Poverty, land Degradation and Climatic Uncertainty

Abstract

This paper studies farmers who operate in a risky environment at a minimum level of subsistence. In particular is investigated how poverty influence their soil conse rvation decision in the absence of formal insurance markets. It is shown that the consequences for the soil conservation decision from poverty differ across the agricultural activities considered in the model. Output induced soil depletion increases with poverty, while soil conservation improves for the same reason when soil conservation inputs and overlapping technologies are considered.