Linear Panel Data and Farming Cash Flow Analyses to Assess the Causes of Deforestation in the Upper Guinean Forest: Data and Evidence from the Prefectures of the Central Region in Togo
We present a careful quantitative description of land use in central Togo, by constructing farm budgets and analyzing time series data on agricultural production in four prefectures over the time period from 1996 to 2015. One key finding is that higher prices for chemical inputs are associated with more deforestation (as proxied by area in yam production), and correspondingly, greater quantities of chemical inputs applied are associated with less deforestation. This confirms that chemical fertilizers and forest clearing are substitutes and suggests that one path to reducing deforestation is to increase agricultural productivity, and to provide farmer with agricultural risk assistance that covers the farming negative externality costs. This risk assistance may include the coverage for the environmental deterioration costs, and the subsidies to compensate for investments’ cost.
References
[1]
Lambin, E.F. and Meyfroidt, P. (2010) Global Land Use Change, Economic Globalization, and the Looming Land Scarcity. Stanford Univ., Stanford and Univ. of Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve.
[2]
Gibbs, K.H., Ruesch, A.S., Achard, F., Clayton, M.K., Holmgren, P., Ramankutty, N. and Foley, J.A. (2010) Tropical Forests Were the Primary Sources of New Agricultural Land in the 1980s and 1990s. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107, 6732-16737.
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0910275107
[3]
Jones, K.M. (2005) Technology Adoption in West Africa: Adoption and Disadoption of Soybeans on the Togo-Benin Border. Master of Science Thesis, NCSU, Dpt. Forestry and Environmental Resources, Raleigh.
[4]
Bassan, A.K. (2009) Constraints to Technology Adoption in a Rural Community of West Africa. Master of Forestry Paper, NCSU, Dpt. Forestry and Environmental Resources, Raleigh.
[5]
Angelsen, A. (1999) Why Do Farmers Expand Their Land into Forests? Theory and Evidence from Tanzania. Environmental and Development Economics, 4, 313-331.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355770X99000212
[6]
Geist, H.J. and Lambin, E.F. (2002) Proximate Causes and Underlying Driving Forces of Tropical Deforestation. BioScience, 52, 143-150.
https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2002)052[0143:PCAUDF]2.0.CO;2
[7]
Sills, O.E. (2008) Class Note, Tropical Forestry. North Carolina State University, Dpt. Forestry and Environmental Resources, Raleigh.
[8]
Nicholson, W. (2005) Microeconomic Theory: Basic Principles and Extensions. Ninth Edition, Thomson South-West, Mason.
[9]
Chevalier, A. (1933) Geo-Botanical Territories of West and North Africa, and Their Subdivisions. Bulletin of the Botanic Society of France, 80, 4-26.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00378941.1933.10833810
[10]
Togo-MERF (1993) Legislations on Environmental Protection. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry of Togo, Togo.
[11]
Togo-DSID (2012) The Fourth Agriculture Census 2011-2014; the Profile of Togo Agriculture, MEAP-DSID.
[12]
Wooldridge, M.J. (2006) Introductory to Econometrics: A Modern Approach. Third Edition, Thomson South-West, Mason.
[13]
Scott, J. (1998) Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed. Yale University Press, New Haven.
[14]
Boucher, D., Elias, P., Lininger, K., May-Tobin, C., Roquemore, S. and Saxon, E. (2011) The Root of the Problems: What’s Driving Tropical Deforestation Today? Tropical Forest and Climate Initiative. Union of Concerned Scientists, Cambridge, Chapter 1, 5-9.
[15]
Sasaki, N. and Putz, E.F. (2009) Critical Need for New Definitions of “Forest” and “Forest Degradation” in Global Climate Change Agreements. Conservation Letters, 2, 226-232. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-263X.2009.00067.x
[16]
Hosonuma, N., Herold, M., De Sy, V., De Fries, R.S., Brockhaus, M., Verchot, L., Angelsen, A. and Romijn, E. (2012) An Assessment of Deforestation and Forest Degradation Drivers in Developing Countries. Environmental Research Letters, 7, Article ID: 044009. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/7/4/044009
[17]
Angelsen, A. and Kaimowitz, D. (1999) Rethinking the Causes of Deforestation: Lessons from Economic Models. The World Bank Research Observer, 14, 73-98.
https://doi.org/10.1093/wbro/14.1.73
Dossou, M. (1986) Cotton Farming and Its Economy in Togo. Cot. Fib, Vol. XLI, Fisc 1.
[20]
Ellis, F. (1988) Peasant Economics: Farm Household and Agrarian Development. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 17-43.
[21]
Rankow, M. (2007) Class Note and Course Materials, Economics Development Course, Agriculture and Resources Economics. NCSU, Raleigh.
[22]
FAO Web Site (2009) Why Has Agriculture Been Neglected So Far?
http://www.fao.org/docrep/pdf/009/a0788e/a0788e01.pdf
[23]
Poulton, C., Kydd, J. and Dorward, A. (2006) Overcoming Market Constraints on Pro-Poor Agricultural Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. Development Policy Review, 24, 243-277. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7679.2006.00324.x
[24]
Ostrom, E. (1998) Coping with the Tragedy of Common. Annual Review of Political Science, 2, 493-535.
[25]
Maslow, A.H. (1943) A Theory of Human Motivation in Psychology. Psychological Review, 50, 370-396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346
[26]
Kuznets, S. (1955) Economic Growth and Income Inequality. American Economic Review, 49, 1-29.
