Nicaragua's RISEMP paid 138 cattle ranchers across 4,560 ha in Matiguás–Río Blanco (2003–2008) for silvopastoral land-use change, scored on a biodiversity/carbon index; a 2012 resurvey found gains sustained, but a 2021 peer-reviewed study found payments favoured larger farms.
138
Ranchers participating
4,560 ha
Area under silvopastoral payments
broadly sustained
Land-use change persistence at 4-year resurvey (2012)
Details
Maturity
Discontinued
Promoter
World Bank, GEF, CATIE, Nitlapán
Period
2003–2008 payments; independent resurvey 2012
Keywords
silvopastoral systems, payments for ecosystem services, cattle ranching, agroforestry
Context
Between 2003 and 2008, the World Bank- and GEF-financed RISEMP paid 138 cattle ranchers across 4,560 hectares in Matiguás-Río Blanco, Nicaragua, to adopt silvopastoral practices scored against a composite Environmental Services Index.
Activities
CATIE and Nitlapán provided technical support alongside comparable pilots in Costa Rica and Colombia.
Results
An independent 2012 resurvey, four years after payments ended, found the land-use changes were broadly sustained.
Conclusions
A 2021 peer-reviewed reassessment argued the original evaluation selectively mined evidence for a success narrative and found payments disproportionately reached larger farms while smaller, poorer farms were more often assigned to non-payment control groups.
Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — World Bank- and GEF-financed; per-hectare/per-rancher payment levels not itemised in reviewed sources.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — Payments ran 2003-2008; independent resurvey conducted 2012; academic reassessment published 2021.
Staffing & skills
CATIE and Nitlapán technical-support teams, 138 participating cattle ranchers
Conditions for success
composite Environmental Services Index combining biodiversity and carbon indicators
technical support alongside cash payments
Common failure modes
2021 peer-reviewed reassessment found payments disproportionately reached larger farms, with smaller/poorer farms more often assigned to non-payment control groups
original project evaluation criticised for selectively mining evidence for a success narrative
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Data sources
Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.
A GEF/World Bank-financed program paid Colombian cattle ranchers directly to convert degraded pasture into tree-and-shrub silvopastoral systems across five zones …