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This study aims to understand how Rwandan farmers value the improved characteristics of climate services introduced to them in a choice experiment setting. Data were collected from 1,525 household heads in November 2019. A random parameters logit model was used to analyze the data. Results suggest that Rwandan farmers value forecast accuracy, dissemination through a combination of extension agents and the Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture process, and bundling with market price information. This study suggests that to improve agricultural management planning and food security of farmers through the provision of climate services, these services need to be accurate, user-tailored, and accessible.

This study estimated the economic value of agricultural climate services for strengthening the resilience of smallholder farmers to climate variability and risks in Ethiopia. Using a choice experiment approach, the study introduced a hypothetical package of improved climate services to 600 randomly selected smallholder farmers in three districts across three different agro-ecological zones in the Oromia Regional State. A generalized multinomial logit (G-MNL) model was used to estimate preferred attributes of climate services and willingness-to-pay (WTP) values. The results show that the preferred bundle of improved climate services among smallholder farmers was one that could be communicated in short text message system, provided along with credit facility, and market information and one that favors participatory decision making by smallholders. The results further reveal that the WTP value exhibited high implicit price for participatory decision-making. The study sheds light on important characteristics of agricultural climate services that may improve their acceptability and usability among smallholders. It also highlights the importance of packaging additional services including digital and ICT-based solutions, financial and market information along with climate services to promote demand-driven last mile delivery systems. Engaging smallholder farmers in a participatory manner in the decision-making process can help them make informed decision.

We test the effects of location, trust, and enforcement on cooperation between upstream and downstream farmers in an Ethiopian watershed, where the former cause negative externalities to the latter due to unsustainable farming practices. We apply a standard trust game in the field with three treatments that allow us to relate our experimental results to actual soil conservation investments. We show that observed levels of trust, a measure of the encompassing concept of social capital, are positively related to such investments at the individual level. Trust itself is sensitive to the relative location of trustor and trustee in the game. Trust is not, however, sensitive to an enforcement intervention designed to raise investments in the trust game. Framing the game in its actual context of soil conservation investments reduces observed levels of trust.

In this study we model the preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) of downstream farmers in one of the largest irrigation schemes worldwide in Sudan for improved irrigation water supply through transboundary collaboration with farmers upstream in Ethiopia. In a choice experiment, Sudanese farmers are asked to pay an increase in existing irrigation fees to secure future irrigation water availability by either enhancing the removal of sediments in their local irrigation channels or compensating farmers in the Ethiopian highlands for taking soil conservation measures to prevent land degradation and soil erosion. Although Sudanese farmers downstream do not feel very connected to farmers upstream in Ethiopia, we find a high degree of trust in international cooperation and a positive WTP for improved irrigation water supply and water use efficiency through transboundary collaboration.

This paper focuses on contract design to improve the incentive structure of current coordination mechanisms related to sustainable land use management in the Ethiopian highlands. The main objective is to assess whether, and if so under which terms and conditions, rural households are willing to enter into contractual agreements to invest in soil conservation measures on their land. Participation constraints are tested under different soil erosion and institutional-economic conditions in a choice experiment targeting 750 rural households. We show that contracts provided by local government peasant associations offering additional credit, land use security and extension services could be an effective means to increase the share of farmers implementing soil conservation measures. However, trust in contract terms and conditions appears to play an important role. Farmers living in the most erosion prone areas are most likely to participate, while farmers taking soil conservation measures already are less likely to enter into a contractual agreement with the local government. Farmers not taking soil conservation measures will only do so if the contract price is lower than or equal to the income losses suffered from soil erosion. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.