In November 2022, we completed a Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) of an assisted natural regeneration (ANR) site in Sodo Woreda in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) of Ethiopia. We use spatial models, system dynamics modelling, and economic analysis to assess the societal costs and benefits of land restoration at this site. We show that ANR creates direct economic benefits for farmers and provides climate adaptation and mitigation services.
Erosion and land degradation, combined with other social and environmental factors, has damaged soil fertility, reduced livestock quantity and quality, increased flood risk, and lowered food security in Ethiopia. Climate change will exacerbate these impacts. ANR, a process by which people create conditions that promote regrowth and allow land to regenerate on its own, is one strategy to address these challenges.
This SAVi assessment values the societal costs and benefits of an ongoing restoration project that began in 2016 and consists of ANR on 2,868 hectares in southern Ethiopia. Working with the New Climate Economy, the report analyzes planting and maintenance costs, encroachment penalties, wages, carbon credits, and income associated with this project. This was used to calculate the net benefits, benefit-to-cost ratio, net present value (NPV), and internal rate of return (IRR), both with and without carbon credits.
Read the full report here.