Microfinance is often criticized for not
adequately addressing seasonality and hard-core poverty. In
Bangladesh, a program known as PRIME was introduced in 2006
to address both concerns. Unlike regular microfinance, PRIME
introduces a microfinance scheme that offers a flexible
repayment schedule and consumption smoothing, as well as
production, loans. It targets the ultra-poor, many of whom
are also seasonally poor, with a severe inability to smooth

This paper explores how the ongoing
crisis, the policy responses to it, and the post-crisis
global economy will impact China's medium-term
prospects for growth, poverty reduction, and development.
The paper reviews China's pre-crisis growth experience,
including its relationship to global economic developments.
It discusses the pace, composition, sources, and financing
of growth during 1995-2007, and the impact of key external

Poverty reduction on a large scale
depends on empowering those who are most motivated to move
out of poverty-poor people themselves. But if empowerment
cannot be measured, it will not be taken seriously in
development policy making and programming. Building on the
"Empowerment and Poverty Reduction Sourcebook,"
this volume outlines a conceptual framework that can be used
to monitor and evaluate programs centered on empowerment

Income inequality in Latin America ranks
among the highest in the world. It can be traced back to
the unequal distribution of assets (especially land and
education) in the region. But the extent to which asset
inequality translates into income inequality depends on the
redistributive capacity of the state. This paper documents
the performance of Latin American fiscal systems from the
perspective of income redistribution using newly-available

There is increasing interest in climate
change issues in Indonesia particularly in the lead-up to
the COP13 or Copenhagen meeting in Bali in December 2007
when there was renewed focus on Indonesia as the third
largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the world due
to deforestation, peat-land degradation, and forest fires.
In Indonesia, the agriculture sector employs the largest
share, 45 percent, of Indonesia's labor and contributes

The aim of this study is to assist the
government in this endeavor by focusing on selected
priorities. The overarching objective of this report is to
promote the mainstreaming and integration of climate related
risks in India's development policies and processes,
where this is appropriate. The objectives and scope of work
were developed in close consultation with the Ministry of
Environment and Forests as the primary counterpart, a

Despite their increasing prominence in policy debates, little is known about gender inequities in non-agricultural labor market outcomes in rural areas. Using matched household-enterprise-community data sets from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, this paper documents and analyzes gender differences in the individual portfolio choice and productivity of non-farm entrepreneurship. Except for Ethiopia, women are less likely than men to become nonfarm entrepreneurs.

This paper analyzes the impact of large-scale expansion of biofuels on the global income distribution and poverty. A global computable general equilibrium model is used to simulate the effects of the expansion of biofuels on resource allocation, commodity prices, factor prices and household income. A second model based on world-wide household surveys uses these results to calculate the impacts on poverty and global income inequality. The study finds that the large-scale expansion of biofuels leads to an increase in production and prices of agricultural commodities.

This book grew out of the Global Issues
seminars and is itself a testament to that two-way dialogue:
the suggestion to compile the speakers' lecture notes
into a book came from the students themselves. Both the
seminars and this book reflect the Bank's conviction
that the seemingly intractable problems of our globalizing
world-from entrenched poverty, to climate change, to new
infectious diseases such as AIDS and avian flu-can be

More forest area is being designated for
use by local communities and indigenous peoples. In a
growing number of countries legislation is being introduced
to ensure that local partners share in the benefits of
forest operations and participate as active stakeholders in
the sustainable use of forest resources. Private sector
investment in the forest sector is increasing as well. For
businesses in an expanding range of investment settings,

This note presents relevant
interventions that have aimed to stimulate rural economies a
natural disaster based on case studies from the Philippines,
Turkey, and Pakistan. Introducing new, untested
infrastructure methods or designs involves careful analysis
and may delay reconstruction. If this level of analysis is
not completed, the reconstructed infrastructure may not meet
expectations. For example, in Turkey, the Erzincan

This report presents the outcomes of the
functional review of Romania's agricultural
administration. Given the sectoral and territorial relevance
of its regulatory domain, Romania s Agricultural and Rural
Development Administration is a key administrative body
undergoing this Functional Review. The review will examine
whether the policy goals and objectives of the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) and its agencies