In many least developed countries, inadequate user willingness to pay (WTP) to achieve cost recovery for improvements to substandard rural water services is a major barrier to reaching targets such as the Millennium Development Goals. A meta‐analysis of 21 contingent valuation studies conducted in least developed countries reveals that cost recovery from user demand is infeasible in most cases, and that rural areas are especially unwilling to pay enough to finance water service improvements. We argue that this is largely due to inability to pay cash rather than an absence of demand and propose two alternative financing approaches that may enable capital deficient communities to afford improvements. A discrete choice experiment, conducted in a rural catchment of Zambia, compares conventional cash‐based WTP for different water service attributes with two alternative measures. (1) Willingness to borrow: Monthly payments in cash, with a no‐interest loan given to the user. (2) Willingness to work: Instead of cash, payment in the form of contributing time devoted to unskilled labor. To different degrees, these alternatives elicit higher demand and enable cost recovery, providing evidence that demand‐driven, economically sustainable water development efforts, as described here for Simango, Zambia, may be implemented for rural, resource‐poor communities.
Aquaponics, which integrates hydroponic farming and aquaculture, has the potential for sustainably producing high-quality food, but has yet to achieve commercial success. In recent years, however, commercial-scale aquaponics has received considerable attention from the scientific community, with the current literature covering many aspects of aquaponic production. We reviewed this literature and classified the specific areas covered by each paper and its contribution to either cost reduction or benefit enhancement. The literature regarding the economic benefits of aquaponics was summarised, and despite contradicting views of current profitability, there is a consensus that (i) larger systems are economically superior to smaller ones; (ii) profitability is sensitive to retail prices; and (iii) commercial aquaponics are more profitable through improved business plans. This review provides a quantitative scientific analysis of the bioeconomics and potential of commercial aquaponics, useful for both researchers and practitioners. We argue for greater focus on three understudied aspects that could each be a 'game changer' for commercial aquaponics. These include the following: (i) grower considerations such as financial planning and risk management that affect potential growers' initial engagement in aquaponics; (ii) consumer perception of aquaponic products including the willingness to pay more for its added value; and (iii) the economic value of the environmental benefits of aquaponic systems and ways to internalise them for profit. Further study of each of these aspects, along with the ongoing improvement of production systems, will support the establishment of large-scale aquaponics as an economically sustainable industry.
economic value of Gamla to the visiting public is approximately five times higher than the current revenue, and 85% of the visitors to Gamla came to view vultures. This information can be used to estimate the benefits of further investment in Gamla Nature Reserve, to price this site according to demand if there are budget limits, and in particular to invest in the protection of vultures and other threatened species.
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