Policy briefs
- ethiopia | Energy Income alone doesn’t determine adoption and choice of fuel types: Evidence from households in Tigrai and major cities in Ethiopia It is estimated that approximately 2.5 billion people in developing countries rely on biomass fuels to meet their cooking needs. Biomass fuels are derived from living, or recently living organisms, such as wood and leaves, animal waste and other types of waste. Urban centers have long been dependent on the rural hinterlands for about 90% of their biomass fuel needs in Ethiopia. This is one of the causes of deforestation and has resulted in growing fuel scarcity and higher firewood prices. Mekonnen, A., and Köhlin, G. 2008 “Determinants of Household Fuel Choice in Major Cities in Ethiopia” Discussion Paper Series EfD DP 08-18, Environment for Development (EfD), University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden. Gebreegziabher, Z., Mekonnen, A., Kassie, M., and Köhlin, G. 2009 “Urban Energy Transition and Technology Adoption: the Case of Tigrai, Northern Ethiopia” Environmental Economics Policy Forum for Ethiopia (EEPFE), Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI), Addis Ababa.
- kenya | Forestry Policy design Opportunity costs of conservation: The case of protected area management in the Kakamega Forest, Western Kenya Knowing the local opportunity costs of restricting access to forest land and resources for conservation purposes is an important input to the design of cost-effective conservation schemes that minimize adverse effects on poor forest users. Jan Börner , John Mburu , Paul Guthiga , Stephen Wambua, 2009, “Assessing opportunity costs of conservation: Ingredients for protected area management in the Kakamega Forest, Western Kenya”. Forest Policy and Economics 11 (2009) 459–467.
- ethiopia | Behavior ec. Changes in discount rates over time: Evidence from Ethiopia Numerous experimental studies have lent credence to the hyperbolic discounting model, which posits that individuals are impatient about immediate or near-term consumption decisions, but are relatively more patient over future consumption. Klemick, H., and Yesuf, M., 2008 “Do Discount Rates Change over Time? Experimental Evidence from Ethiopia” Discussion Papaer Serier, EfD DP 08-06, Enviornment for Development (EfD), Gothenburg, Sweden.
- central america | Parks & Wildlife Policy design Conservación para el desarrollo (Spanish only) En Costa Rica los parques nacionales generan bienestar a las comunidades vecinas Esta síntesis se basa en los resultados de Robalino, J y Laura Villalobos-Fiatt 2009. Conservation policies and labor markets: unraveling the effects of national parks on local wages in Costa Rica. EfD-CA Working paper.
- central america | Policy design Temas pendientes en la gobernabilidad hídrica (Spanish only) Las organizaciones comunales de abastecimiento de agua y saneamiento en Costa Rica Esta síntesis pertenece a una serie de publicaciones de la Unidad de Comunicación y Políticas (CPU en el marco del programa MAP-CATIE escrita por Ingo Gentes y Róger Madrigal- CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica. Octubre, 2009.
- central america | Policy design Rendición de cuentas y participación comunitaria en la provisión de agua potable (Spanish only) La efectividad de una política de descentralización depende de muchos factores y no puede ser concebida como una panacea para solventar los problemas de provisión de agua potable en todos los contextos. This brief is based on results from: Madrigal, R; Alpízar, F; Schluter, A. 2009. Determinants of performance in rural water community organizations in Costa Rica. EfD-CA Working paper.
- ethiopia | Agriculture Sustainable land management practices improve agricultural productivity The agriculture sector in Ethiopia is the most important sector for sustaining growth and reducing poverty. It accounts for 50% of GDP, 88% of export value, and is a source of employment for more than 85% of the country’s population of more than 70 million. However, lack of adequate nutrient supply, the depletion of soil organic matter, and soil erosion are major obstacles to sustained agricultural production.
- kenya | Policy design Challenging Drylands Myths with Economics and Facts Ecological adaptations allow dryland plants and animals to reproduce, grow and survive in extreme conditions. Simply dryland systems are ecologically resilient and cannot be dismissed as wastelands Nyangena, Wilfred, 2009 “Realising the true value of ecosystem services” in Mortimore, M. (Ed) “Dryland Opportunities: A new paradigm for people, ecosystems and development” pp. 27-41. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, IIED, London, UK and UNDP, New York, USA.
- central america | Energy Policy design Fuel tax incidence in developing countries: the case of Costa Rica Policy makers in developing countries need to balance an array of distributional, political, fiscal and environmental goals in deciding whether to raise fuel taxes. Our analysis demonstrates that distributional concerns need not trump competing goals. This brief is based on results from: Blackman, Allen, Rebecca Osakwe, and Francisco Alpízar. “Fuel Tax Incidence in Developing Countries: the Case of Costa Rica.” Working Paper. Environment for Development Center for Central America: Turrialba, Costa Rica.
- kenya | Agriculture Policy design Risk Implications of Farm Technology Adoption in the Ethiopian Highlands Risk implications of farm technology adoption vary by technology type. If properly implemented, the safety net program and the weather insurance programs currently piloted in some parts of Ethiopia are actions that could hedge against downside risk. Mahmud Yesuf, Menale Kassie, and Gunnar Köhlin, 2009 “Risk Implications of Farm Technology Adoption in the Ethiopian Highlands” Discussion Paper Series, EfD DP 09-13, RFF.
