The basic framework for the background study on building export competitiveness in Laos is based on the National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (NGPES), which appropriately stresses the need to: (i) improve the business climate by creating a predictable and transparent policy environment; (ii) streamline administrative procedures and regulations that are an obstacle to domestic and foreign private investment; and (iii) strengthen market institutions, including most notably those related to dispute resolution and contract enforcement.

This study was conducted with the main objective of determining the linkages between poverty and land management in Uganda. The study used the 2002/03 Uganda National Household Survey in eight districts representing six major agro-ecological zones and farming systems. Farmers in these districts deplete an average of 179 kg/ha of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, which is about 1.2 percent of the nutrient stock stored in the topsoil.

This report is about balanced economic development in the Northeast of Thailand. It is about growth and poverty reduction, cities and villages, enterprises and workers, skills and education, infrastructure and trade, and rice and silk. Northeast economic development is only part of Thailand's development challenge, but it is among the most important. We look back at how the Northeast has fared in terms of growth, poverty reduction and social capital over the last decades relative to other regions in Thailand.

Rwanda established targets for Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) growth and poverty reduction, to be
achieved by the year 2020; these were to (i) raise real per
capita income from $230 to $900; and (ii) reduce the poverty
incidence by half. To reach these targets, the Government
projected in its 2002 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
(PRSP) that GDP growth will to be in the range of 6 to 7
percent over the medium term. The PRSP focused on six

The objective of the Diagnostic Trade
Integration Study (DTIS) is to build the foundation for
accelerated growth by enhancing the integration of its
economy into regional and global markets. Burkina Faso is
one of the best economic performers in West Africa, yet its
integration into the world economy, as measured by its trade
and foreign investment performance, is among the lowest.
Economic growth has been strong, higher than all other

The authors test whether poor households use cash transfers to invest in income generating activities that they otherwise would not have been able to do. Using data from a controlled randomized experiment, they find that transfers from the Oportunidades program to households in rural Mexico resulted in increased investment in micro-enterprise and agricultural activities. For each peso transferred, beneficiary households used 88 cents to purchase consumption goods and services, and invested the rest.

This Country Economic Report (CER) is a
contribution to the ongoing debate among decision makers and
diverse stakeholders in Namibia on the outlook for sustained
growth and employment creation that addresses distribution
issues as well. The report addresses the following main
questions. What has been the past growth and employment
record and what can be learned? What are the main binding
constraints to growth? What has been the impact of this

Pakistan has faced a seismic shift in
its global and domestic economic landscape which until
recently limited policy options to address investment
climate concerns. External shocks, internal policy inaction
and political turmoil placed the country in a precarious
economic condition, calling on the authorities to take a
hard look at the policy choices ahead. Macroeconomic
instability resulting in inflation, exchange rate

This development policy review finds
ample evidence that Egypt has prospered as a consequence of
giving the economy a greater market orientation. While
favorable global conditions have helped, the structural
changes over the last two decades have been an essential
ingredient for Egypt's success. Productivity has risen
more in segments of the economy where the private sector s
share in investment and output grew most. Empirical

Forest in Kenya is an important source
of livelihood, environmental services, and economic growth.
In November of 2005 the Government of Kenya (GOK) ratified a
new Forests Act. The act contains many innovative provisions
to correct previous shortcomings, including a strong
emphasis on partnerships, the engagement of local
communities, and promotion of private investment. The
purpose of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is

There are many reasons to believe that
Syrian agriculture has great potential for the future. The
liberalisation of agriculture in Eastern Europe delivered
rapid growth in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Countries
such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Hungary,
Kazachstan, Romania and Russia achieved labour productivity
growth in constant US$ terms of over 7 percent between 1998
and 2004. Syria has a global comparative advantage in fruit

Measurement of the likely magnitude of
the economic impact of climate change on African agriculture
has been a challenge. Using data from a survey of more than
9,000 farmers across 11 African countries, a cross-sectional
approach estimates how farm net revenues are affected by
climate change compared with current mean temperature.
Revenues fall with warming for dryland crops (temperature
elasticity of -1.9) and livestock (-5.4), whereas revenues