Public preference for sustainable land use policies – Empirical results from multinomial logit model analysis

Summary, in English

Public preferences for sustainable land use policy instruments and the motivations behind such preferences are important to make appropriate policies. Based on survey data (n = 309) from northeastern Somalia, we examined preferences for a set of land use policy instruments relative to no policy (i.e. the current status quo) and how cultural worldviews predict such preferences. We used a multinomial logit model to analyze the comparative evaluation of choices due to its interpretability and robustness to violations of normality. Overall, the results show that the respondents are likely to consent to all types of land use policy instruments relative to no policy and are more inclined to market-based and informational policy instruments. Specifically, preferences for regulatory policy instruments are positively associated with hierarchy and egalitarian worldviews and are negatively associated with fatalism and individualistic worldviews with only hierarchy and fatalism are significant. The market-based policy instrument is desirable to all cultural worldviews except fatalism, but only egalitarian and individual worldviews are significant. Preferences for informational policy instruments are positively associated with all cultural worldviews but only egalitarian worldviews showed a significant effect. Although there are some contradictions, these results are broadly consistent with the proposition of the cultural theory of risk. This study highlights that preferences for land use policies are heterogeneous with cultural worldviews mainly explaining the sources of this heterogeneity. It is evident that the respondents were willing to consent to land use policies relative to the status quo of no policy and indicates the need for concerted effort to reduce land degradation and deforestation in the country. We, therefore, recommend that policymakers incorporate the different ways that humans perceive and interpret social-environmental relations into policy decisions to achieve sustainable policy outcomes.

• Author: Abdishakur W. Diriye; Osman M. Jama; Jama Warsame Diriye; Abdulhakim M. Abdi
• Department/s: Centre for Environmental and Climate Science (CEC); Biodiversity and Conservation Science; BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate; Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
• Publishing year: 2022-03
• Language: English
• Publication/Series: Land Use Policy
• Volume: 114
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2022.105975
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Topic: Human Geography; Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use
• Keywords: Cultural Worldviews; Land-use Policy; Land-Use Planning; Public Preferences; Sustainability Science; Sustainability; Somalia; Somaliland; Puntland; Africa; Post-conflict countries
• Status: Published
• Research group: Biodiversity and Conservation Science
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 0264-8377