With the recent resurgence of interest
in equity, inequality, and growth, the possibility of a
negative relationship between inequality and economic
growth, has received renewed interest in the literature.
Faced with the prospect that high levels of inequality may
persist, and give rise to poverty traps, policymakers are
paying more attention to the distributional implications of
macroeconomic policies. Because high levels of inequality

The report reviews the Bank's
development assistance to Lesotho, a poor country, of
predominantly rural populations, landlocked and completely
surrounded by, and economically dependent on, South Africa.
Not surprisingly, a major development challenge for the
country is that half the population lives below the poverty
line, and income inequality is among the highest in the
world. Other challenges are low quality of education, and

About 50 countries have prepared interim
and full Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs). In this
context, this paper examines Millennium Development Goal
(MDG)7: Ensuring Environmental Sustainability, its targets
and indicators, and responds to three questions: To what
extent do PRSPs define and adopt targets and indicators that
align with those of MDG7? To what extent do the available
data allow tracking of progress with respect to MDG7? When

The Government of Tanzania has, in
recent years, focused on revitalizing its mining sector in
order to attract foreign investment, with the goal of
raising its contribution to Tanzania's Gross Domestic
Product. With the support from the World Bank through the
Mineral Sector Development Project (MSDP), the legal and
fiscal regimes were revised and an environmental framework
was put in place. As the growth of the small scale mining

Regulatory reform in all its
aspects--deregulation, re-regulation, simplification, and
building new institutional capacities for developing and
applying high quality market rules--should be integrated
throughout Mauritania's efforts to generate the growth
and market development needed to combat poverty, improve
standards of living, and lay the foundation for a
sustainable development. This report identifies practical

This case study, one of six evaluations
in a series of country case studies, aims to understand the
implementation of the 1991 Forest Strategy in World Bank
operations and to obtain the views of the various
stakeholders in the country about the involvement of the
Bank. Each country study examines the overall development of
the country's forest sector. This naturally includes
the environmental impacts on forests, such as degradation,

The report reviews basic growth, as
being one of four pillars for Nicaragua's poverty
reduction strategy. The well-being of the rural poor will
continue its dependence on - to a great extent -
agriculture. The study analyzes main agricultural
development aspects, and stipulates the broad basic growth
may be enhanced by strengthening agricultural
competitiveness. Yet, export growth is key to economic

The aim of this study is to improve
understanding of how biological resource conservation
concerns can be better incorporated into projects and
programs that primarily address the objective of rural
development rather than environmental conservation. A
multi-disciplinary study team was assembled and six
background papers produced, along with the main overview
paper. The six papers were on: 1) measuring biodiversity,

Participatory community-based Natural
Resources Management (NRM) Projects have been implemented
over the last 5-6 years in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, and
Niger with the support of France, Germany, Norway, the
United States, and the World Bank's International
Development Association facility. Furthermore, pilot
operation concentrating on specific NRM issues are underway
in Chad (pastoral perimeters) and Guinea (land tenure

The focus of this report is crop
biotechnology, as developing countries are faced with
evaluating genetically engineered plants for human,
livestock, and environmental safety. These genetically
engineered plants can potentially contribute to agricultural
productivity in developing regions when appropriately
deployed, but there is uncertainty about the potential for
adverse consequences to environmental and human health. The

This book is based on the World
Development Indicators 2001 and its accompanying CD-ROM.
Under the headings of agriculture, forests, biodiversity,
energy, emissions and pollution, water and sanitation, and
'greener' national accounts, it presents key
indicators of the environment and its relationship to people
for more than 200 countries. The data in this book are for
the most recent year available between 1997 and 2000, unless

This teaching tool provides a basic
understanding of food quality issues in developing countries
and introduces the reader to Hazard Analysis Critical
Control Points (HACCP) and other dominant methodologies for
improving food quality. Quality has long been a factor in
the success of food trade transactions; however, recent food
safety issues have propelled quality control to the
forefront of international trade concerns. Now with the