Browsing by Author "Waldén, Pirjetta"

The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the effect of carbon (C) revenues on the profitability of agroforestry. It has been demonstrated that crop fields which includes trees and shrubs, i.e. agroforestry systems, can increase the amount of C sequestered when compared to monocropping systems. Thus C sequestered in agroforestry system can grant practitioners of agroforestry access to carbon markets. Therefore sequestered carbon can be a source of monetary gain to the practitioner in terms of carbon revenue. In this thesis, the monetary value of sequestered carbon is quantified for practitioners in the Ethiopian region of Sire. The value of annually sequestered C depends on the C accumulation rate and the sale price of the C. Since C prices vary widely among sequestration schemes and future C prices are uncertain, this thesis calculates the monetary benefit in a range of different values. The carbon value was calculated at three different C sequestration rates: low (0.59 Mg ha-1 v-1), average (9.2 Mg ha-1 v-1), and high (17.2 Mg ha-1 v-1) and at three different C prices: $8.4, $22.3, and $40.2. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the effect of carbon revenue on the profitability of agroforestry in Ethiopian Sire. This thesis' agroforestry models have been created based on literature and fieldwork conducted during 2009-2010 AlterClima project (Academy of Finland, Decision No. 127405) by Natural Resources Institute Finland in the research of synergy between reducing climate change and improving food security (H. Kahiluoto and K. Rimhanen). The agroforestry models’ profitability was compared to the main monocropping systems’ profitability in the area, before and after carbon revenues. This thesis evaluates whether agroforestry is more profitable than monocropping, how much carbon revenue increases the profitability of agroforestry and how carbon revenue impacts the profitability ratio between them. In this thesis the annual carbon revenue of agroforestry was $4 – $18 at low sequestration rate, $57 – $274 at average rate, and $107 – $512 at high sequestration rate. Hence the monetary profit from carbon revenue increased as follows 0.5 % - 3 % at low sequestration rate, 7 % – 49 % on average and 13 % – 92 % on high rate. It was found that agroforestry was already on average 4 times more profitable than the main monoculture systems (wheat, barley, maize, teff, sorghum, lentil) in the area even before carbon revenues. After adding the carbon revenue, the net profitability of agroforestry systems increased by 0.5 % - to 80 % in comparison to monoculture systems. It was determined that agroforestry is more profitable than monocropping. Carbon revenue increased the profitability of agroforestry by 0.5 % – 92 %. However it seems that carbon revenue has no significant impact to the profitability ratio between agroforestry and monocropping especially on low and average carbon sequestration rates.