This note deals with the extent to
which, and the means by which, project level distributional
analysis of benefits can be undertaken and how poverty
impact indicators can be developed. Section 1 sets out the
issues associated with using traditional cost benefit
analysis for the appraisal of pro-poor projects. Section 2
discusses the techniques and analysis available to consider
the distributional consequences of a transport change,

Malawi, a landlocked country in
southern, central Africa, depends on its natural resources,
especially the agriculture sector, to meet the demands of a
population of about 11 million people. The country has
developed a remarkable fishing industry, keeping in mind
that about 20 percent of the area is covered by water,
including the famous Lake Malawi (called Lake Nyasa by the
riparian states, Mozambique and Tanzania). Lake Malawi/Nyasa

More than 90 percent of the population
in the Sahel lives on agriculture. The fact that crop
production has not kept up with population growth during the
last two decades is attributed to land degradation and
productivity decline resulting in increased levels of rural
poverty, food shortages and chronic food insecurity. In
response, since the 1980s, Sahelian farmers have
experimented with various soil and water conservation

The note examines the transfer of
knowledge from one generation to the next, and from country
to country, through trading ties, and social interactions
which has raised knowledge sharing activities within Africa,
and elsewhere. Such activities have reinforced the
universality of indigenous knowledge, and, despite
geographical differences, the note looks at the Sodic Lands
Reclamation Project in India, as a good example of

The note aims to prompt policy makers,
and development managers to reassess, and give more weight
to neglected production, and consumption of traditional
vegetables, so as to enhance nutrition, income generation,
and food security for small scale households. Though the
views expressed herewith are the results of interviews in
several African countries, it focuses mainly on the Uganda
situation. The contribution of indigenous vegetables to

In Uganda, efforts to decentralize the
management of the extension service and to launch the
village participation in land development exercise have led
to a number of issues, outcomes and expectations. This
overview looks at what can be realistically expected from
the extension service (in terms of contact with farmers),
from decentralization (in terms of management improvement),
and from the village participation exercise (in terms of

Despite fiscal and administrative
reforms pursued by the Government of Madagascar since the
mid 1980s, to prod economic and financial liberalization,
contributing to steady GDP growth rates, manufacturing
production however, still represents a relatively small
share of value added. And, the development of
import-substituting (IS) firms has been considerably slower,
showing stagnating signs as these firms are unprepared for

Food production is not keeping pace with
Africa's rapidly growing needs. Aid programs in the
1970s and 1980s were considered a temporary solution to the
most appalling famines, but Africa's food shortage
appears to be worsening. This paper discusses the reasons
for this situation and ways to address it. African
policymakers should consider intensifying and diversifying
local production and establishing systems for marketing and

The Government of Tanzania has, in
recent years, focused on revitalizing its mining sector in
order to attract foreign investment, with the goal of
raising its contribution to Tanzania's Gross Domestic
Product. With the support from the World Bank through the
Mineral Sector Development Project (MSDP), the legal and
fiscal regimes were revised and an environmental framework
was put in place. As the growth of the small scale mining

Participatory community-based Natural
Resources Management (NRM) Projects have been implemented
over the last 5-6 years in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, and
Niger with the support of France, Germany, Norway, the
United States, and the World Bank's International
Development Association facility. Furthermore, pilot
operation concentrating on specific NRM issues are underway
in Chad (pastoral perimeters) and Guinea (land tenure

In Sri Lanka, ayurveda (a holistic
system of medicine and health care which originated in
India-in Sanskrit, "Ayu" means " life'
and "veda" means " the knowledge of ")
and the traditional system of health care have been
systematically used for over two thousand years to treat
illnesses. When last listed, 1,414 plant species have been
used for this purpose. These species include several endemic

This social assessment (SA) is part of
the Sanliurfa and Harran On-farm Development Project in
Turkey, and aims at identifying an appropriate mix of
project inputs to reduce poverty. The objectives of the SA
are to understand the impact of rapid agricultural
modernization on various social groups, according to
ownership criteria, and gender issues, and, to learn how
those benefiting from irrigation, assess the quality of