Option Values to Conservation and Agricultural Price Policy: Application to Terrace Construction in Kenya

Policy reforms to liberalize agricultural markets in developing countries are likely to influence both the level and the variability of prices. While considerable attention has been given to the impact of changes in price level on soil and water conservation, there has been relatively little analysis of the role of price variability in conservation decisions. We present a model of investment under uncertainty to analyze the effect of both level and variability of prices on the decision to invest in conservation. The model is applied to adoption of fanya juu terraces in eastern Kenya. Copyright 1998, Oxford University Press.