Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction in Agriculture: Trade‐off or Win–Win Situation for Small Farmers in the Sudanian Area of Burkina Faso?

Agriculture can contribute to carbon emission mitigation by storing more carbon in the soil through greener cropping systems. This study aims to assess the impact of mitigation strategies on small farmers’ welfare. It uses a case study of small farmers in Burkina Faso, relying on an analyse programm...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inAfrican development review Vol. 29; no. S2; pp. 163 - 178
Main Authors Some, Tiertou Edwige, Mbaye, Ahmadou Aly, Barbier, Bruno
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.06.2017
Subjects
Agriculture
Carbon
Case studies
Crops
Developing countries
Economic development
Emissions
Emissions trading
Farmers
Greenhouse gases
Incentives
LDCs
Mitigation
Policy making
Small farms
Welfare
Burkina Faso
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Agriculture can contribute to carbon emission mitigation by storing more carbon in the soil through greener cropping systems. This study aims to assess the impact of mitigation strategies on small farmers’ welfare. It uses a case study of small farmers in Burkina Faso, relying on an analyse programming model, in which farmers maximize their utility subject to a set of such constraints. The results show that integrating an emission reduction will negatively impact farmers’ utility, while integrating perennial crops increases their utility and the net carbon balance. Policymakers should therefore encourage farmers to adopt perennial crops in their cropping systems. To reach the emission reduction targets in the annual cropping system, incentives are needed to compensate for their foregone income.
ISSN:1017-6772
1467-8268
DOI:10.1111/1467-8268.12270