Smart subsidies for sustainable soils: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in southern Malawi
Conventional agricultural practices – especially conventional tillage – are a major driver of soil erosion globally. While soil may not frequently be considered a vulnerable natural resource, the erosion and degradation of soils poses a serious threat to food production and the production of numerou...
| Autores principales: | , , |
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| Formato: | Artículo preliminar |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
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Duke Kunshan University
2021
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143096 |
| _version_ | 1855527689723576320 |
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| author | Ward, Patrick S. Mapemba, Lawrence Bell, Andrew R. |
| author_browse | Bell, Andrew R. Mapemba, Lawrence Ward, Patrick S. |
| author_facet | Ward, Patrick S. Mapemba, Lawrence Bell, Andrew R. |
| author_sort | Ward, Patrick S. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Conventional agricultural practices – especially conventional tillage – are a major driver of soil erosion globally. While soil may not frequently be considered a vulnerable natural resource, the erosion and degradation of soils poses a serious threat to food production and the production of numerous otherin situ andex situ ecosystem services. This study provides some of the first evidence on the effectiveness of a payments for ecosystem services (PES) program to encourage the adoption of soil conservation practices, specifically conservation agriculture (CA). Through minimized soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and diversified crop mix, CA is believed to enhance soil fertility and rehabilitate soil structure, with the resulting preservation of ecosystem service flows. By providing calibrated financial incentives, we demonstrate that it is possible to substantially increase the extent and intensity of CA adoption. What’s more, we show that a novel incentive mechanisms that leverages social networks for the consolidation of fragmented land may be more effective at bringing more land under conservation objectives, even if some of the additional land does not officially fall under the purview of the PES program. We also demonstrate that some of the supposed weaknesses hindering the adoption of CA – lower yields in the short-run and higher expenditures on weed control – were not necessarily obstacles in our study area, perhaps suggesting that the provision of subsidies need not continue into perpetuity, but may only be needed to overcome short-term transition costs. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace143096 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Duke Kunshan University |
| publisherStr | Duke Kunshan University |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1430962025-12-08T10:11:39Z Smart subsidies for sustainable soils: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in southern Malawi Ward, Patrick S. Mapemba, Lawrence Bell, Andrew R. soil randomized controlled trials sustainability conservation agriculture subsidies erosion ecosystem services Conventional agricultural practices – especially conventional tillage – are a major driver of soil erosion globally. While soil may not frequently be considered a vulnerable natural resource, the erosion and degradation of soils poses a serious threat to food production and the production of numerous otherin situ andex situ ecosystem services. This study provides some of the first evidence on the effectiveness of a payments for ecosystem services (PES) program to encourage the adoption of soil conservation practices, specifically conservation agriculture (CA). Through minimized soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and diversified crop mix, CA is believed to enhance soil fertility and rehabilitate soil structure, with the resulting preservation of ecosystem service flows. By providing calibrated financial incentives, we demonstrate that it is possible to substantially increase the extent and intensity of CA adoption. What’s more, we show that a novel incentive mechanisms that leverages social networks for the consolidation of fragmented land may be more effective at bringing more land under conservation objectives, even if some of the additional land does not officially fall under the purview of the PES program. We also demonstrate that some of the supposed weaknesses hindering the adoption of CA – lower yields in the short-run and higher expenditures on weed control – were not necessarily obstacles in our study area, perhaps suggesting that the provision of subsidies need not continue into perpetuity, but may only be needed to overcome short-term transition costs. 2021-10-12 2024-05-22T12:12:01Z 2024-05-22T12:12:01Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143096 en https://doi.org/10.3390/w10010051 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.10.001 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2016.02.005 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102556 Open Access Duke Kunshan University Ward, Patrick S.; Mapemba, Lawrence; and Bell, Andrew R. 2021. Smart subsidies for sustainable soils: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in southern Malawi. https://hdl.handle.net/10161/23912 |
| spellingShingle | soil randomized controlled trials sustainability conservation agriculture subsidies erosion ecosystem services Ward, Patrick S. Mapemba, Lawrence Bell, Andrew R. Smart subsidies for sustainable soils: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in southern Malawi |
| title | Smart subsidies for sustainable soils: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in southern Malawi |
| title_full | Smart subsidies for sustainable soils: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in southern Malawi |
| title_fullStr | Smart subsidies for sustainable soils: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in southern Malawi |
| title_full_unstemmed | Smart subsidies for sustainable soils: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in southern Malawi |
| title_short | Smart subsidies for sustainable soils: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial in southern Malawi |
| title_sort | smart subsidies for sustainable soils evidence from a randomized controlled trial in southern malawi |
| topic | soil randomized controlled trials sustainability conservation agriculture subsidies erosion ecosystem services |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143096 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT wardpatricks smartsubsidiesforsustainablesoilsevidencefromarandomizedcontrolledtrialinsouthernmalawi AT mapembalawrence smartsubsidiesforsustainablesoilsevidencefromarandomizedcontrolledtrialinsouthernmalawi AT bellandrewr smartsubsidiesforsustainablesoilsevidencefromarandomizedcontrolledtrialinsouthernmalawi |