Greenhouse Gas Emission Mitigation and Agriculture: Trade-Off rr Win-Win Situation for Small Farmers in the Sudanian Area of Burkina Faso?

Abstract

Climate changes talks regularly underline that developing countries’ agriculture could play a stronger role in greenhouse gases (GHG) mitigation strategies and benefit from market internalization of emission reductions or subsidies from the Kyoto Protocol program of subsidies. Agriculture can contribute to carbon mitigation by storing more carbon in the soil through greener cropping systems, by planting perennials and by raising livestock differently. In this context, a growing number of researchers have started to investigate how developing countries can contribute to these objectives. If farmers reduce their GHG emission and increase their carbon sequestration will it be a win-win outcome where the new techniques will finally improve farmers’ income? Some economists think that environmental regulation lead to a win-win outcome, in which case subsidies are not necessary. Reducing the emission implies the choice of less pollutant crops activities and improvement of good agricultural practices. The study aims to assess whether mitigation strategies will imply a trade-off between environmental and economic objectives or a win-win situation. I apply this study to the case of small farmers in Burkina Faso using an dynamic mathematical programming, in which the farmers maximize their utility subject to constraints as emission limitation, land, labour, capital and food consumption. The results show that the limitation of emissions and the application of taxes in the annual crops production involves a trade-off for African small farmers rather than a win-win situation. When the farmers produce only annual crops, integrating the emission reduction in their system impacts negatively their net cash income, compared to the baseline scenario. When integrating perennial crops in the farming system, the farmers’ utility is higher than their utility when their produce only annual crops. Also, the net carbon balance is positive. Around 6,118 kg (carbon equivalent) are sequestrated individually by the farmers. As such agroforestry becomes a win-win situation for small farmers, because they reach a higher level of income, and reduce by the same way, the emission from their activities. Policymakers should encourage small farmers to adopt agroforestry, or to integrate perennial crops in their annual cropping systems. Most small farmers are living below the poverty line. Limiting the emission from their annual crops activities will worsen their living conditions. To reach the emission reduction objectives in the annual crops system, some incentives would be needed to compensate the income lost