地流转市场、建立健全林地流转保障体系、完善林地产权管理制度、合理引导林地租赁等建议。     

Are forest plantation subsidies affecting land use change and off-farm income? A farm-level analysis of Chilean small forest landowners

Forest plantations have increased rapidly in the last three decades, to a large extent due to direct and indirect financial incentives. At the farm level, forestry incentives can affect the investment decisions of small forest landowners and bring socioeconomic externalities or unintended effects associated with farm management. The purpose of this study is to assess the ex post impacts of a forestry subsidy on land use changes and off-farm income experienced by Chilean small forest landowners. A structural equation mediation model (SEM) was estimated using a time frame of 15 years (1998–2013). To reduce the selection bias, propensity score matching (PSM) was performed prior to the estimation of the SEM. Results indicate that the subsidy had a significant effect on land use changes, as it increases forest plantations and replaces pastures primarily, but also crops and native forest to a lesser extent. In addition, beneficiaries of the subsidy had a marginal increase in off-farm income not explained by the increase in forest plantation.     

Agricultural diversification and integrated pest management in Bangladesh

We study factors associated with a shift toward diversified, high‐valued vegetable crops and the incentives associated with the use of IPM methods for vegetable producers in Bangladesh. The primary objective is to measure how IPM technologies affect the crop and technology choices of low‐income rice farmers. A three‐season household optimisation model is used to study crop and technology choice under price and yield uncertainty. The model is parameterised using data from vegetable farms and experimental IPM trials conducted in Bangladesh. Simulation results show that access to IPM technology and IPM availability combined with access to credit increase household welfare and lead to higher rates of vegetable adoption. Off‐farm employment opportunities work against vegetable cultivation and IPM use by risk‐averse farmers. Implications for policy and extension efforts are highlighted.     

An Empirical Analysis of the Relative Efficiency of Policy Instruments to Reduce Nitrate Water Pollution in the U.S. Southern High Plains

This paper develops a modeling framework for evaluating alternative water quality protection policies. The framework integrates the EPIC-PST crop growth/chemical transport model and a mathematical programming model. The framework is applied to the evaluation of four water quality policies in the southern high plains of the United States:
• restrictions on per-acre nitrogen use,
• taxes on nitrogen use,
• taxes on irrigation water use, and
• incentives to convert conventional irrigation systems to modem irrigation technology. The results indicate that producers would make a variety of adjustments in responding to these policies. Important responses might include reductions in nitrogen and water use, crop substitution, removal of land from crop production and conversion from irrigated to dryland production. These four policies are evaluated based on changes in farm income and social welfare. The irrigation system conversion incentive clearly outperforms other policies from both society's and producers points of view. Producers would prefer nitrogen use restrictions to nitrogen or water use taxes because farm income would be reduced less under the restrictions than under the taxes. Nitrogen use taxes, however, are more desirable than nitrogen use restrictions from society's point of view.     

森林碳汇价值与农户林业收入增长的分析

根据福建省顺昌县农户林业收入的调查数据,从林产品收入、林业服务性收入、林地地租收入、生态公益林补偿收入、其他涉林收入等方面对农户林业收入构成进行分析,发现森林生态效益在农户林业收入中的贡献非常小,仅占0.18%;以现有碳汇市场为参考,通过森林蓄积量换算因子法估算出该县的森林碳汇量及其碳汇价值,指出森林碳汇价值的实现可以有效地增加农户林业生态收入、改善农户的林业收入结构;并探讨了农户森林碳汇价值实现的途径。     

Land use and income diversification: comparing traditional and colonist populations in the Brazilian Amazon

This article compares and analyzes land use and income diversification among two distinct groups of farmers in the Brazilian Amazon: recent colonists in Ouro Preto do Oeste, Rondônia, and traditional long‐term residents along the Tapajós River, Pará. We investigate the hypothesis that farmers who diversify their cash income sources clear less forest on an annual basis, and we compare these livelihood choices across colonist and traditional populations. In particular, we develop a conceptual model based on the household production framework and use econometric models to identify determinants of diversification and forest clearing. We find that diversification of agricultural cash crops is negatively correlated with forest clearing by colonists, providing limited evidence for the hypothesis. Other significant covariates of diversification and forest clearing include cash income levels, stage in family life cycle, cattle ownership, and chemical inputs. Differences in these variables, and differences in household response to these variables, explain variation in diversification and forest clearing across the two populations.     

Simulating land use changes under alternative policy scenarios for conservation of native forests in south-central Chile

In this study, we combined policy analysis with landscape change modeling to simulate outcomes of alternative forest conservation instruments proposed by opposing policy coalitions. In 1992, concern over rapid land conversion to timber plantations (Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus spp.) in Chile gave rise to a protracted policy process resulting in the 2008 Native Forest Law (NFL), which subsidizes reforestation and management with native forest. To date, however, NFL has had little impact on native forest conservation. To understand how the policy process that created the NFL shaped its outcomes, we employed the Dyna-CLUE modeling approach to simulate land use changes in south-central Chile from 1993 to 2007, based on 3 scenarios: (1) enactment of NFL in 1993 when the law was originally debated, and the different configurations of subsidies and regulations proposed in the NFL policy debate by (2) the industrial forestry coalition and (3) the forest conservation coalition. We observed no major difference in native forest loss between simulated outcomes of the industry-advocated policy and the actual NFL legislation. The conservation coalition’s policy scenario increased native forest area, primarily in shrub steppe areas, but also via conversion of pine plantations if incentive payments were large enough. However, NFL payments are inadequate to make native forest management a viable economic land use alternative to industrial pine plantations, which are also subsidized in Chile. Gains in native forest cover occurred mostly on lands under ancestral indigenous claims (unrelated to the discussion of the NFL). We conclude that the NFL, even if enacted in 1993, would have been ineffective in preventing native forest loss, because tree plantations are more profitable and NFL regulations were weakened by the industrial coalition that opposed—and strongly shaped—the final legislation. Effective incentives for protecting early-successional forests and shrublands are needed to mitigate further losses and foster recovery of Chile’s native forests.     

Forest resource use and perception of farmers on conservation of a usufruct forest (Soppinabetta) of Western Ghats, India

The negative impact of anthropogenic activity on tropical forests is well documented, but the underlying factors, including socioeconomic conditions, government policy, and agricultural practices, that influence forest degradation in developing countries are poorly understood. For centuries, Soppinabetta forests (SBFs) in the Western Ghats of India have provided essential habitat for wildlife and vital organic resources (leaf litter, green foliage) for the cultivation of betel nut palms (Areca catechu) and rice paddy (Oryza sativa). Historically, betel nut farmers carefully managed resource extraction in SBFs, but recent changes in land use policy allow for unmitigated resource extraction by site dwellers, which may imperil the traditional sustainable management of SBFs. Site dwellers live on government allotted sites and primarily derive their income through the sale of forest-based products. We used SBFs as a model system to investigate the factors governing: (i) forest resource extraction, (ii) the effect of changing agricultural practices on the rate of resource extraction, and (iii) farmers’ perception of SBFs conservation in response to changes in governmental land use policy. Results from surveys of 90 households (57 farmers and 33 site-dwellers) and the forest department indicate individual farmers collected an average of 31.09 (range 0-125) metric tons of leaf litter and 19.11 metric tons (range 0-120) of green foliage per year. Organic resource harvesting by farmers was positively correlated with the size of betel nut plantations, size of SBFs, and number of livestock owned per household. Betel nut plantations require six times more compost than food grains cultivated in field paddies. In past one decade, 33% of field paddies have been converted into betel nut plantations, increasing the strain on SBFs for forest resources. Farmers believe that when they lose provisional ownership of SBFs, site dwellers unsustainably harvest resources and severely damage SBFs. We suggest that an inclusive, local-level, farmer-driven protection be implemented to preserve the SBF heritage system of Western Ghats.     

南方集体林区林地产权、地理特征与农户林地投入行为

基于现有研究的缺陷和林农投资水平低的现实问题,构建"林权改革、地理特征-农户经济行为-林地投入"的理论分析结构,并以南方集体林区3省1248个农户样本为例,采用Double-Hurdle回归模型从微观层面检验林地产权、地理特征对农户林地资金投入和劳动力投入的影响。研究表明:安全、稳定的林地产权能够促进农户对林地的资金与劳动力投入,优越的地理条件(灌溉、地形)能够促进农户对林地的资金与劳动力投入,不便利的交通条件抑制农户对林地的投入。因此,建议重视保障林业经营者林地权利的安全性与稳定性,提高确权发证水平;加强集体林区林业基础设施建设,完善林业市场体制机制。     

Offsetting legal deficits of native vegetation among Brazilian landholders: Effects on nature protection and socioeconomic development

The Brazilian native vegetation supports essential ecosystem services and biodiversity for the global society, while land use competition may intensify around the increasing needs for food, fibre and bioenergy. The Brazilian Forest Act of 2012 amplified a market-based mechanism for offsetting native vegetation deficits in private farmlands. This mechanism enables a large-scale trading system allowing landholders to offset their own deficits of native vegetation by purchasing certificates associated with a surplus of native vegetation from other landholders. This mechanism is an alternative for the more expensive restoration of native vegetation on own land. The launching of the mechanism now depends on specific regulations at state level, which may include geographical restrictions for offsetting deficits. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects in nature protection and socio-economic development of different offsetting implementation alternatives. Our findings suggest that in a business-as-usual scenario the offsetting mechanism may have little or no additional effects on protection of native vegetation, because most of the offsetting is likely to take place where native vegetation is already protected by prevailing legislations. We concluded that it is possible to maximise environmental and socio-economic returns from the offsetting mechanism without undermining productive land. This would be possible if regulations ensure additionality in nature protection while enabling a self-sustaining mechanism for income generation for small-scale family farmers in the poorest region of Brazil, protecting biodiversity and counteracting major trade-offs between ecosystem services.     

Small U.S. dairy farms: can they compete?

The U.S. dairy industry is undergoing rapid structural change, evolving from a structure including many small farmers in the Upper Midwest and Northeast to one that includes very large farms in new production regions. Small farms are struggling to retain competitiveness via improved management and low‐input systems. Using data from USDA's Agricultural Resource Management Survey, we determine the extent of U.S. conventional and pasture‐based milk production during 2003–2007, and estimate net returns, scale efficiency, and technical efficiency associated with the systems across different operation sizes. We compare the financial performance of small conventional and pasture‐based producers with one another and with large‐scale producers. A stochastic production frontier is used to analyze performance over the period for conventional and pasture technologies identified using a binomial logit model. Large conventional farms generally outperformed smaller farms using most economic measures—technical efficiency, various profitability measures, and returns to scale.     

Short‐ and Long‐Run Policy Evaluation: Support for Grassland‐Based Milk Production in Switzerland

Following the abolition of the milk quota in 2008, farmers in Switzerland strongly increased the use of concentrate feed in milk production. Against this background, the Swiss government introduced the voluntary grassland‐based milk and meat (GMF) programme in 2014, which combines economic incentives with feeding restrictions to reduce the reliance on concentrate feed and increase the use of grass feed. We analyse the economic and ecological impacts of the GMF programme at the farm and at the sector level in the short‐ and long‐run. We use a difference‐in‐differences approach (ex‐post) and an agent‐based simulation model SWISSland (ex‐ante) to construct counterfactual states to evaluate the programme's impacts. We find that the GMF programme reduces the use of concentrate feed and increases the use of grass feed in Swiss milk production. Whereas the programme has a positive effect on economic indicators such as the farm income, we find no effect on ecological indicators such as the N surplus. Our analysis suggests that feeding restrictions on concentrate feed are not enough to achieve a reduction in the N surplus. Additional feeding restrictions on grassland are necessary. Furthermore, the GMF programme has a dampening effect on sectoral milk supply, and leads to a higher milk price.     

Production risk,risk aversion and the determination of risk attitudes among Spanish rice producers

Agricultural production is subject to risk and the attitudes of producers toward risk will influence input choices insofar as these affect production risk. Risk attitudes in turn may be affected by certain socioeconomic characteristics of producers. Using 2004 survey data from a cross‐section of 130 Spanish rice farms, we estimate risk‐aversion coefficients of farmers and investigate the influence of a series of socioeconomic variables on their risk attitudes. Our results show that farmers exhibit risk‐averse behavior and that risk attitudes are related to a series of socioeconomic characteristics. In particular, the belief that the farm will continue after the producer retires is found to increase the degree of risk aversion, while age is found to have nonlinear effects on risk aversion. Off‐farm income, especially from nonagricultural activities, is found to reduce risk aversion. Neither the educational level of the producer nor the presence of dependents on the household is found to have an effect on risk preferences. Regarding the production technology, we find that land, labor, and fitosanitary products are risk‐reducing inputs, whereas capital, seeds, and fertilizer all increase risk.     

THE VALUE OF A FUNGICIDE ADVISORY PROGRAMME FOR CEREALS

An estimate is made of the benefits resulting from the implementation of a proposed fungicide advisory programme for Kent wheat farmers. The programme has a value by providing information which enables improved spraying decisions to be made by farmers. The expected annual value for Kent is found to be £106,000. A closer examination is made of both the returns and costs of one component of the scheme, viz, the training of farmers to recognise the disease (caused by Septoria spp.) in their fields. An average benefit/cost ratio of 8/1 is calculated to result from the provision of farmer training programmes. However, if the decision by farmers to attend courses is made upon the criteria of expected gain to themselves, then initial courses would have a much higher benefit/cost ratio. There would be diminishing returns to additional courses, but only those Kentish wheat growers with the smallest areas of crop would lack the financial incentive to attend.     

CONSERVATION THROUGH LAND DIVERSION: A SURVEY OF FARMERS‘ ATTITUDES

The need to take land out of intensive arable production offers possibilities for conservation. Assuming that such schemes will operate on a voluntary basis, farmers' reactions to incentives encouraging them to divert land to other uses must be crucial. Samples of farmers in three areas of England were presented with hypothetical schemes to divert cereal land to fallow, permanent pasture and woodland. They were asked for a money ‘bid’ equivalent to the minimum sum to persuade them to enrol land in the scheme an the acreage they would enrol at that level of payment. On average the 147 farmers wanted £348/ha to fallow cereal land, £336/ha to divert arable land to permanent pasture and £437/ha to grow trees. The hypothesis that farmers' response to land diversion initiatives would depend on interaction of conservation attitudes and structural/financial constraints received some support, a result with implications for the design of future land diversion schemes.     

退耕农户长期生计分析

以陕西、青海两省4个县15个村400个退耕农户为研究对象,通过20年的成本效益分析,探讨了退耕还林对农户生计的长期影响,预测了退耕后林草产品的产出、价格和农产品产量,分析了样本农户退耕前后在土地利用、种植结构、收入和成本结构等方面的变化,对林草产品价格、退耕补助、毁林复耕等因素进行了敏感性分析。结果表明:在预测的价格和产出水平上,退耕提高了样本农户的收入水平。从长期看,退耕农户面临自然、技术和市场风险。要实现中国政府的生态建设目标,决策者应关注退耕农户尤其是退耕地比例高的农户的长期生计。     

Stop and Go Agricultural Policies with a Land Market

This article studies the design of farm policy in the presence of asymmetric information about farmers' productivity, a government objective to insure farmers a minimum "parity" income, an endogenous land rent, and diminishing returns on alternative (nonprogram crop) land uses. In this setting, acreage set asides are never part of an optimal farm policy, although compensated acreage limits are. When there are new farmer entrants who cannot be excluded from farm programs, optimal policy takes the form of a pure voluntary acreage limitation—or "buyout"—program in which high-cost producers participate and low-cost producers do not.     

影响林农木本食品安全生产因素研究

根据农户行为理论分析结果,运用Tobit模型对浙江省杭州市临安区的119户山核桃种植户安全生产行为的影响因素进行实证分析。研究结果表明:性别、年龄、受教育程度、户主对农药危害认知以及是否参加合作社对林农进行山核桃安全生产具有显著的负向影响;经营地产量、户主化肥使用标准以及种植户所在地区对林农进行山核桃安全生产具有显著的正向影响。因此,为了规范木本食品安全生产,从林农角度而言,应加强学习相关种植知识并提升个人素质;从政府和山核桃种植协会而言,应加强对林农进行安全用药知识宣传并组织技术培训,此外还应推进山核桃种合作社建立。     

基于DEA方法的农户林地经营效率分析

在通过问卷调查获取福建省南平、三明、龙岩三地市农户杉木林地经营相关数据的基础上,用产出导向的DEA分析法对农户杉木林经营效率进行测算与评价分析的结果显示:福建集体林区农户林地经营效率水平差异较大,林地经营效率整体水平不高。同时,对农户杉木林经营效率之间的相互关系及其投入要素对效率的影响进行Pearson相关性分析和探讨。