ABSTRACT
The issue of compensation invariably arises in any discussion of soil conservation. Compensation schemes may include compensation to farmers for directly quantifiable losses in benefits or increases in costs, or for increases in risks and reductions in food consumption. Compensation schemes that subsidize the price of inputs or outputs may change market conditions. Other compensation programs include the provision of low-cost or free services inputs -- for example, seedlings. Several compensation schemes augment, at low cost or no cost, the supply of physical or financial capital to farmers. Some programs, for example, involve the loan of tractors or earth-moving equipment to farmers. Compensation schemes may have various effects on labour markets. Suppose, for example, that a soil erosion control program causes land productivity and profitability to increase. There is general agreement that insecurity of land tenure can lead to over-exploitation of land and a disinclination to invest in land improvements.
