Alemu Mekonnen

Valuation of community forestry in Ethiopia: a contingent valuation study of rural households

Community forestry projects in Ethiopia have been implemented using the top–down approach, which may have contributed to the failure of most of these projects. The so-called community plantations practically belonged to the government and the labour contribution of the local communities in the establishment of the plantations was mainly in exchange for wages. In this paper, we use the contingent valuation method to examine the determinants of the value of community forestry in rural Ethiopia and its feasibility, when the plantations are established, managed, and used by the communities themselves. The value elicitation format used is discrete question with open-ended follow-up which is closer to the market scenario our respondents are familiar with compared, for example, with the single discrete choice format. Unlike most other studies, we use a tobit model with sample selection in the empirical analysis of the bid function to correct for the effect of excluding invalid responses (protest zeros, outliers and missing bids) from the analysis. The analysis of the bid function shows that household size, household income, distance of homestead to proposed place of plantation, number of trees owned and sex of household head are significant variables that explain willingness to pay. We also find that there are significant differences in willingness-to-pay across sites. It is hoped that this study contributes to the limited empirical literature on community forestry in developing countries by indicating some of the conditions under which community plantations will be acceptable and feasible.

Community forests, carbon sequestration and REDD+: evidence from Ethiopia

REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, “plus” afforestration) is a tool that supports forest carbon-enhancing approaches in the developing world in order to mitigate and hopefully reverse climate change. A key issue within REDD+ is to appropriately bring in the almost 25% of developing country forests that are effectively controlled by communities. Many authors have discussed the social aspects of appropriateness, but there is limited analysis of the actual carbon sequestration potential of better-managed community controlled forests (CCFs). Drawing on an analytical framework that relies heavily on the common property and social capital literatures, our paper contributes to closing this research gap and sheds light on whether community forest management structures should be given serious consideration as REDD+ partners in the battle to mitigate climate change. Using household and community level data from four regional states in Ethiopia, we examine whether CCFs with design features known to be associated with better management appear to sequester more carbon than community systems with lower levels of these characteristics. The empirical analysis suggests that the quality of local level institutions may be important determinants of carbon sequestration. Developing country CCFs may therefore play a positive role within the context of REDD+ and other carbon sequestration initiatives. However, because of the nature of our data, results should be considered indicative. Better and smarter data combined with innovative techniques are needed to conclusively evaluate linkages between CCFs, carbon sequestration and REDD+.

Measuring Risk Preferences in Rural Ethiopia

Risk aversion is generally found to decrease in income. Between countries, comparative findings with students suggest that people in poorer countries are more risk tolerant, potentially giving rise to a risk-income paradox. We test the robustness of this finding by measuring the risk preferences of 500 household heads in the highlands of Ethiopia. We find high degrees of risk tolerance, consistent with the evidence obtained for students using the same tasks. The level of risk tolerance is higher than for student samples in most Western and middle-income countries. We also find risk tolerance to increase in income proxies within our sample, thus completing the paradox.

The improved biomass stove saves wood, but how often do people use it ? evidence from a randomized treatment trial in Ethiopia

This paper uses a randomized experimental design and real-time electronic stove use monitors to evaluate the frequency with which villagers use improved biomass-burning Mirt injera cookstoves in rural Ethiopia. Understanding whether, how much, and why improved cookstoves are used is important, because use of the improved stove is a critical determinant of indoor air pollution reductions, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions due to lower fuelwood consumption. Confirming use is, for example, a critical aspect of crediting improved cookstoves’ climate change benefits under the United Nations Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Programme. The paper finds that Ethiopian households in the study area do use the Mirt stove on a regular basis, taking into account regional differences in cooking patterns. In general, stove users also use their Mirt stoves more frequently over time. Giving the Mirt stove away for free and supporting community-level user networks are estimated to lead to more use. The study found no evidence, however, that stove recipients use the stoves more if they have to pay for them, a hypothesis that frequently arises in policy arenas and has also been examined in the literature.

Institutions, sustainable land use and consumer welfare: the case of forest and grazing lands in northern Ethiopia

Land is an essential factor of production. Institutions that govern its efficient use determine the sustainability of this essential resource. In Ethiopia all land is publicly owned. Such an institutional setting is said to have resulted in the major degradation of Ethiopias land resources and dissipation of the resource rent. An alternative to this is assigning a private property institution. In this paper, we examine the consumer welfare effects of a change in the institutional setting on communal forest and grazing lands, using a cross-section data set of 200 households in Northern Ethiopia. Findings suggest that changing the current institutional setting could indeed be welfare reducing.

DOES ADOPTION OF MULTIPLE CLIMATE-SMART PRACTICES IMPROVE FARMERS’ CLIMATE RESILIENCE? EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM THE NILE BASIN OF ETHIOPIA

There is a paucity of information on conditioning factors that hinder or promote adoption of multiple climate-smart practices and on the synergies among such practices in increasing household resilience by improving agricultural income. This study analyzes how heat, rainfall, and rainfall variability affect farmers’ choices of a portfolio of potential climate smart practices — agricultural water management, improved crop seeds, and fertilizer — and the impact of these practices on farm income in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia. We apply a multinomial endogenous switching regression approach by modeling combinations of practices and net farm income for each combination as depending on household and farm characteristics and on a set of climatic variables based on geo-referenced historical precipitation and temperature data. A primary result of this study is that farmers are less likely to adopt fertilizer (either alone or in combination with improved varieties) in areas of greater rainfall variability. However, even when there is high variability in rainfall, farmers are more likely to adopt these two yield-increasing inputs when they choose to (and are able to) include the third part of the portfolio: agricultural water management. Net farm income responds positively to agricultural water management, improved crop variety or fertilizer when they are adopted in isolation as well as in combination. But this effect is greater when these practices are combined. Simulation results suggest that a warming temperature and decreased precipitation in future decades will make it less likely that farmers will adopt practices in isolation but more likely that they will adopt a combination of practices. Hence, a package approach rather than a piecemeal approach is needed to maximize the synergies implicit in various climate smart practices.

Impact of land certification on tree growing on private plots of rural households: Evidence from Ethiopia

The paper examines the impact of land certification on tree growing on private plots of rural households in the Amhara and Tigray regions of Ethiopia. Household and plot level panel data from before and after land certification from stratified random samples of households were used for the analysis. The results suggest a positive impact of land certification on tree growing on private plots of rural households. Law restrictions on tree planting on land suitable for agricultural production may explain why positive but lower investments in tree growing were found on plots that had been exposed to public conservation programs. The study questions the rationale of prohibiting tree growing on degraded agricultural land where tree growing is more profitable and more sustainable than continued growing of food crops.

Climate change and the Ethiopian economy: a CGE analysis

The paper analyzes the economic impacts of climate change-induced fluctuations on the performance of Ethiopias agriculture, using a countrywide computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. We model the impacts on agriculture using a Ricardian model, where current agricultural production is modelled as a function of temperature and precipitation, among other things, and where future agriculture is assumed to follow the same climate function. The effect of overall climate change is projected to be relatively benign until approximately 2030, but will become considerably worse thereafter. Our simulation results indicate that, over a 50-year period, the projected reduction in agricultural productivity may lead to reductions in average income of some 20 per cent compared with the outcome that would have prevailed in the absence of climate change. This indicates that adaptation policies – both government planned and those that ease autonomous adaptation by farmers – will be crucial for Ethiopias future development.

Climate Change Policy in Africa with Special Reference to Energy and Land Use

Abstract While Africa has contributed marginally to climate change, the continent will be disproportionately affected by it, particularly the agricultural sector. Climate change demands policy action to address mitigation and adaptation needs, and it poses opportunities in implementation of international instruments. Two sectors, energy and land use, are particularly important. Over 85% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions in Africa come from energy supply and agriculture. African governments will have to synchronize national development plans and strategies with adaptation and mitigation plans, as well as safeguard that adherence to the rules of international funding mechanisms do not unnecessarily constrain national development strategies.

Do Improved Biomass Cookstoves Reduce Fuelwood Consumption and Carbon Emissions? Evidence from Rural Ethiopia Using a Randomized Treatment Trial with Electronic Monitoring

This paper uses a randomized experimental design with real-time electronic stove temperature measurements and controlled cooking tests to estimate the fuelwood and carbon dioxide savings from an improved cookstove program in the process of being implemented in rural Ethiopia. Knowing more about how households interact with improved cookstoves is important, because cooking uses a majority of the fuelwood in the country and therefore is an important determinant of greenhouse gas emissions and indoor air pollution. Creating local networks among stove users generally appears to increase fuelwood savings, and among monetary treatments the most robust positive effects come from free distribution. The paper estimates that on average one improved stove saves approximately 634 kilograms of fuelwood per year or about 0.94 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, which is about half of previous estimates. Using the May 2015 California auction price of