October 2008 Archives

Australia has a salinity problem - scientists there predict that one third of agricultural land in Western Australia will be affected by dry land salinity over the next century; currently the figure is about 10 percent. Australia has spent billions of dollars on their salinity problem over the last 20 years, yet progress remains slow (for a brief analysis of salinity programs, see Pannell and Ridley 2008). One reason (among many) for the lack of success was that the funds were spread thinly and non-strategically among farmers. Although the allocations were socially and politically attractive, they were not technically and economically efficient. In addition, there was a presumption that farmers would adopt land management options that could address salinity regardless of how those practices might affect their bottom line.

It is interesting to see how the current financial crisis is changing the way that we think about the world. This point was driven home for me when I had the opportunity to attend a symposium last week in Berkeley, CA entitled "Causes and Consequences of the Food Price Crisis" (click here for details). Sponsored by the Giannini Foundation, the symposium featured faculty from the agricultural and resource economics departments at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Davis.