Training on Model for assessing economic, social and environmental implications of alternative land uses (ECOSAUT), Harare, Zimbabwe 4-8 March 2008
Sponsors: CPWF (Themes 2 and 4),
Hosts: Center for Applied Social Science (CASS), University of Zimbabwe (UZ), WaterNet, and the African Network for Soil Biology and Fertility (AfNet).
A lot of emphasis in now placed on the concept of sustainable development, specifically on rural development. However, the practical application differs significantly from theoretical aspiration. The challenge is to blend environmental sustainability with social acceptance and economic feasibility and efficiency.
To tackle the fundamental causes of environmental problems and be able to design effective management strategies, appropriate and adequate identification of the various goods, services, and functions that ecosystems fulfill for local communities must be done. Defining the appropriate methods for their correct valuation is of utmost importance.
The ECOSAUT model harmoniously integrates the valuation of the “trilogy of natural resources, economy, and social impact" with watershed management. The methodology seeks to take advantage of, on the one hand, the positive ties between economic efficiency and environmental enhancement; and, on the other, to intervene to create new economic indicators that will oblige all decisions on production and consumption to take into account their effects on the environment. The model was developed by CONDESAN and Latin America partners to analyze the economic, social and environmental trade offs associated with alternative land uses under the CPWF Project Number (PN) 22 1 implemented in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia of the Andes Basin.
The model allows researchers to calculate the socio-economic and the environmental costs and benefits associated with different land uses, as perceived on site by farmers and off site by downstream communities. The value of the model for PES or other policy-oriented interventions is that it estimates both the quantity of an environmental service—such as water generation, sediment reduction or carbon sequestration—provided by a given land use, and the cost to farmers or other land users of supplying it.
As part of the Theme 2 PES initiative, PN22 researchers Marcela Quintero and Ruben Dario Estrada gave a five-day training workshop to 16 researchers from Zimbabwe, Kenya, Malawi and South Africa. Participants included members of CPWF projects PN17 and PN20 as well as members of WaterNet and AfNet. The workshop included both lectures and practical examples in which participants worked with the model to analyze land use scenarios in their own study sites.
The lecture and practical sessions modules comprised an introduction to ex-ante evaluation and its usefulness in assessing environmental externalities using linear programming. The participants were then taken through a detailed introduction to optimization models using linear programming through a practical example that applied the Solver tool in MS Excel. A simple linear programming exercise using the solver tool enabled the team to understand the formulation and logic behind ECOSAUT model. Once the participants were able to understand the simple logic, they were all engaged in a more complex exercise that ensured they used most of the applications of the model and were able to interpret the results the obtained.
As part of assessing the potential of payment for environmental services, the participants created scenarios that would reduce negative environmental externalities, and then went on to analyze the effect of each scenario on farm profitability and resource use. Some of the key questions that formed the scenarios in the practical exercises include:
- How would farm profitability and resource use be affected if regulations were imposed to reduce sedimentation to a given level ?
- How would a shift to bio-fuels affect farm profitability and demand for farm labor ?
- What land use options would retain run-off at a certain maximum desired level without compromising farm profitability ?
- What is the marginal effect of the proposed land use on sediment yields with respect to the current situation (current land use) ?
Participants of the ECOSAUT training workshop held at the Bronte Garden Hotel, Harare, ZimbabweFor more information contact: Bella (belnya@yahoo.com) and Fredah (f.maina@cgiar.org).
1 Payment for environmental services as a mechanism for promoting rural development in the upper watersheds of the tropics: An Andes Basin study
