Agricultural Productivity and Deforestation
40 Pages Posted: 3 Nov 2020
Date Written: September 14, 2020
Abstract
Improving agricultural productivity is vital to anti-poverty and food security goals but can have ecological ramifications. Increasing the relative value of agricultural land may spur deforestation, but factor market constraints paired with improvements in existing land productivity may reduce the demand for clearing forests for agriculture. Leveraging the discontinuity in eligibility for a large agricultural training program, we find that the program reduced deforestation by 14%. The program increased adoption of promoted practices such as manure-use and crop rotation driving higher productivity but no increase in cultivated area. Median estimates suggest that carbon savings alone cover 15% of program costs.
Keywords: borlaug's hypothesis, agriculture, deforestation
JEL Classification: Q23, O13
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation