The issue of regional differences in
development has moved to the center of the development
debate in Sri Lanka, partly after the release of regional
poverty data. For the past many years, there have been
significant and increasing differences between the Western
province and the rest of the country in terms of per capita
income levels, growth rates of per capita income, poverty
rates, and the structure of provincial economies. The

The bank has a long relationship with
Uruguay's agricultural sector, expanding over a period
of more than 60 years in which several projects and various
analytical and advisory assistance initiatives have been
implemented. The main purposes of the present report are: a)
to analyze the main characteristics of family agriculture as
well as its development potential and constraints; b) to
examine Uruguay's current agricultural policy and

Cotton is a major source of foreign
exchange earnings in more than 15 countries across all
regions of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) and a crucial source of
cash income for millions of rural people in these countries.
The crop is, therefore, critical in the fight against rural
poverty. The World Bank and other development institutions
have been and are currently assisting many cotton exporting
countries of SSA to improve their cotton sector performance

An increase in sea surface temperature
is evident at all latitudes and in all oceans. The current
understanding is that ocean warming plays a major role in
intensified cyclone activity and heightened storm surges.
The vulnerability of coastlines to intensified storm surges
can be ascertained by overlaying Geographic Information
System information with data on land, population density,
agriculture, urban extent, major cities, wetlands, and gross

This introductory section explains the
rationale for the guidance note, reflecting on the relevance
of food prices in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC),
their impact on the poor and the effect that logistics and
transport costs have on those prices. Based upon that
framework, the note provides an overview of the logistics
and transport hurdles faced by importers and consumers in
the region as food products move through the logistics

Ethiopia's rural non-farm sector is
significant and participation is increasing. The sector is
particularly important for women and poorer households.
Non-farm enterprises provide income-earning opportunities to
those lacking alternative options and supplementary income
for farming households. This report is organized into seven
chapters. The first chapter lays the analytical groundwork
for assessing the rural investment climate in Ethiopia and

This report provides an analysis of the
land and water resources, as required by the World Bank, and
focuses particularly on sea ports and potential tourism. The
analysis identifies shortcomings, challenges, opportunities
and advantages in competitive operations, that would make
the best use of internal resources. The report also looks at
Issues in industrialization and modernization. At present,
the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Planning and

In many countries, place specific
investments in infrastructure are viewed as integral
components of territorial development policies. But are
these policies fighting market forces of concentration? Or
are they adding net value to the national economy by tapping
underexploited resources? This paper contributes to the
debate on the spatial allocation of infrastructure
investments by examining where these investments will

Poverty reduction strategies (PRSs)
provide a central framework for macroeconomic, structural,
and social policies in developing countries. Because of the
numerous and complex links between environment and poverty,
it is important that environmental issues are taken into
account in the PRS process. This paper follows six previous
assessments of the degree of mainstreaming environment in
the PRS process using a similar methodology to present

This policy note focuses on analyzing
critical institutional and planning issues affecting
Dhaka's Metropolitan Area, and suggests policy
recommendations for introducing sound urban environmental
planning to improve the quality of life by mitigating and
reversing environmental degradation. The report concludes
with urgent recommended actions to address gaps in urban
planning and environmental management that focus on

This paper measures the economic impact
of climate on crops in Kenya. The analysis is based on
cross-sectional climate, hydrological, soil, and household
level data for a sample of 816 households, and uses a
seasonal Ricardian model. Estimated marginal impacts of
climate variables suggest that global warming is harmful for
agricultural productivity and that changes in temperature
are much more important than changes in precipitation. This

This Policy Memorandum provides policy
advice to the government of Liberia (GOL) in an effort to
mainstream gender issues in policies, programs, and projects
supporting agricultural production and value-chain
development. It is organized as follows. Section I reviews
women's roles in Liberian agriculture and agricultural
value chains, drawing on a variety of data sources,
including the 2007 Core Welfare Indicator Questionnaire