Inequalities and development:
dysfunctions, traps, and transitions by Anthony J.
Bebbington, Anis A. Dani, Arjan de Haan, and Michael Walton.
Asset inequality and agricultural growth: how are patterns
of asset inequality established and reproduced? By Rachel
Sabates. Beneath the categories: power relations and
inequalities in Uganda by Joy M. Moncrieffe. Inequalities
within India's poorest regions: why do the same

China has been the most successful developing country in this modern era of globalization. Since initiating economic reform after 1978, its economy has expanded at a steady rate over 8 percent per capita, fueling historically unprecedented poverty reduction (the poverty rate declined from over 60 percent to 7 percent in 2007). Other developing countries struggling to grow and reduce poverty are naturally interested in what has been the source of this impressive growth and what, if any, lessons they can take from China.

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

The workshop brings diverse perspectives
from outside the World Bank, providing a forum in which to
exchange ideas and debate in the course of developing the
World Development Report (WDR). Participants at the 2006
Berlin Workshop gathered to discuss challenges and successes
pertaining to agriculture and development. Agriculture is
the major sector contributing to economic development in
many poor countries. Three out of every four poor people in

The global monitoring report 2008 comes
at an important time. This year marks the halfway point in
the effort to achieve the millennium development goals
(MDGs) by 2015. This is also an important year to work
toward a consensus on how the world is going to respond to
the challenge of climate change, building on the foundation
laid at the conference in Bali in December 2007.
Successfully meeting this challenge will be essential for

This study reviews how the integration of environmental concerns into agriculture and forestry is progressing in the countries of Southeastern Europe (SEE) and of Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia (EECCA) since 2000 and assesses prospects for the future. The present report is a contribution to the environment for Europe process. At the Fifth Ministerial Conference in Kiev in 2003, participants decided to pay greater attention to the needs of the EECCA and adopted an environmental strategy for the sub-region.

Opium, Afghanistan's leading
economic activity, lies at the heart of the challenges the
country faces in state building, governance, security, and
development. With their narrow law enforcement focus and
limited recognition of development, security, and political
implications, current global counter-narcotics polices
impose a heavy burden on Afghanistan. This paper first
provides a summary overview of Afghanistan's opium

Agricultural and Rural Development (ARD)
is a fundamental component of Ethiopia's economic
growth and poverty reduction strategy. The agricultural
development strategy under Agriculture Development Led
Industrialization (ADLI) and Sustainable Development and
Poverty Reduction Program (SDPRP) focused on enhancing the
productive capacity of smallholder farmers, promoting crop
diversification, shifting to a market based system, ensuring

This report examines the legal,
administrative, and regulatory barriers that are preventing
women in Kenya from contributing fully to the Kenyan
economy. Building on the 2004 Foreign Investment and
Advisory Service (FIAS) report, "Improving the
Commercial Legal Framework and Removing Administrative and
Regulatory Barriers to Investment," this study looks at
the bureaucratic barriers facing women in Kenya through a

This report reviews Community Driven
Development (CDD) projects in Lao People's Democratic
Republic (PDR) to determine their effectiveness in
channeling resources to communities for poverty reduction.
The study examines three CDD projects in depth: the Poverty
Reduction Fund, the Village Investment for the Poor (both
supported by the World Bank), and the Government-financed
Village Development Fund. Through close analysis of these

This paper reviews the status of weather
and climate services in Europe and Central Asia
(ECA).Worldwide, the accuracy and value of weather and
climate services are rising, bringing great economic
benefits. However, many National Meteorological and
Hydrological Services (NMHSs) in Europe and Central Asia are
in decline. As a result, these potential gains are often
missed. Much more could be done to mitigate weather

There is compelling evidence of the
importance of gender equality for poverty reduction and
sustainable growth. So it should come as no surprise that
most development actors-international agencies, bilateral
donors, and most developing countries, have an official
policy for promoting gender equality. Millennium Development
Goal 3 (MDG3) on gender equality and women's
empowerment is shared global commitment. With only seven