Farmers, Institutions and Land Conservation
Institutional Economic Analysis of Bench Terraces in The Highlands of Rwanda

This study consists of seven chapters. Chapter 1 sets the stage of the thesis in terms of problem statement, theoretical perspective, objectives and research questions, the research area and data collection procedure, and ends with this outline. Chapter 2 will provide an account of soil erosion against the background of the environmental discourses that have emerged over time in Rwanda. Chapter 3 will discuss how farmers perceive their participation, the role of their organizations and institutions in soil and water conservation in Northern and Southern Rwanda.
Chapter 4 will focus on the financial profitability and technical effectiveness of established bench terraces in the research area, while Chapters 5 and 6 are concerned with the adoption of bench and progressive terraces in the study area. Thanks to information obtained from farmers during the survey, the impact(s) of various local institutions on the adoption of these terrace structures is estimated in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 will ‘unpack’ the adoption process of bench terraces to estimate current and future adoption upon farmers’ capacity to invest in existing and new terraces. Finally, Chapter 7 will provides some major conclusions and policy and research options for future generation of soil and water conservation in Rwanda. Figure 2 shows the organizational framework of the study of SWC issues in Rwanda