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Economic Benefits and Costs of Sustainable Land Management Technologies: An Analysis of WOCAT's Global Data
Author(s) -
Giger Markus,
Liniger Hanspeter,
Sauter Caspar,
Schwilch Gudrun
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
land degradation and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1099-145X
pISSN - 1085-3278
DOI - 10.1002/ldr.2429
Subject(s) - profitability index , business , environmental economics , cost–benefit analysis , land management , sustainable land management , investment (military) , sample (material) , public economics , environmental resource management , natural resource economics , marketing , land use , economics , finance , engineering , ecology , chemistry , civil engineering , chromatography , politics , political science , law , biology
Abstract Perceived profitability is a key factor in explaining farmers' decision to adopt or not adopt sustainable land management (SLM) technologies. Despite this importance, relatively little is known about the economics of SLM. This paper contributes to the literature by analysing data on costs and perceived cost/benefit ratios of SLM technologies. Data are taken from the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies technology database and cover 363 case studies conducted in a variety of countries between 1990 and 2012. Based on an in‐depth descriptive analysis, we determine what costs accrue to local stakeholders and assess perceived short‐term and long‐term cost/benefit ratios. Our results show that a large majority of the technologies in our sample are perceived as being profitable: 73% were perceived to have a positive or at least neutral cost/benefit ratio in the short term, while 97% were perceived to have a positive or very positive cost/benefit ratio in the long term. An additional empirical analysis confirms that economic factors are key determinants of land users' decisions to adopt or not adopt SLM technologies. We conclude that a wide range of existing SLM practices generate considerable benefits not only for land users, but for other stakeholders as well. High initial investment costs associated with some practices may, however, constitute a barrier to their adoption; short‐term support for land users can help to promote these practices where appropriate. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.