The Economic Value of Improved Wastewater Irrigation: A Contingent Valuation Study in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

In developing countries the use of wastewater for irrigation can cause considerable harm to public health and the environment. This paper uses contingent valuation to estimate the economic value of safe use of wastewater for crop production on farms within and around Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We estima...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of Agricultural and Resource Economics Vol. 34; no. 3
Main Authors Weldesilassie, Alebel B, Fror, Oliver, Boelee, Eline, Dabbert, Stephan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Western Agricultural Economics Association 2009
SeriesJournal of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Subjects
contingent valuation
dichotomous choice
Energy Economics and Policy
Ethiopia
irrigation
Resource
wastewater
willingness to pay
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Summary:In developing countries the use of wastewater for irrigation can cause considerable harm to public health and the environment. This paper uses contingent valuation to estimate the economic value of safe use of wastewater for crop production on farms within and around Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We estimate a surprisingly large welfare gain from policies for safe use of wastewater for irrigation. Our study highlights the potential and the possible pitfalls of using nonmarket valuation techniques as an input into public decision making where traditional resource use interacts with public health and environmental concerns in complex ways.