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

The purpose of this policy note is to
contribute to an understanding of the factors that combine
to constrain the development of smallholder agriculture in
Swaziland. It seeks to shed light on why, despite being
well-endowed in land and water resources, and despite having
a climate that is generally favorable for the production of
crops and livestock, Swaziland is obliged to import
substantial amounts of food to feed the population. Also,

Poor rural women in the developing world
spend considerable time collecting water. How then do they
respond to improved access to water infrastructure? Does it
increase their participation in income earning market-based
activities? Does it improve the health and education
outcomes of their children? To help address these questions,
a new approach for dealing with the endogeneity of
infrastructure placement in cross-sectional surveys is

Interest in farmland is rising. And,
given commodity price volatility, growing human and
environmental pressures, and worries about food security,
this interest will increase, especially in the developing
world. One of the highest development priorities in the
world must be to improve smallholder agricultural
productivity, especially in Africa. Smallholder productivity
is essential for reducing poverty and hunger, and more and

This paper describes the key challenges
to job creation in conflict-affected environments in South
Asia. It uses household survey data since the early 2000s
for Afghanistan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka to document the
characteristics of labor markets in conflict-affected areas,
exploiting the spatial and time variation in armed conflict
within countries. The analysis finds that, across countries,
labor markets look very different in conflict-affected areas

Around the world, countries are becoming
urbanized at an astonishing pace. As countries develop
economically, their economies shift from mainly rural and
agrarian to increasingly urban and nonagricultural. This
rural-urban transformation presents both opportunities and
challenges for development. When managed effectively, the
transformation spurs growth and reduces poverty. When
managed poorly, however, the process can result in stark

The work described in this report is a
first step to addressing the longer-term issues related to
the competitiveness of South Sudan's farmers in a
regional context. It focuses on the options for increasing
the amount and value of agricultural production in the crop
sector, the potential contribution of rural roads to
increasing crop production and how to sequence and
prioritize rural road investments in a way that maximizes

Executive Directors continued to play an
important role as the World Bank faced many challenges in a
global post crisis economy. The Board considered a number of
key documents in preparation for the committee on
development effectiveness meetings. These included the World
Development Report 2011, which focuses on conflict,
security, and development, and responding to global food
price volatility and its impact on food security, which

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

The World Development Report (WDR) has
become such a fixture that it is easy to forget the
circumstances under which it was born and the Bank's
motivation for producing such a report at that time. In the
first chapter of this essay, the authors provide a brief
background on the circumstances of newly independent
developing countries and summarize some of the main strands
of the emerging field of development economics. This

Linking farmers to markets is widely
viewed as a milestone towards promoting economic growth and
poverty reduction. However, market and institutional
imperfections along the supply chain thwart perfect vertical
and spatial price transmission and prevent farmers and
market actors from getting access to information,
identifying business opportunities and allocating their
resources efficiently. This acts as a barrier to market-led

This report examines poverty trends and
distribution of the poor in this larger context, paying
particular attention to the most recent past. The report
contributes to our understanding of the progress made in
combating poverty in three ways. First, it updates our
knowledge of poverty outcomes by examining the trends in
poverty and vulnerability, as well as the profile and
distribution of the poor and vulnerable across the country.