Quantification of the Trade-Offs in Zambia between Environment, Employment, Income and Food Security

Abstract

The designations employed in ILO publications, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International Labour Office concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers. The responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles, studies and other contributions rests solely with their authors, and publication does not constitute an endorsement by the International Labour Office of the opinions expressed in them. Reference to names of firms and commercial products and processes does not imply their endorsement by the International Labour Office, and any failure to mention a particular firm, commercial product or process is not a sign of disapproval. ILO publications can be obtained through major booksellers or ILO local offices in many countries, or direct from ILO Publications, International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland. A catalogue or list of new publications will be sent free of charge from the above address. Printed by the International Labour Office. Geneva, Switzerland PrefaceThis Working Paper is one of a series of environmental studies undertaken as part of the World Employment Programme of the ILO. It reports on the use of modelling to assist policy makers responsible for land allocation in trading off commercial, social and environmental interests. On the basis of a set of objectives and priorities and on the basis of the necessary field data, the study presents policy makers with a quantified optimal solution (in terms of the model) where objectives suggest contradictory actions. Moreover, the study enables policy makers the simulation of solutions when priorities are varied. The study concerns the Middle Zambezi Valley of the Kariba Lakeshore, a region of Zambia that is representative of other regions of the African continent. The objectives pursued are Environmental Quality (EQ), Employment (EM), Income Maximisation (IM) and Food Security (FS). The trade-off between these objectives arises from controversial proposals to clear large areas of environmentally valuable forests in order to develop irrigation-based agriculture and thus to increase incomes and employment.The main finding of the study is the presence of a significant level of complementarity between employment in tourism and the maintenance of environmental quality, albeit that this complementarity is subject to adequate environmental protection measures designed to manage adverse environmental effects of tourism on the environment. The same complementarity is not found between employment in agriculture and the maintenance of environmental quality. Nor are the objectives of food security and income maximisation advanced in equal measure when comparing agriculture and tourism. Under the circumstances, the study suggests a strategy by which at least SO per cent of the land now considered for clearing should not be develop...