ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK FOR RURAL HOUSEHOLDS RESOURCE ALLOCATION DECISIONS AMONG COMPETING LIVELIHOOD ACTIVITIES

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Background and Statement of the Problem

It is now widely recognised that rural communities with livelihood strategies that combine subsistence agriculture with the utilisation of wetland1 resources constitute a significant proportion of the population in developing countries (Silvius et al., 2000; Dixon and Wood, 2003; Adams, 1993). The report by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) (2005) to the Ramsar Convention entitled ‘Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Wetlands and Water synthesis’ extensively documents the importance of ecosystem services provided by wetlands for human well-being. In southern Africa, wetlands play a significant role in the livelihoods of rural communities (Taylor et al., 1995; Breen et al., 1997; Frenken and Mharapara, 2002).
The ability of wetlands to store water during the wet season and release it during the dry season provides farmers, who live in semi-arid areas, with opportunities to grow crops all-year round thereby improving their food security and incomes. Besides crop production, wetlands provide other services that support people’s livelihoods such as: dry season livestock grazing and watering; domestic water supply; fishing; and natural products (Matiza and Chabwela, 1992; Mmopelwa, 2006). However, wetlands are sensitive ecosystems that are threatened by human interventions. Altering the wetland environment through conversion to croplands and other uses has the potential to degrade the wetland and undermine its capacity to provide services in the future.
As in many other parts of the world, wetlands in southern Africa are being increasingly degraded and lost through conversion to croplands (Taylor et al., 1995; Matiza and Chabwela, 1992; Breen et al., 1997; Biggs et al., 2004). This has been primarily driven by population growth and the increasing frequency of droughts. Given the importance of the direct and ecological services wetlands provide to human society, it is important that they are sustainably managed2 so that they continue to provide services in the future. Two major limitations to sustainable management of wetlands in Africa have been identified in the literature. The first limitation is that wetland users and decisionmakers have insufficient understanding of the true values of wetlands and the consequences of alternative management and policy regimes on wetland functioning, ecosystem services and human well-being (Barbier, 1994; Schuyt, 2002; Schuyt, 2005). The second limitation is the lack of understanding of the factors that influence people’s decisions on the use of wetland resources.
This aspect is critical, because while the use of wetlands is common in Africa, the extent to which households incorporate wetland activities into their livelihood strategies varies considerably due to significant socio-economic differentiation across households (McCartney and Van Koppen, 2004). Understanding how such differentiation influences the dependence on wetland resources is important when considering possible interventions for supporting rural livelihoods and promoting the sustainable use of wetlands. In general, very little work has been done on the two constraints articulated above, particularly in southern Africa (Frenken and Mharapara, 2002).
To the best of the author’s knowledge: there is very little empirical knowledge of the impacts of alternative wetland management and policy regimes on wetland functioning, ecosystem services and economic well-being are currently available in southern Africa. This is particularly the case with modelling multiple benefits from an ecosystem to enable the evaluation of trade-offs between the provision of multiple services. Similarly, empirical knowledge on the factors that influence people’s decisions on the use of wetland resources for wetland systems in the region is limited. Against this background, this study seeks to make two important contributions. The first is the analysis of the factors that influence household decisions on the use of wetland products using an agricultural household modelling framework. The framework takes into consideration the fact that rural households are both producers and consumers and that they allocate their scarce resources among competing livelihood activities.

TABLE OF CONTENTS :

• Dedication
• Declaration
• Acknowledgements
• Abstract
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• LIST OF TABLES
• LIST OF FIGURES
• Acronyms and Abbreviations
• CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
  • 1.1 Background and Statement of the Problem
  • 1.2 Objectives of the Study
  • 1.3 Hypotheses of the study
  • 1.4 Approaches and methods of the study
  • 1.5 Organisation of the thesis
• CHAPTER WETLAND ECOSYSTEMS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA AND THEIR IMPORTANCE FOR HUMAN WELL-BEING
  • 2.1 Introduction
  • 2.2 Biophysical and socio-economic characteristics of the study area
  • 2.2.1 Climate and major ecosystems
  • 2.2.2 Demographic and socio-economic characteristics
  • 2.3 Characterisation of wetland ecosystems
  • 2.3.1 Definition of wetlands
  • 2.3.2 Types of wetland ecosystems
  • 2.3.2.1 Marine systems
  • 2.3.2.2 Estuarine systems
  • 2.3.2.3 Lacustrine systems
  • 2.3.2.4 Palustrine systems
  • 2.3.2.5 Riverine systems
  • 2.3.2.6 Endorheic systems
  • 2.3.3 The distribution of wetlands
  • 2.4 The importance of wetlands for human well-being
  • 2.5 Major threats to wetland ecosystems in southern Africa
  • 2.6 Concluding Summary
• CHAPTER ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK FOR RURAL HOUSEHOLDS RESOURCE ALLOCATION DECISIONS AMONG COMPETING LIVELIHOOD ACTIVITIES
  • 3.1 Introduction
  • 3.2 Review of selected literature on the determinants of rural household labour allocation decisions for competing livelihood activities
  • 3.3 The Analytical Framework
  • 3.4 Concluding Summary
• CHAPTER EMPIRICAL MODEL AND RESULTS OF THE DETERMINANTS OF HOUSEHOLD RESOURCE ALLOCATION AND SUPPLY DECISIONS
  • 4.1 Introduction
  • 4.2 Description of the study area
  • 4.2.1 Location of the area
  • 4.2.2 Characterisation of the hydrology and ecology as well as trade-offs between ecosystem services in the studied wetland system
  • 4.2.3 Main livelihood activities in the study area
  • 4.3 Data and data collection methods
  • 4.4 The survey of wetland uses
  • 4.4.1 Edible plants collection
  • 4.4.2 Crop production
  • 4.4.3 Livestock grazing
  • 4.4.4 Reeds and sedge harvesting
  • 4.4.5 Domestic water abstraction
  • 4.5 The empirical model
  • 4.5.1 Model variables and expected direction of relationships
  • 4.5.2 Econometric estimation procedures
  • 4.6 Empirical results and discussion
  • 4.6.1 Summary statistics of variables used in the econometric analysis
  • 4.6.2 Econometric results
  • 4.7 Concluding Summary
• CHAPTER REVIEW OF APPROACHES TO ASSESS THE IMPACTS OF MANAGEMENT AND POLICY SCENARIOS ON ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING AND HUMAN WELLBEING
  • 5.1 Introduction
  • 5.2 Review of analytical approaches
  • 5.2.1 Economic valuation
  • 5.2.2 Multi-criteria analysis
  • 5.2.3 Integrated ecological-economic models
  • 5.2.3.1 Heuristic models
  • 5.2.3.2 System dynamics models
  • 5.3 Approaches and methods of the study
  • 5.4 Concluding Summary
• CHAPTER EMPIRICAL MODEL AND RESULTS FROM ANALYISIS OF THE IMPACTS OF ALTERNATIVE MANAGEMENT REGIMES ON WETLAND FUNCTIONING AND ECONOMIC WELL-BEING
  • 6.1 Introduction
  • 6.2 Conceptual framework
  • 6.3 The empirical model components and assumptions
  • 6.3.1 Hydrology module
  • 6.3.2 Crop production module
  • 6.3.3 Land use change module
  • 6.3.4 Natural wetland vegetation module
  • 6.3.5 The economic well-being module
  • 6.4 The full system of equations showing the linkages between modelled ecologicaleconomic systems
  • 6.5 Specification of model parameters and validation
  • 6.6 Simulation of impacts of alternative wetland management and policy regimes
  • 6.7 Concluding Summary
  • SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY AND
  • RESEARCH
  • 7.1 Introduction
  • 7.2 Summary of key findings and policy implications
  • 7.3 Limitations of the study and areas for further research
  • REFERENCES
  • APPENDICES
  • Appendix A1: First order conditions for the household optimisation model
  • Appendix A2: Logical rules for hydrological dynamics in the modelled wetland
  • Appendix A3: Wetlands-based livelihoods agronomic and socio-economic household
  • questionnaire
  • Appendix A4: Household questionnaire used for economic valuation of provisioning
  • services of the Ga-Mampa wetland

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Managing the trade-off between conservation and exploitation of wetland services for economic well-being: The case of the Limpopo wetland in southern Africa