Using Mixed Methods to Assess Trade-Offs Between Agricultural Decisions and Deforestation

Abstract

Policies that target poverty reduction are often at odds with environmental sustainability. Assessing magnitudes of trade-offs between improved livelihoods on one side, and forest cover on the other, is important for designing win-win development policies that may help to mitigate climate change. I use a mix of panel data for 670 villages over a 10 year period, and combine it with historical land records and grey literature, to understand the drivers of deforestation within reserved forests of Thailand -an area where smallholder ethnic tribes are located. Given that reserved forests are the last bastions of forests in Thailand, examining what drives land clearing within these areas is important. I combine econometric findings with qualitative reports to infer that (i) it is important to measure the differential effects of policies on different crops, agricultural intensity and the agricultural frontier; and (ii) within forest reserves, policies that encourage cultivation overall may not be detrimental to forest cover after all. This has important implications for evaluators and policy makers.

Sustainable Development Evaluation: Understanding the Nexus of Natural and Human Systems

“…There are often trade‐offs and conflicting interests between the two. Such trade‐offs need to be recognized and carefully managed in policymaking and in designing and implementing development programs and projects (Puri, ). Evaluations must bring these trade‐offs to the forefront.…”