A Within-Farm Efficiency Comparison of Silvopasture Systems with Conventional Pasture and Forestry in Northeast Argentina

Frey, Gregory E.; Fassola, Hugo Enrique; Pachas, Anibal Nahuel Alejandro; Colcombet, Luis; Lacorte, Santiago M.; Renkow, Mitch; Pérez, Óscar Gallego; Cubbage, Frederick W.

doi:10.3368/le.88.4.639

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Frey et al . () compared silvopastoral and conventional cattle ranching operations that simultaneously apply two or more silvopastoral technologies, and the authors claimed that they accounted for sample selection bias by using paired comparisons of technologies within the same farms. Their results suggested that farmers who used these technologies displayed higher TE than conventional cattle‐ranchers.…”

Section: Review Of the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This kind of monetary indicator is often employed in the impact evaluation and the applied production economics literature to measure output when the use of physical units is not possible. It is important to emphasize that monetary figures must be valued at constant prices to avoid possible market effects (e.g., Battese et al ., ; Solís et al ., ; Odoul et al ., ; Frey et al ., ; González‐Flores et al ., ; Ghebru & Holden, ). In addition, the programme analyzed is relatively small, so there is no expectation of price effects that could result from supply shifts that could be attributed to the programme itself.…”

Section: Analytical Framework and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Productivity effects and natural resource management: econometric evidence from POSAF‐II in Nicaragua

Santos-Montero

Bravo‐Ureta

2017

Natural Resources Forum

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Understanding how natural resource management (NRM) technologies impact agricultural productivity is essential in order to ensure that policies designed to reduce environmental degradation and alleviate poverty are successful. In this paper, we analyze the impact of natural resource technologies delivered by the Socio-environmental and Forestry Development Programme-II (POSAF-II) in Nicaragua. Using cross-sectional data for 1,201 farmers (475 beneficiaries, 726 control farmers), we provide empirical evidence concerning the effects of a NRM programme on two critical components of productivity: technological change (TC) and technical efficiency (TE). We use propensity score matching (PSM) to mitigate potential biases from observable variables and a recent stochastic production frontier (SPF) model that addresses sample selection bias arising from unobservable variables. Our results show that POSAF-II has had a positive impact on the two dimensions of productivity analyzed, i.e., TC and TE. This study contributes to the literature on impact evaluation by showing how an intervention designed to improve NRM can also enhance the income of poor farm households through increases in productivity.

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Section: Review Of the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Analytical Framework and Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Productivity effects and natural resource management: econometric evidence from POSAF‐II in Nicaragua

Santos-Montero

Bravo‐Ureta

2017

Natural Resources Forum

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“…69 of October 30, 2017). However, the uneven and relatively slow uptake of agroforestry in Central and Latin America (Dagang and Nair 2003;Frey et al 2012a;Somarriba et al 2012) suggests that not all farmers deem these systems to be a desirable land-use option (Do et al 2020). While the ecological advantages of agroforestry have been widely documented (e.g., Jose 2009), the socio-economic disadvantages that may constitute barriers to adoption have received less attention in the literature (Liu et al 2019;Montambault and Alavalapati 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Which Socio-economic Conditions Drive the Selection of Agroforestry at the Forest Frontier?

Gosling

Knoke

Reith

et al. 2021

Environmental Management

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Models are essential to assess the socio-economic credentials of new agroforestry systems. In this study, we showcase robust optimisation as a tool to evaluate agroforestry’s potential to meet farmers’ multiple goals. Our modelling approach has three parts. First, we use a discrete land-use model to evaluate two agroforestry systems (alley cropping and silvopasture) and conventional land uses against five socio-economic objectives, focusing on the forest frontier in eastern Panama. Next, we couple the land-use model with robust optimisation, to determine the mix of land uses (farm portfolio) that minimises trade-offs between the five objectives. Here we consider uncertainty to simulate the land-use decisions of a risk-averse farmer. Finally, we assess how the type and amount of agroforestry included in the optimal land-use portfolio changes under different environmental, socio-economic and political scenarios, to explore the conditions that may make agroforestry more attractive for farmers. We identify silvopasture as a promising land use for meeting farmers’ goals, especially for farms with less productive soils. The additional labour demand compared to conventional pasture, however, may prove an important barrier to adoption for farms facing acute labour shortages. The selection of agroforestry responded strongly to changes in investment costs and timber prices, suggesting that cost-sharing arrangements and tax incentives could be effective strategies to enhance adoption. We found alley cropping to be less compatible with farmers’ risk aversion, but this agroforestry system may still be a desirable complement to the land-use portfolio, especially for farmers who are more profit-oriented and tolerant of risk.

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“…Understanding research, extension, and land manager perceptions and expectations is an essential first step (Workman et al, 2003;Bussoni et al, 2015). Proving its economic viability is likewise important to land managers interested in diversification and income enhancement Frey et al, 2012). If there is openness to introducing arboreal legumes, bridging the gap between research and application can be more successfully achieved when extension services are present, trained, and motivated (Workman et al, 2003).…”

Section: Social and Cultural Barriersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Trees in silvopastures provide a wide range of products and ES as managers seek to diversify consumables as well as income beyond the herbaceous pasture as means of risk avoidance and income diversification (Brenes, 2004); Frey et al, 2012). These can be broadly divided into the following categories: provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services according to the guidelines of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report of the United Nations (MEA, 2005) …”

Section: Ecosystem Services Provided By Tree Legumesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree legumes: an underexploited resource in warm-climate silvopastures

et al. 2017

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-Tree legumes are an underexploited resource in warm-climate silvopastures. Perceived benefits of tree legumes include provisioning (browse/mast, timber, fuel, human food, natural medicines, and ornamentals), regulating (C sequestration, greenhouse gas mitigation, soil erosion control and riparian buffers, shade, windbreaks, and habitat for pollinators), supporting (biological N 2 -fixation, nutrient cycling, soil fertility and soil health, photosynthesis, and primary productivity), and cultural ecosystem services. Tree legumes, however, have not been assessed to the same extent as herbaceous legumes. Once tree legumes are established, they are often more persistent than most herbaceous legumes. There are limitations for extended research with tree legume silvopastures, but extensive research has been done in Africa and Australia and recent efforts have been reported in South America. Economic benefits must be demonstrated to land managers to increase adoption. These benefits are apparent in the research and successes already available, but more long-term research, including the livestock component is necessary. Other factors that reduce adoption include paucity of domesticated germplasm, lag in research/technology, challenges of multipurpose trees and management complexity, challenges to mechanization, dangers of invasive weeds, and social and cultural barriers. In the current scenario of climate change and the need to increase food security, tree legumes are a key component for the sustainable intensification of livestock systems in warm-climate regions.Key Words: biological N 2 fixation, ecosystem services, grassland, nutrient cycling, tropical Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia

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A Within-Farm Efficiency Comparison of Silvopasture Systems with Conventional Pasture and Forestry in Northeast Argentina

Cited by 11 publications

References 29 publications

Productivity effects and natural resource management: econometric evidence from POSAF‐II in Nicaragua

Productivity effects and natural resource management: econometric evidence from POSAF‐II in Nicaragua

Which Socio-economic Conditions Drive the Selection of Agroforestry at the Forest Frontier?

Tree legumes: an underexploited resource in warm-climate silvopastures

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