As the title indicates, this book intends to explore the contribution of natural resources to economic development. The main geographical focus will be on the so-called “developing world,” i.e. the low and middle-income countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. There has been increased interest in the application of natural resource economics in these countries, now that it has been recognized that the environment is not a “luxury” for economic development but contains natural “capital” fundamental to growth and development in poorer economies.

Most economic texts and monographs do not address the role of natural resources in economic development in much detail. This is unfortunate, as the environmental problems faced by developing countries are considerably different from those occurring in industrialized economies. Many rural populations depend on the direct exploitation of natural resources, for agriculture, livestock raising, fishing, basic materials and fuel, both to meet their own subsistence requirements as well as to sell in markets for cash income. The lack of basic water supply, sanitation and other infrastructure services suggests that increased public provision of resource-based services is highly valued by many households. Rapid land use change has meant that many natural environments and habitats are disappearing quickly, with the result that critical ecological resources and functions are being disrupted or lost. Growing populations have further increased the demand for natural resource use and conversion. Finally, for many low and middle-income economies resource-based development and primary commodity exports are the main engines for growth and long-term development.