When applying soil conservation practices in the model, farmers lost income
(due to lower productivity) and had higher labor requirements, and these challenges
prevented farmers from using them more widely. This finding confirms the
conclusions made by Saint-Macary et al. (2010) in their study – that soil conservation practices disseminated in the north-west of Vietnam were not economically
attractive enough for farmers to adopt them, although these practices had been
promoted for over a decade. This implies that there were no appropriate policies or
well-functioning extension services in place; the projects were not effective in
terms of supporting the adoption of soil conservation practices. Without this
support, soil conservation practices will have little impact upon farm incomes and
environmental sustainability.
The sensitivity analysis used here points toward recommending technology
changes in soil conservation, as well as encouraging scientists to create higher
yields from the use of soil conservation practices and reduce the labor required to
support them. The analysis of adoption rates for soil conservation practices here
suggests the need for the Vietnamese government and non-governmental
organizations to help improve adoption rates as a whole.
10.6.5.2 Payment Policies
Agent-based models have been increasingly applied for policy assessment purposes
(Balmann 1997; Berger 2001; Happe et al. 2006; Janssen et al. 2000; Matthews
2006; Kok et al. 2007; Berger et al. 2006; Schreinemachers et al. 2007). Using
sensitivity analysis, this study ex-ante assessed policies supporting the adoption of
soil conservation practices. By introducing a payment policy into the model, the
costs of reducing soil erosion could be identified by comparing payment levels
against the reductions in soil erosion. It was found that at a cost of 201,000 VND
Mg
À1 soil losses was reduced by 39 %. This cost was calculated based upon the
compensation received under the payment policies, but did not include the costs
associated with disseminating the soil conservation practices – such as improving
extension services or conducting experiments. However, these findings will be
helpful for policy makers in terms of providing a rough estimate of the costs
involved in reducing soil erosion within the region. It can therefore be concluded
from the results of this study that the level of payment needed to support individual
farmers in applying soil conservation practices is in the region of 3 million VND
ha
À1 year
À1 – equal to about 187.5 USD ha
À1 ,
8 and that the appropriate payment
lies in the range of 50–200 USD ha
À1 year
À1 , as suggested by Affholder et al.
(2010) in a study on the adoption of direct seeding methods.
8 The exchange rate of Vietcombank on 31/12/2007 was 1 USD for 16,000 VND.
412
C. Marohn et al.
(due to lower productivity) and had higher labor requirements, and these challenges
prevented farmers from using them more widely. This finding confirms the
conclusions made by Saint-Macary et al. (2010) in their study – that soil conservation practices disseminated in the north-west of Vietnam were not economically
attractive enough for farmers to adopt them, although these practices had been
promoted for over a decade. This implies that there were no appropriate policies or
well-functioning extension services in place; the projects were not effective in
terms of supporting the adoption of soil conservation practices. Without this
support, soil conservation practices will have little impact upon farm incomes and
environmental sustainability.
The sensitivity analysis used here points toward recommending technology
changes in soil conservation, as well as encouraging scientists to create higher
yields from the use of soil conservation practices and reduce the labor required to
support them. The analysis of adoption rates for soil conservation practices here
suggests the need for the Vietnamese government and non-governmental
organizations to help improve adoption rates as a whole.
10.6.5.2 Payment Policies
Agent-based models have been increasingly applied for policy assessment purposes
(Balmann 1997; Berger 2001; Happe et al. 2006; Janssen et al. 2000; Matthews
2006; Kok et al. 2007; Berger et al. 2006; Schreinemachers et al. 2007). Using
sensitivity analysis, this study ex-ante assessed policies supporting the adoption of
soil conservation practices. By introducing a payment policy into the model, the
costs of reducing soil erosion could be identified by comparing payment levels
against the reductions in soil erosion. It was found that at a cost of 201,000 VND
Mg
À1 soil losses was reduced by 39 %. This cost was calculated based upon the
compensation received under the payment policies, but did not include the costs
associated with disseminating the soil conservation practices – such as improving
extension services or conducting experiments. However, these findings will be
helpful for policy makers in terms of providing a rough estimate of the costs
involved in reducing soil erosion within the region. It can therefore be concluded
from the results of this study that the level of payment needed to support individual
farmers in applying soil conservation practices is in the region of 3 million VND
ha
À1 year
À1 – equal to about 187.5 USD ha
À1 ,
8 and that the appropriate payment
lies in the range of 50–200 USD ha
À1 year
À1 , as suggested by Affholder et al.
(2010) in a study on the adoption of direct seeding methods.
8 The exchange rate of Vietcombank on 31/12/2007 was 1 USD for 16,000 VND.
412
C. Marohn et al.