This paper presents a spatial multi-agent programming model, which has been developed for assessing policy options in the diffusion of innovations and resource use changes. Unlike conventional simulation tools used in agricultural economics, the model class described here applies a...

There is a downward spiral of declining soil fertility, low crop yield and increasing poverty in the less-favored areas of SSA. The semi-arid tropics of northern Ghana share this episode. The soils in this part of the country are naturally less endowed, have little organic matter content and...

This paper focuses on the interactions between local communities having at least some degree of informal claims over natural resources and external agents, particularly firms interested in commercial resource exploitation. The paper makes three contributions to the existing literature. First,...

Numerous studies have shown the merits of targeting the costs of conservation besides environmental benefits and aligning payments for ecosystem services with incurred costs. However, cost-effective and precise estimation of site specific opportunity costs is a major challenge. In this paper we...

Landholders are generally assumed to be willing to participate in payments for ecosystem service (PES) schemes if the offered payment exceeds the opportunity cost of participation. The calculation of opportunity costs is often based on historic financial data such as net returns of the formerly...

This paper focuses on the interactions between local communities having at least some degree of informal claims over natural resources and external agents, particularly firms interested in commercial resource exploitation. The paper makes three contributions to the existing literature. First,...

This paper is an attempt to critically survey the movement for Joint Forest Management(JFM) in India. The study commences with a description of the policy context in which Joint Forest Management got initiated in India. It considers the 1980s to have effected a paradigm shift in India's forest...

Landholders are generally assumed to be willing to participate in payments for ecosystem service (PES) schemes if the offered payment exceeds the opportunity cost of participation. The calculation of opportunity costs is often based on historic financial data such as net returns of the formerly...

The objective of this paper is to analyse the implications of landowners’ option values in land allocation and derive policy recommendations for payments for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). We examine the determinants of landowner participation in REDD...

This paper presents a first empirical assessment of carnivore conservation under a performance payment scheme. The Swedish government issues payments to reindeer herder villages based on the number of carnivore offspring certified on their pastures. The villages decide on the internal use and...