Infrastructure's interactions with
and importance to the economies of developing countries have
not been fully understood. This is evident in the
Bank's approach to sector work in infrastructure and in
its structural adjustment programs, which emphasize
adjusting prices to the detriment of a country's
infrastructure. Still, the available evidence indicates that
in poorer countries with inadequate infrastructure,

Petroleum supply reforms could yield
huge savings. Training flourishes in the informal sector.
Credit is a constraint to enterprise development. cAN Africa
pay for its universities. How to double Sub-Saharan
Africa's agricultural growth rate. Upgrading farming
systems in the Sahel. Agricultural research is being revitalized.

The livestock sector in Mali accounts
for 43 percent of cattle exports in the Sahel sub-region.
However, while the sub-sector accounted for 28.6 percent of
agriculture's contribution to Gross Domestic Product
(GDP), investment in it amounted to only 10.7 percent of the
total budget allocation to rural development. The African
Financial Community (CFA) devaluation in January 1994
increased the competitiveness of red meat from Sahelian

? This article outlines the role that
the World Bank will play in supporting a modified rural
development strategy for the Sub-Saharan Africa region: The
Bank will be more selective in targeting countries for
assistance in rural development programs, focusing on those
that demonstrate commitment to appropriate agricultural
policy and investment. It will expand its information,
education and communication initiatives to help governments

Between 1970 and 1992, the World Bank
assisted financially in about 15 wildlife-related projects
in Sub-Saharan Africa. The lending volume was US$ 368
million or about 1percent of the Bank's totals lending
during the same period. While geographically, these projects
have been concentrated in East Africa, especially Kenya, the
others are located in Somali, Malawi, Botswana, Cote
d'Ivoire, Zimbabwe, Ghana, the Central African

Since 1991, radical changes have taken
place in the policy and institutional environment governing
the agriculture sector in Zambia. Policies of liberalization
and privatization have entailed the replacement of
previously state-supplied agricultural services (notably
credit, inputs supply and agricultural marketing) by private
sector provision. The Agricultural Sector Investment Program
(ASIP), assisted by the World Bank, provides the context for

Countries in transition from centrally
planned to market economies face several challenges when
planning investments. These include a lack of information
about beneficiary groups, particularly those in rural areas;
and the collapse of institutions maintained by the state
prior to transition. During preparation of the Estonia
Agriculture Project, the government sought World Bank
technical assistance to undertake a social assessment (SA)

Buying, selling and mortgaging farmland
are still rare in Eastern and Central Europe. Not
surprisingly, given the level of risk in many of these
countries, short-term transactions, especially leasing, are
more common. These short-term transactions do almost as well
as land sales in allocating resources. Making them more
secure by improving simple registration and enforcement
systems and increasing public access to information on what

Over the past thirty years, most of
Sub-Saharan Africa has seen rapid population growth, poor
agricultural performance, and increasing environmental
degradation. Why do these problems seem so intractable? Are
they connected? Do they reinforce each other? If so, what
are the critical links? This book tests the hypothesis that
these phenomena are strongly interrelated. The finding -
that this nexus is very much at work in Sub-Saharan Africa -

T&V has a high payoff. A new
approach to petroleum exploration. More books for schools,
by A. Buchan, C. Denning, T. Read, D. Lacase, and S. Diop.
Better transport, by Phillip Moeller and S. Carapetis et al.
A new deal for mining. Public examinations: problem or
solution, by Kelleghan and Greaney. Nexus update. A
comprehensive approach to land management, by Walter J.
Lusigi and Bengt A. Nekby. Agriculture research to be revitalized.

This study researched Indigenous
Knowledge Systems (IKS) in agriculture in Zimbabwe's
rural areas, focusing on crop farming in the Tonga of Binga
District in Matebeleland's North Province, and
livestock in the Kalanga tribe of the Plumtree District in
Matebeleland's South Province. The study aimed to
uncover some of the knowledge that indigenous people used to
survive under the harsh climatic and physical conditions of

This Health Sector Note is the result of
the first phase of an open, participatory three-step process
for developing the Health Sector Policy and Strategic Plan
(HSPSP), and serves as the preliminary basis for further
rounds of discussions, and analyses among stakeholders, to
arrive at a strategic vision for the national health sector.
The socioeconomic situation is reviewed, stipulating Eritrea
remains one of the poorest countries in the world, where