Three essays on poverty and environment linkages

This dissertation consists of three empirical papers on the linkages between poverty and the environment, using household survey data from developing countries. The first paper examines the impact of access to basic environmental services, such as improved water and sanitation, on children's malnutrition in Ethiopia. The poor often suffer from greater exposure to health hazards due to the lack of improved water and sanitation services. The analysis focus on the impact of externalities associated with access to improved services at the community level on children's height and weight measurements. The results show increased access to sanitation at the community level significantly increases children's height and weight measurements. The second paper investigates the linkages between household characteristics, marine protected area activities, and household's choices of fishing gear. The poor are often more dependent on the environment for their livelihoods and frequently seen as the cause of many environmental degradation problems. The analysis focuses on the use of destructive fishing gear in coastal areas of Tanzania.; The results show some aspects of poverty increase the likelihood of using destructive fishing gear. Marine protected areas do not directly affect household choice of fishing gear. However, households participating in alternative income generating activities supported by marine protected areas are less likely to use destructive fishing gear. The third paper evaluates the impact of marine protected areas on fish harvest and household welfare. Marine protected areas are one tool for managing coastal and marine resources that have been increasingly used in Tanzania. The analysis is a timely evaluation of existing marine protected area's impacts on fish harvest and household welfare, as Tanzania moves forward to develop a network of marine protected areas to support sustainable coastal fisheries production. The results show marine protected area design characteristics and management activities do influence impacts on fish harvest. Furthermore, the impact of marine protected areas on household welfare is limited and not significantly determined by household characteristics or household poverty status.