Large-scale disasters regularly affect
societies over the globe, causing large destruction and
damage. After each of these events, media, insurance
companies, and international institu-tions publish numerous
assessments of the "cost of the disaster." However
these assessments are based on different methodologies and
approaches, and they often reach different results. Besides
methodological differences, these discrepancies are due to

Water is everyone's business.
Beside a necessity for living, water has implications on
public health and, most importantly, can cause social
conflicts. This is because water is limited, is difficult to
control, and can easily be polluted. The Integrated Water
Resource Management (IWRM) process is considered worldwide
as a means to reduce social conflicts from competing water
needs as well as to facilitate effective and sustainable

The paper reports on improving feed and
fodder supply for the dzud management in Mongolia study, and
aims to identify policy options that could improve the
effectiveness and efficiency of dzud emergency management
and response. It includes an assessment of the appropriate
roles for the private and public sectors, identification of
issues, and capacity building requirements. The study will
support a policy dialogue and could provide the foundation

The Nepal Poverty Alleviation Fund is a
World Bank supported community-driven development program.
Its objective is to improve rural welfare, particularly for
groups that have traditionally been excluded for reasons of
gender, ethnicity, caste, and location. Since its launch in
2004, the Fund has covered the 40 poorest districts of the
country, supported some 15,000 community organizations, and
benefited more than 2.5 million people. This paper attempts

This report is a window into a larger
initiative, the jobs and prosperity: building Zambia's
Competitiveness (JPC) program. The JPC program is a
'joint venture' between the governments of the
Republic of Zambia, the Zambian private sector, the United
Kingdom's Department for International Development
(DFID), the African development bank group and the World
Bank Group. As such, the report represents the collective

In response to numerous reports and
claims of poor quality or fake fertilizer that were
extensively reported by farmers, fertilizer dealers, and
government officials of the Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) over the past three years,
the World Bank, in support of the Royal Government of
Cambodia and in response to the food crisis through the
smallholder agricultural and social protection support

This report was prepared to provide
information and analysis of the Samoan livestock sub-sector
for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries through a
technical assistance assignment financed by the World Bank.
The Word Bank contributed technical assistance support to
the Government of Samoa to help identify measures to
strengthen agriculture sector institutions, to improve the
performance of selected commodities - including in the

Urban flooding is an increasingly
important issue. Disaster statistics appear to show flood
events are becoming more frequent, with medium-scale events
increasing fastest. The impact of flooding is driven by a
combination of natural and human-induced factors. As recent
flood events in Pakistan, Brazil, Sri Lanka and Australia
show, floods can occur in widespread locations and can
sometimes overwhelm even the best prepared countries and

The purpose of this paper is to provide
information on how to transform and strengthen pluralistic
agricultural extension and advisory systems in moving toward
the broader goal of increasing farm income and improving
rural livelihoods. The focus of this book is primarily on
the technical knowledge, management skills, and information
services that small-scale farm households will need to
improve their livelihoods in the rapidly changing global

Asia's green revolution in rice was
transformational and improved the lives of millions of poor
households. Rice has become an increasingly important part
of African diets and imports of rice have grown. Agronomists
point out that large areas in Africa are well suited for
rice and are encouraged by the field tests of new rice
varieties. So is Africa poised for its own green revolution
in rice? This study reviews the recent literature on rice

Fourteen years of civil conflict
(1989-2003) have destroyed Liberia's social and
economic infrastructure and brought the economy nearly to a
halt. Workers who came of age during the conflict are
largely unskilled, and the supply of workers exceeds demand
by a substantial margin. The negative effects of
unemployment, underemployment, and low productivity on
economic growth have made employment the most urgent demand

Robert B. Zoellick, World Bank Group President, addresses the
biggest threat to the poor around the world: high and
volatile food prices. The Bank released an updated Food Price Watch
that underscores the need for the G20 to put food
first. The key driver behind the upward spiral in the food
price index has been sharp rises in the prices of wheat,
maize, sugar, and oils. He discusses the global food
price hikes which have pushed about 44 million people into