Abatement and Transaction Costs of Carbon-Sink Projects Involving Smallholders

Agroforestry projects have the potential to help mitigate global warming by acting as sinks for greenhouse gasses. However, participation in carbon-sink projects may be constrained by high costs. This problem may be particularly severe for projects involving smallholders in developing countries. Of particular concern are the transaction costs incurred in developing projects, measuring, certifying and selling the carbon-sequestration services generated by such projects. This paper addresses these issues by analysing the implications of transaction and abatement costs in carbon-sequestration projects. A model of project participation is developed, which accounts for the conditions under which both buyers and sellers would be willing to engage in a carbon transaction that involves a long-term commitment. The model is used to identify critical project-design variables (minimum project size, farm price of carbon, minimum area of participating farms). A project feasibility frontier (PFF) is derived, which shows the minimum project size that is feasible for any given market price of carbon. The PFF is used to analyse how the transaction costs imposed by the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol affect project feasibility.Agroforestry, Climate Policy, Carbon Sequestration Costs

Economics of new technologies for sustainable agriculture

Sustainable agriculture is prescribed as a policy approach that maximizes economic benefits while maintaining environmental quality. It is argued that this approach is human capital-intensive and encourages new scientific developments. To attain sustainability, economic incentives for the development and adoption of precision technologies (with minimal residues that cause environmental damage) have to be developed. Taxation and tradeable permits are desirable policies to attain first-best solutions; however, when heterogeneity and lack-of-information problems are significant, alternative institutions have to be developed. The paper presents and discusses such institutions.Farm Management,

What Are Scenarios Telling Us About Developing Climate-Resilient Pathways in the Southern African Region?

Over the past 10 years, there have been a myriad of foresight exercises and scenarios developed that are relevant to consider in the context of building climate-resilient pathways of development in the SADC region. These scenarios consider different pathways for developing climate-resilient food and agricultural systems relevant for the region. However, not all the scenarios ar e developed for the r egion; most are either at SSA or country level, with a few at regional level, and several at global level

Mega-trends in the Southern African region

This study aims to describe recent developments in the Southern African region by documenting a set of mega-trends defining social, economic, political and environmental conditions. It includes analysis of the recent past as well as projections of future trends. To the extent possible, the report is based on information from 2010 to the present, except in some cases where more recent information was not available. The purpose of this analysis is to get a snapshot of current conditions in the Southern African region and the dynamics that generated them, to inform the design and implementation of investments to secure climate-resilient agricultural livelihoods in the region. The study goes beyond simply tracing trends, however, and provides guidance on how the information can best be used in making plans for the future. The mega-trend analysis gives insights into forces that will shape the future but does not provide predictions of the future. Humans are typically very linear thinkers and tend to look at trends from the past and project them forwards into the future, and we often fall into the trap of thinking that the future is defined by what has happened in the past. There is considerable uncertainty over how several of these mega-trends will play out in the near future, with the possibility of major disruptions and changes on the horizon. This can be seen quite clearly in the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which is still unfolding, and which is already disrupting expectations of future conditions. This uncertainty of future conditions greatly complicates decision-making today. To address this complication, the development of scenarios to identify a range of plausible futures is an important tool for decision-makers. In the final section of the report we give examples of recent scenario work in the region to illustrate how the analysis of megatrends and their uncertainties can be useful in strategic decision-making under uncertainty

Climate Smart Agriculture: Building Resilience to Climate Change

The book uses an economic lens to identify the main features of climate-smart agriculture (CSA), its likely impact, and the challenges associated with its implementation. Drawing upon theory and concepts from agricultural development, institutional, and resource economics, this book expands and formalizes the conceptual foundations of CSA. Focusing on the adaptation/resilience dimension of CSA, the text embraces a mixture of conceptual analyses, including theory, empirical and policy analysis, and case studies, to look at adaptation and resilience through three possible avenues: ex-ante reduction of vulnerability, increasing adaptive capacity, and ex-post risk coping. The book is divided into three sections. The first section provides conceptual framing, giving an overview of the CSA concept and grounding it in core economic principles. The second section is devoted to a set of case studies illustrating the economic basis of CSA in terms of reducing vulnerability, increasing adaptive capacity and ex-post risk coping. The final section addresses policy issues related to climate change. Providing information on this new and important field in an approachable way, this book helps make sense of CSA and fills intellectual and policy gaps by defining the concept and placing it within an economic decision-making framework. This book will be of interest to agricultural, environmental, and natural resource economists, development economists, and scholars of development studies, climate change, and agriculture. It will also appeal to policy-makers, development practitioners, and members of governmental and non-governmental organizations interested in agriculture, food security and climate change

Scope, Limitations and Future Directions

Concepts, theoretical principles and econometric approaches are interrelated throughout the chapters of this book, but generalizations are not so straightforward. One reason why that is although the range of empirical contexts represented is broad, the crops and countries studied were selected purposively. The selection of contexts reflects the joint decisions of the national and international scientists involved, as well as the research policy environment of the country. In other words, empirical research has been conducted in countries where at least some national stakeholders have recognized on-farm conservation of crop biodiversity as a policy issue

Scope, Limitations and Future Directions

Concepts, theoretical principles and econometric approaches are interrelated throughout the chapters of this book, but generalizations are not so straightforward. One reason why that is although the range of empirical contexts represented is broad, the crops and countries studied were selected purposively. The selection of contexts reflects the joint decisions of the national and international scientists involved, as well as the research policy environment of the country. In other words, empirical research has been conducted in countries where at least some national stakeholders have recognized on-farm conservation of crop biodiversity as a policy issue

Balanço ex-ante dos gases do efeito estufa nos programas de desenvolvimento na agricultura e em florestas

EX-ACT (Ex-Ante Carbon-balance Tool, ferramenta para o balanço ex-ante de Carbono) é desenvolvida pela Organização das Nações Unidas para Agricultura e Alimentação (FAO). Tem como finalidade de fornecer estimativas ex-ante do impacto de atenuação na agricultura e nos projetos de desenvolvimento florestal, estimando o saldo líquido das emissões dos gases do efeito estufa (GEE) e do seqüestro de carbono (C). EX-ACT é um sistema de contabilidade que considera o uso da terra, medindo estoques de C, mudanças do estoque por unidade de área, e emissões de CH4 e N2O expressos em CO2-eq por hectare e por ano. O resultado principal da ferramenta é uma estimativa do balanço de CO2-eq associados à adoção de opções de melhoria do manejo da terra, em comparação com um cenário chamado de "business as usual". EX-ACT foi desenvolvida usando principalmente as recomendações de 1996 para estabelecer os inventários nacionais de GEE (Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories IPCC, 2006) complementada por outras metodologias existentes e coeficientes padrão especificos quando disponíveis. Os valores padrão para as opções de mitigação no setor agrícola são na sua maioria provenientes do 4º Relatório de Avaliação do IPCC (2007). Assim, EX-ACT estima o balanço de C dos novos programas de investimentos, garantindo um método adequado e disponível para financiadores e agentes de planejamento, projetistas, e governantes para os setores da agricultura e da silvicultura nos países em desenvolvimento. A ferramenta também pode ajudar a identificar os impactos de atenuação de opções possíveis em vários projetos de investimento, e assim fornecer um critério adicional para escolhê-las como parte dos projetos.EX-ACT (EX-Ante Carbon-balance Tool) is a tool developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). It provides ex-ante measurements of the mitigation impact of agriculture and forestry development projects, estimating net C balance from GHG emissions and Carbon (C) sequestration. EX-ACT is a land-based accounting system, measuring C stocks, stock changes per unit of land, and CH4 and N2O emissions expressed in t CO2-eq per hectare and year. The main output of the tool is an estimation of the C-balance associated with the adoption of improved land management options, as compared with a "business as usual" scenario. EX-ACT has been developed using primarily the IPCC 2006 Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, complemented by other existing methodologies and reviews of default coefficients. Default values for mitigation options in the agriculture sector are mostly from the 4th Assessment Report of IPCC (2007). Thus, EX-ACT allows for the carbonbalance appraisal of new investment programmes by ensuring an appropriate method available for donors and planning officers, project designers, and decision makers within agriculture and forestry sectors in developing countries. The tool can also help to identify the mitigation impacts of various investment project options, and thus provide an additional criterion for consideration in project selection

Toolkit for Developing Skills and Capacity in Applying Foresight to Climate Resilient Agricultural Development in the SADC Region. Module 1: Introduction to Foresight

The SADC Futures project has developed a range of foresight training materials. The SADC Futures Foresight Training Toolkit forms part of this knowledge series and presents content that was given during the SADC Futures webinar series, a six-part virtual webinar series and facilitated training

Toolkit for Developing Skills and Capacity in Applying Foresight to Climate Resilient Agricultural Development in the SADC Region. Module 3: Visioning and Causal Analysis

The SADC Futures project has developed a range of foresight training materials. The SADC Futures Foresight Training Toolkit forms part of this knowledge series and presents content that was given during the SADC Futures webinar series, a six-part virtual webinar series and facilitated training