Economic Value of Agro Waste in Developing Countries

Abstract

This chapter discusses the economic valuation of agro waste with an emphasis on developing countries. Specifically, a general overview of the cost-benefit analysis technique of economic valuation is outlined to contextualize the costs and consequences of agro waste recycling and reclamation programs. We first enumerate all anticipated costs and benefits involved in the analysis. Then a number of important practical issues that might affect the integrity of the analysis are identified. Lastly, we provide basis for rules that help decide the selection of one program versus another. To the best of our efforts, concepts throughout this chapter are presented using simple writing style that is largely devoid of mathematical notation.

Keywords: agro wastes, biofuel production, economic value modelling, cost-benefit analysis, developing countries, environmental impact