Assessing the Potential for Payments for Watershed Services to Reduce Poverty in Highland Guatemala

It has often been assumed that payments for watershed services (PWS) would go mostly to poor land users, thus contributing to poverty reduction, but there has been little empirical verification to date. This paper uses data from highland Guatemala to assess the potential for PWS to reduce poverty by examining whether the recipients of payments for environmental services are likely to be poor. The watersheds in which PWS would be feasible due to the presence of downstream water users are mapped, and compared to maps of poverty rates and densities. Poverty rates vary substantially in areas where PWS could be developed. The total number of poor that could potentially be reached if PWS mechanisms were developed in all the water supply areas is 1.76 million, or 34 percent of the country s poor (excluding Petén).

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Pagiola, Stefano, Zhang, Wei, Colom, Ale
Format:	Working Paper biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington DC 2008-07
Subjects:	AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT, AGRICULTURAL LAND, AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, AQUIFERS, CLEAN WATER, CONTOUR LINES, DEGRADED AREAS, DOMESTIC WATER, DOMESTIC WATER SUPPLY, DOWNSTREAM WATER USERS, ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION, ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH, EXTREME POVERTY, FARM HOUSEHOLDS, FARMERS, FLOOD RISK, GROUNDWATER, HIGH LEVELS, HOUSEHOLD BUDGET, HOUSEHOLD PARTICIPATION, HOUSEHOLDS, HYDROELECTRIC POWER, HYDROLOGY, IMPACT ON POVERTY, INCOME, INDUSTRIAL USERS, IRRIGATION, IRRIGATION SYSTEMS, LACK OF WATER, LAKES, LAND TENURE, LAND USE, LAND USE PRACTICES, LANDLESS HOUSEHOLDS, LARGE CITIES, MARGINAL AREAS, MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS, MUNICIPAL WATER, MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY, MUNICIPAL WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS, MUNICIPAL WATER SYSTEMS, NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES, NUTRITION, PIPED WATER, POOR, POOR HOUSEHOLD, POOR HOUSEHOLDS, POOR LIVING, POOR PEOPLE, POPULATION DENSITY, POPULATION GROWTH, POVERTY ALLEVIATION, POVERTY IMPACT, POVERTY INCIDENCE, POVERTY LEVELS, POVERTY LINE, POVERTY MAP, POVERTY MAPS, POVERTY RATES, POVERTY REDUCTION, POWER GENERATION, RIVERS, RURAL, RURAL AREAS, RURAL HOUSEHOLDS, RURAL POOR, RURAL POPULATION, SANITATION, SANITATION SERVICES, SMALL COMMUNITIES, SMALL TOWNS, SMALLHOLDER FARMERS, SURFACE SOURCES, SURFACE WATER, TARGETING, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, TRANSACTION COSTS, URBAN AREAS, URBAN DWELLERS, URBAN WATER, URBAN WATER SUPPLY, URBAN WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS, USE OF WATER, WATER FEES, WATER FLOWS, WATER LINKAGES, WATER QUALITY, WATER SCARCITY, WATER SERVICE, WATER SERVICE PROVIDERS, WATER SERVICE PROVISION, WATER SERVICES, WATER SOURCES, WATER SUPPLY, WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS, WATER SYSTEMS, WATER TARIFF, WATER USE, WATER USER, WATER USERS, WATER USES, WATER UTILITY, WATERSHED, WATERSHED MANAGEMENT, WATERSHEDS, WELLS,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/07/19397449/assessing-potential-payments-watershed-services-reduce-poverty-highland-guatemala http://hdl.handle.net/10986/18720
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