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The values of watershed services from watersheds has for many years been neglected,
underestimated and not factored in land use decisions for sustainable management.
Sustainable management of watersheds and environmental friendly economic activities
are vital for sustained water flow, steady supply of ecosystem services for societal needs
and enhancement of aquatic vegetation and animal species. The problem of the failure to
capture actual values of ecosystem services from watersheds and incorporate them in the
national income accounting is profound in developing countries which are characterized
with constrained budget for financing conservation programs. To resolve this problem
attention has moved to market based instruments such as payment for watershed services
(PWS). However, the approach to elicit the necessary information for PWS to kick off is still
lacking. Furthermore, Ecohydrology, defined as an integrative sustainability science using
the interactions between hydrology, biota and natural processes as management tools to
reinforce ecosystem services on a broad range of landscapes (Zalewski, 2015) is a basis for
the development and application of market-based approaches in watershed conservation.
This study investigated small holder farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for watershed
services in Pangani River Basin. A contingent valuation method was employed to elicit the
willingness to pay for watershed conservation. A probit model was used to determine
respondents’ response to WTP and factors conditioning the maximum amount they are
WTP. Findings indicates that majority of respondents are willing to pay for watershed
services. Similarly, result reveals that marital status, household size and distance from the
water source positively influence smallholder farmers’ WTP and the maximum amount to
be paid. Equally important occupation, household size, income from irrigation, and amount
paid for irrigation were found to negatively influencing smallholder farmers’ WTP. The
result also revealed that education level, total land size and yield from irrigated farm plot
positively influence smallholder farmers’ WTP. These results therefore, indicate that
establishment of PWS is feasible. |
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