In the Anaikatty region of the southern Western Ghats in India, land-use in forest peripheries is characterized by low productivity and extended fallows. Land alienations, soil degradation, drought, wild animal attacks, and declining access to forests have debilitated the livelihood base of a...

A majority of rural households in developing countries still use solid fuels for cooking. Many studies show linkages between the indoor air pollution from solid fuels with respiratory health problems. These estimates, however, suffer from an endogeneity bias arising from the effects of health...

Watershed development is a very important rural development programme in India. This paper studies 60 community groups in 12 micro-watersheds in South India to understand how villagers cooperate to manage watershed related tasks. The paper examines the factors that affect collective...

There has been much interest recently in promoting decentralization in the forestry sector in the belief that it would bring in downward accountability, which in turn would ensure economic efficiency, sustainability of the resource, and social and economic equity. Since local users are likely to...

Arsenic poisoning is a major public health concern in Bangladesh. This study uses primary data to examine health impacts and costs associated with arsenic contamination of groundwater. The study estimates that some 7 to 12 million person-days per year are lost as a result of arsenic exposure. In...

Storm protection is an important regulating service provided by mangrove forests because they can shield inland property and lives during tropical cyclones. Theoretical as well as empirical research shows that mangroves provide protection from storm surge. But whether mangroves protect inland...

Farmers in Bangladesh burnt an estimated 3.14 million metric tons of rice residue in 2010. Rice residue burning contributes to climate change and pollution through the release of gaseous and particulate matter. Thus, this study examines options for managing rice residue and the factors that...

In this study, we use the Hedonic property value method to estimate how a disamenity, bad odor from an open sewer system, affects housing prices in the city of Rawalpindi in Pakistan. We provide estimates of the benefits of converting the open system into a closed sewer system. We find that...

Household air pollution remains a dominant health risk, particularly in South Asia. Increasing international attention has focused on improved cookstoves (ICS) as a vehicle for reducing household air pollution, regional environmental and climate impacts. Biogas plants are a type of improved...

This paper analyses the complementarities between land productivity and conservation investments in the context of river embankment maintenance in the Indian Sundarbans. The study finds that households whose principal occupation is aquaculture commit more resources to embankment maintenance...