This study examines the major
constraints of rural business entry and performance in
Yemen. The Yemen rural investment climate survey made it
possible to analyze rural investment climate constraints for
rural businesses. The survey was used to investigate both
farm and nonfarm rural enterprises. The rural investment
climate was assessed using a combination of subjective
impressions related by rural entrepreneurs, and a more

This is a Regional Program Review (RPR)
of the World Bank's support for the MBC. The review is
framed around an assessment of five Global Environment
Facility (GEF)-financed World Bank implemented projects in
Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama that had
the common objective of consolidating the Mesoamerican
Biological Corridor (MBC). It also reports on the
achievements of trust fund activities, financed by the Bank

The financial sector comprises all
institutions and agencies that are involved in financing the
economy, mobilizing savings, managing risks and providing
means of payment. In view of the importance of the services
rendered, the financial sector constitutes the footing of
development of the national economy. Economic growth,
private sector development, job creation and poverty
reduction depend on a sound, efficient and vigorous

In Africa, most development strategies
include efforts to improve the productivity of staple crops
grown on smallholder farms. An underlying premise is that
small farms are productive in the African context and that
smallholders do not forgo economies of scale -- a premise
supported by the often observed phenomenon that staple
cereal yields decline as the scale of production increases.
This paper explores a research design conundrum that

This book challenges policy makers who
oversee the rice sector in Southeast Asia to reexamine
deep-rooted precepts about their responsibilities. As an
essential first step, it calls on them to redefine food
security. Fixating on national self-sufficiency has been
costly and counterproductive. In its stead, coordination and
cooperation can both improve rice production at home and
structure expanding regional trade. To enhance regional food

This report details seven
recommendations from the International Environmental and
Social Panel of Experts for the Nam Theun 2 (NT2)
Multipurpose Project in the Lao People s Democratic
Republic. 1) Watershed Management and Protection Authority
(WMPA) conservation patrols will be repeated at least once a
month, including the wet season. 2) The provincial and
central government authorities will take effective action to

This paper studies the impact of a large
debt relief program, intended to attenuate investment
constraints among highly-indebted households in rural India.
It isolates the causal effect of bankruptcy-like debt relief
settlements using a natural experiment arising from
India's Debt Relief Program for Small and Marginal
Farmers -- one of the largest debt relief initiatives in
history. The analysis shows that debt relief has a

A Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) was
undertaken to assess the returns to land management
practices of major land use types, namely forests,
rangelands, and selected crops (rice, maize, cotton, and
millet). Also the public expenditure on SLM was reviewed
and an assessment carried out how the expenditure is aligned
to land policies and how it is targeted to land degradation
hotspots. The results show that, without some form of

This note on making livelihoods and
social protection approaches gender- sensitive is the
seventh in a series of guidance notes on gender issues in
disaster risk management (DRM) in the East Asia and the
Pacific region. Targeting World Bank staff, clients and
development partners, this note gives an overview of the
main reasons for including gender sensitive social
protection and livelihoods approaches in DRM; it identifies

The report is divided into two volumes.
The first volume includes the fundamental content of the
report. It is organized as follows. Chapter one provides a
conceptual framework to analyze risk and vulnerability and
provides a definition of social protection. Chapter two
assesses the main risks faced by the Malagasy population as
well as its vulnerability profile. Chapter three reviews
Madagascar's social protection policies, the

The Government of Malawi has since 2005
been pursuing a growth strategy mainly based on increasing
the volume of agricultural exports. This entails that Malawi
should endeavor to improve the competitiveness of its
agricultural commodities so as to gain an increasing share
of the regional and international markets. This paper
analyzes the competitiveness of the country's key
agricultural commodities -- tobacco, maize, cotton, and rice

Pakistan experienced severe flooding
after torrential monsoon rains hit southern Sindh and the
adjoining areas of Punjab and north-eastern Balochistan in
August 2011. Flash floods triggered by the monsoon rain
caused severe damage to infrastructure in the affected
areas. Entire villages and urban centers have been flooded,
homes have been destroyed, and over a million acres of crops
and agricultural lands have been damaged. A Damage and Needs