DEVELOPING POLICIES FOR SOIL CARBON MANAGEMENT IN TROPICAL REGIONS

It is argued in this paper that two fundamental economic processes pre vent resource-poor farmers in tropical countries from managing soil ca rbon in a sustainable manner. The first process is related to the fact that soil carbon and tropical forests are part of the natural capital of these countries and of the world community. As a consequence, the interests of resource-poor farmers in tropical countries, of these cou ntries themselves and of the world community conflict. This implies th at levels of adoption of sustainable soil carbon management practices which are optimal from the perspective of resource-poor farmers are su b-optimal from a regional and global perspective. The second process r egards the nature of sustainable soil management practices. These prac tices are investments in natural capital which bring about net benefit s to farmers only after four to six years. Absolute poverty levels in tropical countries make it very difficult for farmers to undertake suc h investments. It follows that even perfectly informed and rational re source-poor farmers will not voluntarily adopt socially optimal levels of soil carbon management in tropical countries. Policy interventions are a means of ensuring that soil carbon is managed in such a sociall y optimal and sustainable fashion in these countries. Two principles a re proposed for developing effective, equitable and appropriate policy options. The first is the beneficiary-compensates principle, which re quires that society in tropical countries and in industrialized countr ies should compensate resource-poor farmers in tropical countries for adopting soil carbon management practices. The second principle is tha t international and national policy options need to be well articulate d and that sets of complementary policies should be put in place for s eater effectiveness. Policies alleviating rural poverty and pressures to deforest are as necessary as policies specifically targeted at soil carbon management. Finally, research priorities for soil and biologic al scientists so derived from the analysis. These priorities necessita te the creation of interdisciplinary teams of soil, biological and soc ial scientists. This is perhaps an even greater challenge for the scie ntific community than the achievement of the research agenda itself. ( C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.