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.

The Kingdom of Lesotho is a land-locked
nation located in the Drakensberg mountain range in Southern
Africa. The country has a total area of 30355 km² and in
2009 had an estimated population of nearly 2.1 million, with
nominal per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$ 1080
(in 2010). About 75 percent live in rural areas, often in
scattered mountain villages, while most of the urban
population lives in and around the capital Maseru and the

The objective of conducting this case
study on Mozambique is to uncover the pattern of municipal
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) impact that
may exist in other low-capacity countries with analogous
political economy structures in relation to leveraging ICT
in public sectors. The study concludes by suggesting
measures to link the continent's ICT boom in
citizen-based mobile telephony and internet usage with the

The framework provided a road map for
climate action for the World Bank Group (WBG) over fiscal
years 2009-11, setting out the WBG's objectives,
principles, areas of focus, and major initiatives in the
field of climate change. The framework was organized around
six action areas: 1) supporting climate actions in
country-led development processes; 2) mobilizing additional
concessional and innovative finance; 3) facilitating the

Agriculture and agroprocessing are
important in Zambia's economy, representing more than
40 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and contributing
about 12 percent of national export earnings. Agriculture
employs some 67 percent of the labor force and supplies raw
materials to agricultural industries, which account for some
84 percent of manufacturing value-added in the country.
Smallholder agriculture dominates the rural economy. It

Like other regions, Eastern Europe and
Central Asia is vulnerable to climate change and its
potential socioeconomic impacts. While all countries are
facing warmer temperatures, a changing hydrology, and more
extreme events (for example, floods and droughts) and are
concerned about the level of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere, they differ in their financial and institutional
capacities to respond. Therefore, especially for the most

Tajikistan is highly vulnerable to the
adverse impacts of global climate change, as it already
suffers from low agricultural productivity, water stress,
and high losses from disasters. Public awareness of the
multiple consequences of climate change is high, with
possible impacts on health, natural disasters, and
agriculture of greatest public concern. Climate change can
potentially deepen poverty by lowering agricultural yields,

This issue of the Research digest
newsletter contains the following topics of interest: how to
move the exchange rate if you must; focus - urbanization and
poverty reduction; Turkey's export boom in the 2000s;
social protection, poverty, and the post-2015 agenda;
village India: the growing importance of the nonfarm sector;
incentive audits: a new tool for preventing financial
crises?; and, biodiversity and national accounting.

This issue includes the following
headings: mass rapid transit: a tool for urban expansion;
financing: beyond sovereign guarantees; and low-income
housing: lessons from Latin America.

This book provides an overview of the
World Bank's Eco2 cities : ecological cities as
economic cities initiative. The objective of the Eco2 cities
initiative is to help cities in developing countries achieve
a greater degree of ecological and economic sustainability.
The book is divided into three parts. Part one describes the
Eco2 cities initiative framework. It describes the approach,
beginning with the background and rationale. Key challenges

Recurring environmental incidents have
led to increased public awareness of the threats of
environmental pollution to public health and rapid
urbanization is driving up land prices in Chinese cities. As
a result of these developments, industrial plant relocations
are numerous, particularly of heavily polluting industrial
plants, such as pesticide, coke, steel plants, and chemical
industry plants. These relocations are leaving behind many

The purpose of this report is to provide
an overview of the current situation of brownfield
management in China for World Bank staff and relevant
government officials in order to help raise awareness of
land contamination and help develop remediation activities.
After the introductory section, section two explores the
environmental and development pressures of land. Section
three reviews government plans, targets and actions. Section