Ecosystem services and rural livelihoods in the Sahel: environmental accounting and wealth surveys

This report uses environmental accounting in conjunction with data from the literature to evaluate the costs and benefits of different land use systems in the Sahel on environmental services and ultimately on the populations that depend on them. The analysis illustrates the magnitude of services that accrue from the land in this region, where land degradation is an epidemic problem, and points to policies that protect land resources. Based on results from a rural wealth survey of over 2,700 households across 77 villages in Mali, the links between ecosystem service degradation and household wealth are analysed.