Economics of Poverty, Environment and Natural-Resource Use

Reduction of poverty is a tremendous and persistent challenge for the global community. Given that the livelihood of millions is at stake, there is an urgent need to reconsider the causes of and the remedies for poverty. Poverty and its reduction are closely linked to the natural-resources base. The quality and bounty of the local environment certainly affect living conditions of the poor and their poverty is often seen as a contributing factor to the degraded condition of the local environment. Teasing apart the direction of causality in this resource-poverty nexus is a serious empirical challenge.

This book contributes to an improved understanding of the economic dimensions of environmental and natural-resource management and poverty alleviation. The ten chapters of the book offer an overview of the current knowledge concerning the relation between poverty, environment and natural-resource use. Three sides of the debate receive particular attention. First, the relation between resource use and poverty is discussed from a theoretical point of view. Second, it is questioned whether payments for environmental services or considering values of resources can be an effective tool for stimulating both sustainable resource use and poverty alleviation. Third, alternative strategies to break the land degradation-poverty cycle are discussed.

Inhalt

Searching for explanations for the resource-poverty nexus.- Economics Of Poverty, Environment And Natural-Resource Use.- Poverty Traps And Resource Dynamics In Smallholder Agrarian Systems.- Water Resource Management And The Poor.- Payments for and values of environmental and forestry resources.- The Role Of Measurement Problems And Monitoring In Pes Schemes.- Can Ecotourism Be An Alternative To Traditional Fishing?.- Effects Of Poverty On Deforestation.- Willingness To Pay For Systematic Management Of Community Forests For Conservation Of Non-Timber Forest Products In Nigeria's Rainforest Region.- Sustainable Land Use.- Traditional Institutions And Sustainable Livelihood.- Farmers Investing In Sustainable Land Use At A Tropical Forest Fringe, The Philippines.- A Bargaining Model Of Migration.