Fostering sustainable land management in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Ghana and Burkina Faso

Deforestation and land degradation, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, are key contributors to climate change and threaten livelihoods in the developing world. Unsustainable agricultural practices driven by population growth and declining productivity on existing farmland have been identified as the leading cause of extensive deforestation. This dissertation studies three projects promoting sustainable land and forest conservation policies. The first two projects aim to promote agricultural Sustainable Land Management Practices (SLMPs) among smallholder farmers in West Africa that are expected to mitigate land degradation and improve agricultural productivity. The first project evaluates the impact of providing financial on SLMP adoption in Burkina Faso. The findings show that the financial incentives increased knowledge diffusion among farmers about agricultural practices, leading to increased adoption and improved agricultural productivity. The second project evaluates a government program in Ghana providing technical assistance, input subsidy, and labor assistance to improve SLMP adoption. The results from the project show that the program was successful in improving the uptake of agricultural practices but not in improving subsequent agricultural productivity. Combining the findings of the first two projects, the dissertation documents two policy approaches that disseminate sustainable agricultural practices but with different impacts on subsequent agricultural production.
The final project focuses on a community forest management project in Burkina Faso to reduce forest fires and subsequent deforestation. While the project temporarily reduced forest fires during the peak season mainly due to improved fire containment, it failed to improve forest coverage significantly. Thus, forest management policies with more lasting impacts on forest fires may need to be implemented to improve forest coverage.