EfD Joint Report 2012/13
This report presents the Environment for Development Initiative (EfD), its members and work during 2012/13. For a free hardcopy, please send an email to: info@efdinitiative.org
Environmental Economics Policy Research Unit (EPRU) South Africa
The Environmental Economics Policy Research Unit is a collaborative association of academic researchers specializing in environmental and natural resource issues. The unit was established in 2007 to promote sustainable development and poverty reduction in Southern Africa. EPRU is based at the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town.
EfD South Africa Center Report 2012/13
This report presents EfD South Africa, its members and work during 2012/13. For a free hardcopy, please send an email to: info@efdinitiative.org
Bridging the Great Divide in South Africa: Inequality and Punishment in the Provision of Public Goods
We explore the effect of income inequality and peer punishment on voluntary provision of public goods in an experimental context. Our sample draws from nine fishing communities in South-Africa where high levels of inequality prevail.
EfD South Africa Center Report 2011/12
This report presents EfD South Africa, its members and work during 2011/12. For a free hardcopy, please send an email to: info@efdinitiative.org
Evaluating the Prospects of Benefit Sharing Schemes in Protecting Mountain Gorillas in Central Africa
Presently, the mountain gorilla in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo is endangered mainly by poaching and habitat loss. This paper sets out to investigate the possible resolution of poaching involving the local community by using benefit sharing schemes with local communities.
Abalone Conservation in the Presence of Drug Use and Corruption Implications for Its Management in South Africa
The illegal exploitation of wild abalone in South Africa has been escalating since 1994, despite increased enforcement, leading to collapse in some sections of its range. South Africa banned all wild abalone fishing in 2008 but controversially reopened it in 2010.
Cooperation and Climate Change Can Communication Facilitate the Provision of Public Goods in Heterogeneous Settings?
International and domestic efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions require a coordinated effort from heterogeneous actors. This experiment uses a public good game with a climate change framing to consider whether cooperation is possible in just such a climate change context.
Are African penguins worth saving? The ecotourism value of the Boulders Beach colony
Populations of the African penguin Spheniscus demersus have decreased dramatically over the past century, due in part to competition for food with commercial fisheries, and the species is now endangered as a result. Economic arguments are used to favour fisheries over the needs of penguins, but penguins have direct value to the South African economy thanks to penguin-based tourism at several breeding colonies.
Risk Aversion: Experimental Evidence from South African Fishing Communities
We estimate the risk attitudes of a large sample of individuals from various fishing communities along the west coast of South Africa.
Capacity Building to deal with Climate Challenges Today and in the Future
Climate change represents a serious threat to the economic growth potential in low income countries. Instead of investing in growth, they may be drawn into strife and conflict. Climate change and the global politics to deal with it, could however also present a number of interesting opportunities for developing countries.
Economics of IPR for Genetic Resources: North-South Cooperation in Sequential R&D
This paper analyzes the interaction between North (technology rich and gene poor) and South (gene rich but technology poor) in relation to bioprospecting in the life sciences industries. This sector is modeled as a vertical industry with a sequential R and D process where both contributions from North and South are necessary to develop new drugs.
Governance of the R&D Sector for Bio-Technology: Intellectual Property Rights and Bio-Prospecting
The efficient governance of information-production is analysed in the context of the bio-technology industry. Here primary R&D generates pure abstract information on the nature of biological solution concepts, while secondary R&D generates commercial products marketable to consumers.
Providing Economic Incentives for Biodiversity Conservation in an Emerging Bioregional Context
Many protected areas are not successfully conserving biodiversity, often despite adequate management within their borders. Changes in land use outside protected areas can alter ecological function inside protected areas and result in biodiversity loss given that protected areas are almost always parts of larger ecosystems. Economic incentives are seen as one of the most promising avenues to influence conservation goals.
Risk Preferences and Environmental Uncertainty: Implications for Crop Diversification Decisions in Ethiopia
To the extent that diversifying income portfolio is used as a strategy for shielding against production risk, both individual risk aversion and weather uncertainty could affect crop diversification decisions. This paper is concerned with empirically assessing the effects of risk aversion and rainfall variability on farm level diversity.
Ecotourism joint ventures between the private sector and communities: An updated analysis of the Torra Conservancy and Damaraland Camp partnership, Namibia
Community-based natural resource management is frequently proposed as a solution to poverty in rural Africa. The extent of Namibia's CBNRM programme's success in terms of joint ventures between the private sector and communities has not been comprehensively analysed.
The valuation of biodiversity conservation by the South African Khomani San "bushmen" community
The restitution of parkland to the Khomani San “bushmen” and Mier “agricultural” communities in May 2002 marked a significant shift in conservation in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and environs in South Africa. Biodiversity conservation will benefit from this land restitution only if the Khomani San, who interact with nature more than do other groups, are good environmental stewards.
Evaluation of the Status of the Namibian Hake Resource (Merluccius spp.) Using Statistical Catch-at-Age Analysis
Namibian hake is the most important fish resource in Namibia. This monograph is a compilation of all the hake data, historic and recent, that has been used to inform stock assessment and management since the late 1970s.
The Valuation of Biodiversity Conservation by the South African Khomani San “Bushmen” Community
The restitution of parkland to the Khomani San “bushmen” and Mier “agricultural” communities in May 2002 marked a significant shift in conservation in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and environs in South Africa. Biodiversity conservation will benefit from this land restitution only if the Khomani San, who interact with nature more than do other groups, are good environmental stewards.
Analysis of the plastic-bag levy in South Africa
In an attempt to control the environmental problems posed by plastic shopping bags, the South Africa government combined elements of regulation with a levy per bag, similar to that applied by the Irish.
Heterogeneity and Voting: a Framed Public Good Experiment
The lack of cooperation and prevalence of free riding in efforts to reduce emissions reflects the public good dilemma synonymous with climate change: whereby individual incentives lead to sub-optimal outcomes. This study examines how cooperative norms can be fostered through democratic processes.
Adaptation to Climate Change by Smallholder Farmers in Tanzania
In Sub-Saharan Africa, climate change is set to hit the agricultural sector the most and cause untold suffering particularly for smallholder farmers. To cushion themselves against the potential welfare losses, smallholder farmers need to recognize the changes already taking place in their climate and undertake appropriate investments towards adaptation.
Agricultural-risk management through community-based wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether community-based wildlife conservation can potentially be added in rural farmers’ investment portfolio to diversify and consequently reduce agricultural risk.
Maximising the value of South Africa’s coast
The recreational and aesthetic values of coastal areas have a significant economic impact, and because they are enhanced by coastal protection, the latter should receive top priority in striving to achieve development goals
The role of tourism employment in poverty reduction and community perceptions of conservation and tourism in southern Africa
The study assesses the role played by high-end ecotourism at study sites in Malawi, Botswana and Namibia.
Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Tourism in Africa
This is a chapter in the new publication "Sustainable Tourism & the Millennium Development Goals: Effecting Positive Change" by The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) which will be launched this year at TIES annual conference, the Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference (ESTC) being held in Monterey, California, USA from Sept 17-19, 2012.
Behavioral Response to Plastic Bag Legislation in Botswana
This paper investigates the use of charges and standards in dealing with a common externality, plastic litter from shopping bags in Botswana. The country passed a plastic bag tax (effective 2007) to curb the plastic bag demand. Interestingly, the legislation did not force retailers to charge for plastic bags, which they did voluntarily at different prices.
Agricultural-Risk Management through Community-Based Wildlife Conservation in Zimbabwe
On the Looting of Nations
We develop a dynamic discrete choice model of a self-interested and unchecked ruler making decisions regarding the development of are source rich country. Resource wealth serves as collateral and facilitates the acquisition of loans.
The valuation of biodiversity conservation by the South African Khomani San “bushmen” community
The restitution of land to the Khomani San “bushmen” and Mier “agricultural” communities in May 2002 marked a significant shift in conservation in the Kgalagadi area in South Africa. The Khomani San and Mier communities were awarded land inside and outside the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.
Green certificate trading
The Economics of Climate Change: Putting a Price on Carbon
Social capital, cooperative behavior and norm-enforcement
Studies have shown differences in cooperative behavior across countries and in the use of (and reaction to) a norm enforcement mechanism in cross-cultural studies.
Treatment effects of Climate Change risk on mitigation and adaptation behaviour in an experimental setting
The authors studied the potential tradeoff between countries’ investments in mitigation versus adaptation to climate change. Mitigating greenhouse gases may be a public good, but adaptation to climate change is a private good, benefiting only the country or individual.
Fuel Taxes and the Poor - RFF/EfD book released
Fuel Taxes and the Poor challenges the conventional wisdom that gasoline taxation, an important and much-debated instrument of climate policy, has a disproportionately detrimental effect on poor people.
Fuel Taxes and the Poor
Fuel Taxes and the Poor challenges the conventional wisdom that gasoline taxation, an important and much-debated instrument of climate policy, has a disproportionately detrimental effect on poor people.
A green revolution betrayed? Seed technology and small-scale maize farmers in Zimbabwe
Since the 1960s both large- and small-scale Zimbabwean maize farmers have been replacing open pollinated varieties (OPVs) with locally developed hybrids. By the 1990s, most were buying hybrid seed, though the adoption rates of new seed types were slowing. With the collapse of the Zimbabwean economy many small farmers returned to planting OPVs and saving seed, not only because hybrid seed was unavailable but also as a rational response to economic risks.
The role of business and cross-sector collaboration in addressing the ‘wicked problem’of food insecurity
There is growing interest in the potential for business to make proactive contributions to food security, particularly as part of some form of cross-sector collaboration. Such collaboration can improve value chain efficiency and may also begin to address some of the ‘wicked problem’ characteristics of food insecurity.
Sustainable and responsible investment in emerging markets: integrating environmental risks in the South African investment industry
This article analyses the views of South African investment organizations about the likelihood of commodification of environmental risks in their investment decision-making processes. It is based on an empirical qualitative survey of 22 investment organizations, which are signatories to the United Nation’s Principles for Responsible Investment.
Green certificate trading
Within a South African context, a green certificate system would provide a mechanism with which to verify compliance with any future renewable energy obligations, and would encourage renewable electricity generation in the current monopoly environment.
Risk Aversion: Experimental Evidence from South African Fishing Communities
We estimate the risk attitudes of a large sample of small-scale fishers from various fishing communities along the west coast of South Africa, using subjects’ choices over lotteries with real monetary prizes.
Elasticity of demand, price and time: lessons from South Africa's plastic-bag levy
This paper suggests that the initial sharp fall in use of bags was a result of loss aversion rooted in an endowment effect (the bags having long been a free good). Once consumers became accustomed to paying for bags, demand slowly rose to its historic levels.
Enhancing consumers voluntary use of small-scale wind turbines
This paper investigates whether South African households and small businesses can take advantage of the country's substantial wind resources to produce their own power from small- scale wind turbines in a viable way.
EfD South Africa Center Report 2010
This report presents EfD South Africa, its members and work during 2010. For a free hardcopy, please send an email to: info@efdinitiative.org
Calabashes for kilowatt-hours:Rural energy and market failure
This paper describes how management and information failures can retard transitions from the traditional use of biomass fuel by low income rural consumers and micro-producers.
Kgalagadi transfrontier park and its land claimants: a pre- and post-land claim conservation and development history
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is located in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa and neighbouring Botswana. The local communities on the South African side, the Khomani San (Bushmen) and Mier living adjacent to the park have land rights inside and outside the park.
Use of Anthropometric Measures to Analyze How Sources of Water and Sanitation Affect Children’s Health in Nigeria
We used 2008 DHS data sets to construct child height- and weight-for-age Z-scores and used regression analysis to analyze the effects of different sources of drinking water and sanitation on child health outcomes in Nigeria. We also calculated the probability of a child being stunted or underweight as our measure of malnutrition among children aged 0–59 months.
Sustainable Agricultural Practices and Agricultural Productivity in Ethiopia: Does Agroecology Matter?
This paper uses data from household- and plot-level surveys conducted in the highlands of the Tigray and Amhara regions of Ethiopia to examine the contribution of sustainable land-management practices to net values of agricultural production in areas with low- and high-agricultural potential.
Sovereign Debt and the Resource Curse
In this book chapter, the authors argue that contrary to the general view shared among social science scientists until the eighties, resource wealth seems actually to impede the economic performance of many countries.
A Market for Environmentally Responsible Investment? Identifying Obstacles and Enablers of Commodification of Environmental Risks in the South African Investment Industry
This paper analyzes the views of South African investment organizations on the likelihood of commodification of environmental risks in their investment decision processes. It is based on an empirical qualitative survey of 22 investment organizations, which are signatories to the United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Investment.
A Bioeconomic Model of Community Incentives for Wildlife Management Before and After CAMPFIRE
This paper formulates a bioeconomic model to analyze community incentives for wildlife management under benefit-sharing programs like the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) in Zimbabwe.
Modelling International Tourism Demand for Zimbabwe
This paper uses the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration to estimate the coefficients of the determinants of international tourism demand for Zimbabwe for the period 1998 to 2005.The results show that taste formation, transport costs, changes in global income and certain specific event have a significant impact on international tourism demand.