The cases from the forum presented here
capture the lessons from the science, technology, and
innovation (STI) capacity building experiences of both
developing and industrial countries (governments working in
partnership with the private sector, nongovernmental
organizations, academia, and development partners). These
cases highlight ways that STI capacity building programs
have enabled countries to achieve the following: (i) provide

This policy note, Environmental
Management for a Sustainable Economic Development Strategy
for Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, investigates six environmental
management topics which will affect the capacity of the
province to develop the economy and need to be underpinned
by strong environmental and natural resource management. The
six topics cover: agriculture, forestry, fisheries, land and
water, environmental law and regulations, and spatial

There are many causes, consequences, and
connections of deforestation and forest poverty in the
tropical world. This report specifically addresses the
potential dilemma of trade-offs between poverty reduction
and environmental protection. It seeks to improve the
diagnosis of forest problems and facilitate the prescription
and application of solutions by focusing on both the causes
and consequences of forest conversion to agriculture and on

This report brings together lessons from previous studies, supplemented by new analysis. It frames the challenges facing the rural and agri-food sector in the Western Balkans to illustrate the directions for policies, now and in the future. Part one looks at the characteristics of the rural and agri-food sector today, its potential and its obstacles. Part two looks at the future of the agri-food sector and rural space.

The objective of this study is to
demonstrate how the interaction between sectors can be
improved to increase the effectiveness of sectoral
interventions, and how the interventions in the agricultural
sector and microfinance can be used to improve nutritional
outcomes. The study will examine what has been done to
improve nutrition through interventions in the agriculture
sector and microcredit programmes in Bangladesh and around

The World Bank had commissioned an
independent team to evaluate and assess the future role of
PROFISH, the Global Program on Fisheries. The evaluation
team found that PROFISH, since its inception in 2005, had
made excellent progress in raising World Bank, bilateral
donor and client country awareness of fisheries development
needs, contributed fisheries and aquaculture content to
global development products and assisted World Bank country

The recent surge in food and fuel prices
has prompted countries with high dependence on food imports
to try and lock in future food supplies through direct
investment in agricultural production in other countries.
The price surges also led to a wave of proposals to invest
in biofuels investments in agricultural land. While such
investment can provide large benefits, it also carries
considerable risks both to investors and citizens in the

Over the last few years, the Indian
economy has been in a phase of unparalleled growth of about
8-10 percent per year, making it one of the fastest growing
economies in the world. Sustaining this rate of growth will
need huge investments in physical infrastructure such as
roads, water, power, and urban sectors. Preliminary
estimates suggest that investment in infrastructure would
need to increase from the current 4.6 percent of gross

This quick note is to provide the reader
with a perspective on how the World Bank Group has been
challenged by and has responded to recent global crises.
However, at this historical moment, one cannot begin to
write of global or regional issues without noting the
momentous events that are now sweeping across the Arab
World. Every country is different, but common themes are
emerging. The youth's messages are loud and clear: they

Trade policy reforms in recent decades
have sharply reduced the distortions that were harming
agriculture in developing countries, yet global trade in
farm products continues to be far more distorted than trade
in nonfarm goods. Those distortions reduce some forms of
poverty and inequality but worsen others, so the net effects
are unclear without empirical modeling. This paper
summarizes a series of new economy-wide global and national

The major objective of the study was to
come up with illustrative success stories as well as
failures to give lessons on ICT interventions in the area of
rural livelihoods and their impact in Tanzania. The key
issues addressed in this study were: 1) common ICTs used by
the rural poor in Tanzania; 2) which ICTs are regarded as
attractive by different groups and why; 3) the use of ICTs
by different age cohorts as part of their livelihoods

A watershed is an area that supplies
water by surface or subsurface flow to a drainage system or
body of water. Watersheds vary from a few hectares to
thousands of square kilometers. Watershed management (WSM)
is the integrated use of land, vegetation, and water in a
specific drainage area with the objective of conserving
hydrologic services and reducing or avoiding damage
downstream or underground. The first generation of WSM