This paper estimates a model of a farm
that treats the choice of crops, livestock, and irrigation
as endogenous. The model is composed of a multinomial
choice of farm type, a binomial choice of irrigation, and a
set of conditional land value functions. The model is
estimated across over 2,000 farmers in seven Latin America
countries. The results quantify how farmers adapt their
choice of farm type and irrigation to their local climate.

This study was conducted with the main objective of determining the linkages between poverty and land management in Uganda. The study used the 2002/03 Uganda National Household Survey in eight districts representing six major agro-ecological zones and farming systems. Farmers in these districts deplete an average of 179 kg/ha of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, which is about 1.2 percent of the nutrient stock stored in the topsoil.

Indonesian agriculture is at a
crossroads. Supporting the livelihood of millions of
Indonesians, it needs to underpin renewed and robust growth
of the economy; and be a key component of the
Government's poverty alleviation strategy. The
challenge for the future is to reinvigorate productivity
gains among rural producers, and provide the foundation for
long run sustainability of these productivity gains.

Vietnam has experienced three sets of
direct impacts as a result of the coffee crisis: Some
regional economic shocks, socio-economic impacts in the
primary coffee-producing regions that have resulted in the
partial dismantling of services like health-care and
education; and post-crisis changes in the business
environment. This study of the Vietnamese coffee sector is
divided into seven parts. Part 1 provides an overview of the

This year the preliminary results of the
international comparison program are being released,
providing new comparisons of price levels for more than 140
countries. The program, the largest single data collection
effort ever undertaken, is a salutary example of what can be
accomplished through global partnership, technical
innovation, and systematic attention to building local
statistical capacity. Along with censuses, surveys are a

In a recent survey of 820 Boro (winter rice), potato, bean, eggplant, cabbage, sugarcane, and mango farmers in Bangladesh, over 47 percent of farmers were found to be overusing pesticides. With only 4 percent of farmers formally trained in pesticide use or handling, and over 87 percent openly admitting to using little or no protective measures while applying pesticides, overuse is potentially a threatening problem to farmer health as well as the environment.

Using recent advances in modeling
climate-related risks and adjusting state of the art
catastrophic risk modeling techniques to drought, the study
conducts an innovative long-term assessment of drought risks
in Andhra Pradesh, India, and suggests strategies to reduce
their impact, under several economic, drought management and
climate change scenarios. The analysis deepens an
understanding of climate risk adaptation strategies,

This study by the World Bank indicates that forests offer vast potential for poverty reduction and rural economic growth in India while also supporting critical national conservation goals. An estimated 275 million people in rural areas depend on forests for at least part of their livelihoods. Forest dwellers, which include a high proportion of tribals, are among the poorest and most vulnerable groups in society. The government of India has adopted Joint Forest Management as a principal approach for community-based forestry.

This paper describes the contract
mechanism developed for the Regional Integrated
Silvopastoral Ecosystem Management Project, which is being
implemented with financing from the Global Environment
Facility (GEF). The project is testing the use of the
payment-for-service mechanism to encourage the adoption of
silvopastoral practices in three countries of Central and
South America: Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. The

This report shows that after a decade of
moderate growth but little or no long term change in rural
poverty in Pakistan, agricultural output, rural incomes,
rural poverty and social welfare indicators all showed
marked improvements between 2001-02 and 2004-05. However,
longer term trends suggest there is little reason for
complacency. The agricultural GDP per capita growth rate
(1999- 2000 to 2004-05) was only 0.3 percent per year; rural

Communities supported by World Bank
rural development projects often cite support for the
development of income-generating activities (IGAs) as a
critical need. This note identifies some of the core
problems encountered by Bank task teams that attempt to
respond to this need, outlines the issues involved, and
offers suggestions on some of the points that should be kept
in mind when designing grant programs for this purpose.

This Sourcebook has been prepared to
help in implementing the World Bank's current rural
strategy, by sharing information on investment options and
innovative approaches that will aid the design of future
lending programs for agriculture. The Sourcebook provides
generic good practices and many examples that demonstrate
that investment in agriculture can provide rewarding and
sustainable returns to development efforts. The contents