Sammelbandbeitrag

Erschienen in: 8th International BIOECON Conference on "Economic Analysis of Ecology and Biodiversity" : Kings College Cambridge , 29-30 August 2006

Jahr der Veröffentlichung: 2006

URL: http://www.bioecon-network.org/pages/8th_2006/Domptial_Popp_Nuppenau.pdf

Abstract: 

In Namibia range degradation is a permanent concern among scientists, national land planers and local land users. Information identifying elements of sustainable land use or influencing sustainable management of natural rangelands is sought, especially in the actual context of land redistribution. This paper makes a first contribution to this issue in which it seeks to investigate land users’ strategies and practices in their ecological context. At first a qualitative analysis was carried on to deliver information on the variety of management practices existing. Second we use the paradigm of high-reliability as a rational underlying farmers’ strategies. Accordingly we develop an optimization model with two objectives: income maximization and range condition optimization. It enables us to make a link between various practices and range degradation and value the trade-offs occurring between both objectives. The method is used for a case study analysis in southern Namibia where farmers ranch on entirely natural rangeland under conditions of erratic rainfall and thus extremely variable biomass resource availability. In the small area, farmers strategies vary greatly in the nature of farmers reactions to opportunities such as high rainfall events and threats such as droughts. The modelling exercise reveals that strategies change as the nature of trade-offs between income and range condition decreases. In addition the value of the trade-off delivers information on the value the farmer is ready to ‘invest’ in order to maintain his range in good condition. This is the result of an economic strategy and might also be influenced by a series of additional social factors which we discuss briefly.

Harvard-Zitierstil: Domptail, S., Popp, A. and Nuppenau, E. (2006) On Management of Natural Rangelands : A case study of commercial farms in Southern Namibia, in 8th International BIOECON Conference on "Economic Analysis of Ecology and Biodiversity" : Kings College Cambridge , 29-30 August 2006. http://www.bioecon-network.org/pages/8th_2006/Domptial_Popp_Nuppenau.pdf

APA-Zitierstil: Domptail, S., Popp, A., & Nuppenau, E. (2006). On Management of Natural Rangelands : A case study of commercial farms in Southern Namibia. In 8th International BIOECON Conference on "Economic Analysis of Ecology and Biodiversity" : Kings College Cambridge , 29-30 August 2006. http://www.bioecon-network.org/pages/8th_2006/Domptial_Popp_Nuppenau.pdf