Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Land Use Policy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/landusepol Environmental discounting behaviour of smallholder farmers in Chibombo District, Central Zambia Fiona Chisanga Mubanga*, Bridget Bwalya Umar Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, School of Natural Sciences, University of Zambia, P. O. Box 32379 Lusaka, Zambia ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Agroforestry Soil conservation Time preference Risk aversion Low adoption ABSTRACT This study utilised 158 semi structured interviews, three focus group discussions and two key informant inter- views to achieve its aim of investigating environmental discounting by smallholder farmers in Chibombo, Zambia. Results suggest that most smallholder farmers were willing to continue using mineral fertilisers in the short to medium term even when they were told there could be potentially negative effects as a result. This result was attributed to the farmers’ experience with neutralising soil acidity through lime application and crop ro- tations. The proportions of smallholder farmers who would continue using pesticides increased with the period it takes for pesticide induced soil infertility to manifest. The respondents seemed more concerned about effects on the soil that would manifest in five years. Smallholder farmers preferred soil improving practices with short term benefits, and low risk. The proportions of smallholder farmers willing to plant fertiliser trees reduced from 68.5 % when the benefits accrue in five years to about 38 % when said benefits accrue to the next generation. Study recommends that agricultural development interventions should focus on low risk, locally available technologies with shorter term benefits and minimal future costs. Study recommends that agricultural development inter- ventions include innovation of practices with shorter term benefits, minimal future costs and farmer sensitisation on the benefits of sustainable agriculture. 1. Introduction Land degradation currently affects 40 % of global agricultural land with an estimated cost to agriculture of US$ 500 billion per annum (Pacheco et al., 2018). The environmental consequences of degradation that have impacted agriculture globally are soil erosion and soil nu- trient losses. In sub-Saharan Africa, land degradation is associated with poor soil fertility management practices (Zingore et al., 2015; Nkoye et al., 2016). Agricultural land is degraded due to low nutrient appli- cation, soil erosion and soil acidification (Zingore et al., 2015). It is estimated that soil nutrient depletion causes a 7% reduction of the agricultural share to the average Gross Domestic Product of Sub-Sa- haran Africa, with national values ranging upwards of 25 % (Drechsel et al., 2001). This shows the impact of soil nutrient mining on economic performance (Drechsel et al., 2001). As a region where the majority of inhabitants are poor, living in rural areas and depending on natural resources to sustain livelihoods, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have formulated a number of policies and strategies to address land de- gradation and to enhance agricultural productivity (Nkoye et al., 2016). These include the promotion of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices. Sustainable Land Management is the adoption of land use systems that enable land users to maximise the economic and social benefits from the land while maintaining or enhancing the ecological support functions of the land resource (Liniger et al., 2011). SLM practices in- clude those that: minimize soil erosion and leaching (e.g. permanent soil cover, mulching); recycle organic nutrients by retaining all crop residues on the field of origin; enhance biological sources of nutrients through practices such as agroforestry; compensate for nutrient loss through the addition of organic or mineral fertilizer; and use adapted and efficient species of crops to enhance yield (World Bank, 2006). By adopting SLM practices such as agroforestry, resource-constrained smallholder farmers can maintain soil fertility better than with mineral fertiliser. Unlike mineral fertiliser that has been reported to result in soil acidity after prolonged use (Bune-mann and McNeill, 2004), agroforestry has been eulogised as a cost effective and sustainable way of maintaining soil fertility. Overall, the adoption of sustainable agri- cultural practices can result in soil fertility increase and concomitant crop yield increase, food security and household incomes (Nkomoki et al., 2018). Despite the extensive promotion of SLM among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, adoption of SLM practices among the farmers https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104551 Received 26 February 2019; Received in revised form 2 January 2020; Accepted 26 February 2020 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: chisanga22@gmail.com (F.C. Mubanga). Land Use Policy 95 (2020) 104551 Available online 21 March 2020 0264-8377/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T