Natural Resource Management in Agriculture: Methods for Assessing Economic and Environmental Impacts

399 Pages·2004·3.11 MB·English

by  Bekele Shiferaw

Natural Resources Management
in Agriculture
Methods for Assessing Economic and
Environmental Impacts
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Natural Resources Management
in Agriculture
Methods for Assessing Economic and
Environmental Impacts
Edited by
B. Shiferaw, H.A. Freeman
ICRISAT, and ILRI, Nairobi, Kenya
and
S.M. Swinton
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
CABI Publishing
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CABI Publishing is a division of CAB International
CABI Publishing CABI Publishing
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Published in association with:
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
Patancheru 502 324
Andhra Pradesh, India
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is a non-profit,
non-political organisation for science-based agricultural development. ICRISAT conducts
research on sorghum, pearl millet, chickpea, pigeonpea and groundnut – crops that support
the livelihoods of the poorest of the poor in the semi-arid tropics, encompassing 48 countries.
ICRISAT also shares information and knowledge through capacity building, publications and
information communication technologies. Established in 1972, it is one of 15 centres supported
by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
©CAB International 2005. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in
any form or by any means, electronically, mechanically, by photocopying, recording or other-
wise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library, London, UK.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Natural Resource management in agriculture : methods for assessing economic and environ-
mental impacts / edited by B. Shiferaw, H.A. Freeman, and S.M. Swinton.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-85199-828-3 (alk. paper)
1. Agriculture--Environmental aspects--Congresses. 2. Agriculture--Economic aspects--Congresses. 3.
Agricultural resources--Management-Congresses. I. Shiferaw Bekele. II. Freeman, H.A.
III. Swinton, Scott M. IV. Title
S589.75.N368 2005
338.1--dc22
200402093
ISBN 0 85199 828 3
Printed and bound in the UK by Biddles Ltd, Kings Lynn, from copy supplied by the editors
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Contents
Preface vii
Foreword xi
Contributors xiii
Reviewers xv
Part I. Introduction
1. Assessing the Impacts of Natural Resource Management
Interventions in Agriculture: Concepts, Issues and Challenges 3
H.A. Freeman, B. Shiferaw and S.M. Swinton
Part II. Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Biophysical Indicators of NRM Impacts
2. Valuation Methods and Approaches for Assessing Natural Resource
Management Impacts 19
B. Shiferaw, H.A. Freeman and S. Navrud
3. Measurable Biophysical Indicators for Impact Assessment:
Changes in Soil Quality 53
P. Pathak, K.L. Sahrawat, T.J. Rego and S.P. Wani
4. Measurable Biophysical Indicators for Impact Assessment:
Changes in Water Availability and Quality 75
K.L. Sahrawat, K.V. Padmaja, P. Pathak and S.P. Wani
5. Biophysical Indicators of Agro-ecosystem Services and Methods for
Monitoring the Impacts of NRM Technologies at Different Scales 97
S.P. Wani, Piara Singh, R.S. Dwivedi, R.R. Navalgund and A. Ramakrishna
Part III. Methodological Advances for a Comprehensive Impact Assessment
6. Econometric Methods for Measuring Natural Resource Management
Impacts: Theoretical Issues and Illustrations from Uganda 127
J. Pender
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vi Contents
7. Assessing Economic Impacts of Natural Resource Management
Using Economic Surplus 155
S.M. Swinton
8. Bioeconomic Modelling for Natural Resource Management
Impact Assessment 175
S.T. Holden
Part IV. NRM Impact Assessment in Practice
9. Valuing Soil Fertility Change: Selected Methods and Case Studies 199
P. Drechsel, M. Giordano and T. Enters
10. Evaluating the Impacts of Watershed Management Projects:
A Practical Econometric Approach 223
J.M. Kerr and K.R. Chung
11. Assessing Economic and Environmental Impacts of NRM Technologies:
An Empirical Application Using the Economic Surplus Approach 245
M.C.S. Bantilan, K.V. Anupama and P.K. Joshi
12. Assessing the Economic and Environmental Impacts of Conservation
Technologies: A Farm-level Bioeconomic Modelling Approach 269
B. Shiferaw and S.T. Holden
13. Assessing the Impacts of Natural Resource Management Policy
Interventions with a Village General Equilibrium Model 295
S.T. Holden and H. Lofgren
Part V. Towards Improved Approaches for NRM Impact Assessment
14. The Concept of Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM)
and its Implications for Developing Evaluation Methods 321
B. Douthwaite, J.M. Ekboir, S.J. Twomlow and J.D.H. Keatinge
15. NRM Impact Assessment in the CGIAR: Meeting the Challenge and
Implications for CGIAR Centres 341
T.G. Kelley and H.M. Gregersen
16. Towards Comprehensive Approaches in Assessing NRM Impacts:
What We Know and What We Need to Know 361
S.M. Swinton, B. Shiferaw and H.A. Freeman
Index 377
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Preface
In response to increasing concerns about degradation of natural resources and
the sustainability of agricultural production potentials in many poor regions
of the world, many national and international organisations have initiated
research and development programmes for natural resource management
(NRM). Efforts in this direction include the design and development of
low-cost technological options for integrated management of soil and water
resources, the development of ecologically sound cropping systems, and
options for the conservation and management of agro-biodiversity and
forestry resources. Among others, the Consultative Group for International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has substantially increased its research
investments in the area of NRM. Development agencies in developing countries
also invest substantially in measures to sustain productivity and conserve both
the agricultural resource base and the environment. Donors, policy makers,
development agents, and researchers are all anxious to evaluate the potential
social bene(cid:383)ts and environmental outcomes resulting from such investments
through the adoption of new resource conserving and/or productivity
enhancing technologies. Although methods for evaluating the impacts of crop
improvement technologies are well developed and widely applied, there is
a dearth of methods to evaluate the impacts of NRM interventions. This is
partly due to the methodological dif(cid:383)culties encountered in assessing the
impacts from NRM research, including those arising from inter-relationships
among natural resources, spatial and temporal dimensions of impact, and the
valuation of direct and indirect environmental bene(cid:383)ts and costs.
Despite a handful of attempts to assess the impacts from NRM
research, until now researchers from a range of disciplines and institutional
backgrounds have not joined to critically address the challenges and develop
methods for NRM impact assessment. This book is an effort towards (cid:383)lling
this gap. Its objective is to examine methodological dif(cid:383)culties and present
vii
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viii Preface
practical methods that can be used to assess the economic and environmental
impacts of NRM technology and policy interventions. It synthesises recent
methodological advances and results from frontier research in this (cid:383)eld. The
methodological and conceptual chapters are enriched and illustrated with
case studies and examples. Several chapters bring together current thinking
and perspectives on NRM impact assessment and de(cid:383)ne directions for future
research, covering such important areas as economic valuation methods,
measurable performance indicators and applicable impact evaluation
approaches together with other special features in evaluating the impacts of
NRM interventions.
The book brings together a number of peer-reviewed papers many of
which were originally presented and discussed at the international workshop
on (cid:334)Methods for Assessing the Impact of Natural Resource Management
Research(cid:335) held at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-
Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), 6(cid:332)7 December 2002. The workshop aimed: a. to
deliberate the special features and methodological dif(cid:383)culties of NRM impact
assessment, b. to examine the strengths and weaknesses of alternative impact
assessment methodologies and suggest options for pilot testing, and c. to
identify data requirements for developing impact indicators. The book was
conceived and inspired by the issues discussed during the workshop.
Given the multi-faceted and complex nature of NRM impacts, contributions
come from a multidisciplinary team that included economists, agro-ecologists,
and soil and water management scientists, from a range of institutions
covering the CGIAR, universities and research institutions. The main theme
of the book is rooted in agricultural and resource economics as applied to
the evaluation of multi-dimensional outcomes from NRM interventions.
The book contains 16 chapters organised into (cid:383)ve parts. The methodological
sections are rigorous but well exposed and should be readable to impact
assessment practitioners and graduates in applied economics. The applied
sections are treated carefully to make them available to general practitioners,
development agents, and advisors interested in evaluating the impacts of
interventions that affect NRM.
The volume can serve as a valuable reference for economists, impact
assessment practitioners, agronomists, resource management specialists,
rural development advisors, and researchers and academics interested in
the impacts of NRM interventions. The key recommendations and policy
(cid:383)ndings may also be of interest to policy advisors, planners, development
agencies, and research managers, both in national and international
agricultural research systems. We hope that the book will add usefully to
the scant literature on evaluation of NRM impacts for all those interested
in understanding the social bene(cid:383)ts of such investments and developing
suitable evaluation skills.
The editors would like to thank ICRISAT for providing the necessary
funds for the background workshop and for publication of the book. We wish
to express our sincere gratitude to the external reviewers for their comments
and suggestions that were instrumental in excluding some of the initially
suggested chapters and in improving the quality of those that (cid:383)nally appear.
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Preface ix
A list of all reviewers is given after the list of contributors. We are very grateful
to the authors and co-authors of all the chapters for their contributions and
for their efforts in responding to reviewer and editorial comments.
The editors also express thanks for the support and efforts of ICRISAT
and CAB International staff in the production of this book. Sincere thanks are
due to Tim Hardwick and Rachel Robinson for their patience and support.
Special thanks are due to Sue Hainsworth, our technical editor, and her
assistants T.N.G. Sharma and Deanna Hash, for their tireless and remarkable
efforts to enhance the presentation and readability of the manuscripts, and
to P.N. Jayakumar for his editorial and scienti(cid:383)c support from the book(cid:335)s
inception.
Bekele Shiferaw, H. Ade Freeman and Scott M. Swinton
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