ABSTRACT

Scientists agree that soil degradation continues to be a key limiting factor for agricultural sustainability, despite decades of research to improve soil conservation and other sustainable practices (Barrett et al., 2002; Scherr, 1999; Hudson, 1991; Sanchez, 2002). The prevailing economic explanation for the continuing loss of natural resources in many parts of the world is that economic incentives often encourage degradation and discourage conservation. In industrialized countries, with well-developed market institutions, these incentive problems are generally associated with what are known as “externalities” and “market failures.” In developing countries, with lessdeveloped market institutions, these incentive problems are often attributed to high discount rates that poor farmers apply when assessing the future, lack of capital markets, high transport costs and other market imperfections, adverse government policies, insecure property rights, and limited availability of fodder for livestock and domestic uses (Lutz et al., 1994; Scherr, 1999; Antle and Diagana, 2003). Thus, numerous important factors must be considered in assessing the potential for soil carbon sequestration in order to address the problem of agricultural sustainability and associated problems of soil degradation and poverty.