ZEF's research group on the Economics of Land Degradation has published five case studies on Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi and Tanzania, India as well as Uzbekistan in which the costs of action towards combating land degradation are weighed up against the costs of inaction over a 30-year horizon.

By applying the framework of Total Economic Value the researchers assessed that in all case study countries the costs of taking action to rehabilitate and restore degraded lands are about four  times lower than the costs of inaction over a 30-year time frame, meaning that each US dollar invested into land rehabilitation is likely to yield four US dollars in return.

To address the causes of land degradation, the findings of the country case studies call for increased investments into institutional and policy measures such as strengthening community participation for sustainable land management, enhancing government effectiveness and the rule of law, improving access to markets and rural services, as well as securing land tenure.

The research has been conducted in cooperation with the International Food Policy Research Institute (<link http: www.ifpri.org external-link-new-window external link in new>IFPRI) and numerous other regional and national partners. Financial support was provided by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

You can download the five policy briefs below or under <link http: www.zef.de external-link-new-window external link in new>Publications.

Oliver K. Kirui. 2015. Economics of Land Degradation and improvement in Tanzania and Malawi. (ZEF Policy Briefs 17) <link uploads tx_zefportal publications policy_brief_17__eld_tanzania_and_malawi_final.pdf>Download (english) [PDF | 1.02MB]

Wellington Mulinge, Patrick Gicheru, Festus Murithi, Peter Maingi, Evelyne Kihiu and Oliver K. Kirui. 2015. Economics of Land Degradation in Kenya. (ZEF Policy Briefs 16) <link uploads tx_zefportal publications policy_brief_16__eld_kenya.pdf>Download (english) [PDF | 1.61MB]

Mythili Gurumurthy and Jann Goedecke. 2015. Economics of Land Degradation: A study of India. (ZEF Policy Briefs 15) <link uploads tx_zefportal publications policy_brief_15_final.pdf>Download (english) [PDF | 1.10MB]

Aden Aw-Hassan, Vitalii Korol, Nariman Nishanov, Utkur Djanibekov, Olena Dubovyk and Alisher Mirzabaev. 2015. Economics of Land Degradation in Uzbekistan. (ZEF Policy Briefs 14) <link uploads tx_zefportal publications policy_brief_14_eld_uz_final.pdf>Download (english) [PDF | 1.26MB]