Is Africa's rural economy
transforming as its economies grow? This paper uses
comparable income aggregates from 41 national household
surveys from 22 countries to explore the extent of income
diversification among rural households in Sub-Saharan
Africa, and to look at how income diversification in
Sub-Saharan Africa compares with other regions, taking into
account differences in levels of development. The paper also

This paper uses resource-based cereal
equivalent measures to explore the evolution of China's
demand and supply for food. Although demand for food
calories is probably close to its peak level in China, the
ongoing dietary shift to animal-based foods, induced by
income growth, is likely to impose considerable pressure on
agricultural resources. Estimating the relationship between
income growth and food demand with data from a wide range of

Myanmar is a low-income agrarian country
with a high poverty rate. The livelihood of many poor people
depends on the performance of agriculture, especially the
rice sector. Rice accounts for 70 percent of Myanmar s total
cultivated area and 30 percent of the value of its
agricultural production. Increasing returns to rice
production will be the key to increasing farm wages and
incomes in the short to medium run. Higher rice production

With limited land, capital, and a fast
growing population, Burundi's main asset is its
youthful population. Its main challenge is also to create
good quality jobs for its youth. With low levels of
educational attainment and poor health status, the quality
of this young population is poor. After more than 13 years
of conflict ending in 2000, and a period of modest recovery,
Burundi has the opportunity to stimulate growth. Burundi is

This paper investigates the causal
consequences of Tropical Storm Agatha (2010) -- the
strongest tropical storm ever to strike Guatemala since
rainfall records have been kept -- on household welfare. The
analysis reveals substantial negative effects, particularly
among urban households. Per capita consumption fell by 12.6
percent, raising poverty by 5.5 percentage points (an
increase of 18 percent). The negative effects of the shock

This study seeks to examine how
National Rural Livelihoods Mission or NRLM may be leveraged
to improve food and nutrition security (FNS) in tribal
areas, preferably in a manner that would enhance the
effectiveness of the program's core livelihoods focus.
More broadly, the objective is to strengthen the capacity of
the Government of India (GoI) to deliver (or support)
effective FNS interventions in tribal and backward areas

A Report for the World Bank by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Analytics.

Inorganic fertilizer use across
Sub-Saharan Africa is generally considered to be low. Yet,
this belief is predicated on the assumption that it is
profitable to use rates higher than currently observed.
However, there is little rigorous empirical evidence to
support this notion. Using a nationally representative panel
data set, and with due recognition of the role of risk and
uncertainty, this paper empirically estimates the

Nonseparable household models outline
the links between agricultural production and household
consumption, yet empirical extensions to investigate the
effect of production on dietary diversity and diet
composition are limited. Although a significant literature
has investigated the calorie-income elasticity abstracting
from production, this paper provides an empirical
application of the nonseparable household model linking the

This report provides a short summary of
the recent history of the seed industry. Although the
informal seed system still accounts for an estimated 85
percent of planted seed, the formal sector has been
transformed in 20 years from control by a monopoly
parastatal to competition among 23 registered companies,
with at least 5 or 6 being serious players. Significantly,
the relief seed industry that dominated and distorted the

Economic growth, job creation, and
development are central to the decade of transformation
(2015-25) and long-term security for the people of
Afghanistan. The Bank and the Government of the Islamic
Republic of Afghanistan (GoIRA) recognize that agriculture
and rural development are a key to inclusive growth, and
hence need renewed vigor and strategic long-term
investments. Further, the Bank and the GoIRA acknowledge

This booklet offers advice for
farmers and extension workers interested in using
conservation agriculture techniques to boost crop yields,
soil quality and water retention. These practices represent
some of the many ways we can become more climate smart,
which is essential if we are to sustainably produce more
food on less land to feed our growing planet.