Land tax: towards a multifunctional institutional tool for land reform and rangeland conservation

This paper presents a bio-economic modelling technique which provides insight on the probable impacts on the management of natural resources of a land tax as an example of policy instrument. The paper is based on a case study carried out in arid natural rangelands of Namibia, where an agricultural land tax has been implemented in 2006. Responding to concerns regarding the impact of this institutional change on farming strategies' sustainability, the objective of this paper was first to assess the impact of the current taxation scheme. Second, we propose alternative taxation schemes which have the potential to foster on-farm rangeland conservation. We found that the tax at its current level does not lead to changes in the farming strategy, but that if modulated into an incentive design, it has great potential to achieve both income generation for the state and ecological goals of conservation.