Economic Valuation
of Environmental Services
Associated with Agriculture
in the Watershed of Lake Lagdo,
Cameroon
Dorothe Yong Ngondjeb and Elias Ayuk
Abstract
Sedimentation of the reservoir has been recognized as a major consequence of land
degradation and erosion in the watershed.
The objective of this paper was to determine
the benefits of soil conservation practices on
hydroelectric power generation at Lake Lagdo
located in the northern part of Cameroon
during the 1984–2009 period, using the damage function approach. The first step of the
analysis was to estimate the physical effect of
environmental change on soil erosion considering different land management practices. In
the second step, the quantitative link between
lake sedimentation and its effects on the
storage capacity of the reservoir was established. Finally, the economic value of the
impact was determined. The results show that
the loss of direct storage capacity of the
reservoir due to sedimentation, which
increased the costs of electricity production.
The annual average sedimentation of around
40.80 million cubic meters across the reservoir
reduced total reservoir capacity by around
0.9%. Measures to reduce soil erosion include
payments to landowners as powerful incentives for promoting environmentally friendly
land-use practices that help to sustain ecosystem services (PES). The study illustrated very
well the demand for a Nexus Approach
looking at interdependencies, in this case
between the agricultural and energy sectors.
Keywords
Ecosystem services Á Land-use practices Á
Non-market valuation Á Damage function Á
Sedimentation
1 Introduction
Land degradation in the form of soil erosion is
one of the major environmental problems of
developing countries (De Graaff 1996). Cameroon is one country that suffers from widespread
and serious erosion induced by water. This
problem is acute mainly in the Sudano-Sahelian
Area (SSA), where agriculture is perceived as a
major factor of environmental degradation and
more particularly as promoting soil erosion
(Abou et al. 2006; Ecam et al. 2008). In addition,
the tropical ferruginous soils in SSA have limited
intrinsic chemical and physical fertility; their
reduced surface clay content, low organic matter
and nitrogen content, limited water holding
capacity and slightly acidic pH make them
D. Y. Ngondjeb (&) Á E. Ayuk
United Nations University Institute for Natural
Resources in Africa, Accra, Ghana
e-mail: njedora@gmail.com
D. Y. Ngondjeb
Faculty of Economics and Management, University
of Yaoundé II, P.O. Box 1365, Yaoundé, Cameroon
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. Hülsmann and M. Jampani (eds.), A Nexus Approach for Sustainable Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57530-4_7
93
of Environmental Services
Associated with Agriculture
in the Watershed of Lake Lagdo,
Cameroon
Dorothe Yong Ngondjeb and Elias Ayuk
Abstract
Sedimentation of the reservoir has been recognized as a major consequence of land
degradation and erosion in the watershed.
The objective of this paper was to determine
the benefits of soil conservation practices on
hydroelectric power generation at Lake Lagdo
located in the northern part of Cameroon
during the 1984–2009 period, using the damage function approach. The first step of the
analysis was to estimate the physical effect of
environmental change on soil erosion considering different land management practices. In
the second step, the quantitative link between
lake sedimentation and its effects on the
storage capacity of the reservoir was established. Finally, the economic value of the
impact was determined. The results show that
the loss of direct storage capacity of the
reservoir due to sedimentation, which
increased the costs of electricity production.
The annual average sedimentation of around
40.80 million cubic meters across the reservoir
reduced total reservoir capacity by around
0.9%. Measures to reduce soil erosion include
payments to landowners as powerful incentives for promoting environmentally friendly
land-use practices that help to sustain ecosystem services (PES). The study illustrated very
well the demand for a Nexus Approach
looking at interdependencies, in this case
between the agricultural and energy sectors.
Keywords
Ecosystem services Á Land-use practices Á
Non-market valuation Á Damage function Á
Sedimentation
1 Introduction
Land degradation in the form of soil erosion is
one of the major environmental problems of
developing countries (De Graaff 1996). Cameroon is one country that suffers from widespread
and serious erosion induced by water. This
problem is acute mainly in the Sudano-Sahelian
Area (SSA), where agriculture is perceived as a
major factor of environmental degradation and
more particularly as promoting soil erosion
(Abou et al. 2006; Ecam et al. 2008). In addition,
the tropical ferruginous soils in SSA have limited
intrinsic chemical and physical fertility; their
reduced surface clay content, low organic matter
and nitrogen content, limited water holding
capacity and slightly acidic pH make them
D. Y. Ngondjeb (&) Á E. Ayuk
United Nations University Institute for Natural
Resources in Africa, Accra, Ghana
e-mail: njedora@gmail.com
D. Y. Ngondjeb
Faculty of Economics and Management, University
of Yaoundé II, P.O. Box 1365, Yaoundé, Cameroon
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. Hülsmann and M. Jampani (eds.), A Nexus Approach for Sustainable Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57530-4_7
93