Deforestation is a significant environmental problem, contributing to biodiversity loss, land degradation, soil erosion, and climate change. During the past half-century, the continent of Africa has suffered massive losses of forested areas due to the changing structure of economies, increasing population, and expanding globalization. This research examines statistical evidence for the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis as applied to deforestation occurring within Africa from 1990 to 2016. Changes in forest cover data are explained with Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimators to overcome the endogeneity problems arising from reverse causality. The empirical results of Panel GMM confirm the EKC hypothesis is valid for deforestation in Africa with a turning point estimated to be US $3000. Heterogenous panel non-causality findings suggest that Africa could deter and reverse deforestation through appropriate land-use and forest products trade policies, and the consequences of these policies would not impact their economic growth.

毁林是一个重大的环境问题，导致生物多样性的丧失，土地退化，土壤侵蚀和气候变化。在过去的半个世纪中，由于经济结构的变化，人口的增加和全球化的扩大，非洲大陆遭受了森林面积的巨大损失。这项研究调查了1990年至2016年在非洲发生的森林砍伐中使用的环境库兹涅茨曲线假设（EKC）的统计证据。使用广义矩（GMM）估计量解释了森林覆盖率数据的变化，以克服反向产生的内生性问题。因果关系。专家组GMM的经验结果证实，EKC假设对非洲的森林砍伐有效，转折点估计为3000美元。