Whether the negative relationship
between farm size and productivity that is confirmed in a
large global literature holds in Africa is of considerable
policy relevance. This paper revisits this issue and
examines potential causes of the inverse productivity
relationship in Rwanda, where policy makers consider land
fragmentation and small farm sizes to be key bottlenecks for
the growth of the agricultural sector. Nationwide plot-level

Decision makers facing abatement targets
need to decide which abatement measures to implement, and in
which order. This paper investigates the ability of marginal
abatement cost (MAC) curves to inform this decision,
reanalysing a MAC curve developed by the World Bank on
Brazil. Misinterpreting MAC curves and focusing on
short-term targets (e.g., for 2020) would lead to
under-invest in expensive, long-to-implement and

Governments invest billions of dollars
annually in long-term projects. Yet deep uncertainties pose
formidable challenges to making near-term decisions that
make long-term sense. Methods that identify robust decisions
have been recommended for investment lending but are not
widely used. This paper seeks to help bridge this gap and,
with a demonstration, motivate and equip analysts better to
manage uncertainty in investment decisions. The paper first

The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC)
region has been in many ways successful in increasing
agriculture production and competitiveness, as well as
tackling nutrition. Mainstreaming nutrition considerations
into agriculture operations can increase the availability of
and access to nutritious food, which can improve the
nutrition status of individuals. The challenge is how to
bridge the gap that exists in region between being an

 
La autora del artículo de esta quincena nos interroga acerca de la elección entre seguridad y soberanía alimentaria o la dependencia e inseguridad, analizando el fenómeno del incremento de los precios de los alimentos, sus causas económicas globales y los efectos perniciosos que la mala opción tiene sobre la vida de la población, particularmente la dedicada a la agricultura familiar campesina.
¿Seguridad y soberanía alimentaria o inseguridad y
dependencia alimentaria?
*Mabel   Manzanal    

This report presents a case study on
groundwater governance in Kenya. The objectives of the study
were to: (a) describe groundwater resource and socioeconomic
settings for four selected aquifers; (b) describe governance
arrangements for groundwater management in Kenya; and (c)
identify the relevance of these arrangements for planning
and implementing climate change mitigation measures. The
report provides a comprehensive strategy to develop

Renewable energy, especially solar
power, has been garnering a lot of interest from
governments, international development organizations, civil
society, and the private sector for the last few years.
There has been a huge surge in the popularity of this
important energy source from various stakeholders in India
as well. On the other hand, solar power presents a
formidable option for addressing pertinent issues being

Developing countries are faced with the
dual challenge of reducing poverty while improving
management of natural capital and mitigating the emission of
greenhouse gases (GHGs) and local pollutants. The challenge
is particularly acute for large, rapidly growing economies,
such as India, China, and Brazil. In response to this
challenge, Energy Sector Management assistance Program
(ESMAP) and the World Bank began in 2007 to provide support

Groundwater is playing an increasingly
important role in domestic, industrial and agricultural
water supply. With the advent of the tube well and driven by
the rapid growth of demand for agricultural and municipal
water, annual global groundwater extraction has increased in
recent decades from 100 k

Woodfuels (firewood and charcoal) are
the dominant energy source and the leading forest product
for most developing countries. Representing 60 to 80 percent
of total wood consumption in these nations, woodfuels often
account for 50 to 90 percent of all energy used. Although
woodfuels are widely perceived as cheap and primitive
sources of energy, commercial woodfuel markets are
frequently very large, involve significant levels of

The impact of climate change is likely
to have considerable implications for water resource
planning, as well as adding to the risks to water
infrastructure systems and effecting return on investments.
Attention is increasingly being paid to adaptation
strategies at the regional and basin level; however, the
current paucity of information regarding the potential risk
to hydrological systems at this scale presents a substantial

Groundwater comprises 97 percent of the
worlds readily accessible freshwater and provides the rural,
urban, industrial and irrigation water supply needs of 2
billion people around the world. As the more easily accessed
surface water resources are already being used, pressure on
groundwater is growing. In the last few decades, this
pressure has been evident through rapidly increasing pumping
of groundwater, accelerated by the availability of cheap