Argentina is one of the world's
largest biodiesel producers and the largest exporter, using
soybeans as feedstock. Using a computable general
equilibrium model that explicitly represents the biofuel
industry, this study carries out several simulations on two
sets of issues: (i) international markets for biofuel and
feedstock, such as an increase in prices of soybean, soybean
oil, and biodiesel, and (ii) domestic policies related to

Agriculture sector growth has made a
powerful contribution to post-war economic recovery in
Tajikistan, accounting for approximately one third of
overall economic growth from 1998 to 2004. Sector output
increased by 65 percent in real terms during this period,
and has now returned to the level extant at independence in
1990. Total Factor Productivity (TFP) has also increased, by
3 percent per year. Despite this progress, there is

This report presents the key message,
lessons, and insights from agrifin's first knowledge
exchange event, held in Hyderabad, India, March 7-12, 2011.
Agrifin is a special initiative aimed at building capacity
in agriculture finance for commercially-oriented
smallholders and small and medium enterprise (SME)
agribusiness market segments. The initiative, managed by the
World Bank, through generous support from the bill and

Cote d'Ivoire was an economic
success story in the first twenty years of independence, but
a sharp reversal began in 1980 and by 1993 per capita
incomes was back to the level of 1960. Devaluation of the
African Financial Community (CFA) franc triggered an
economic rebound, but this was soon undermined by the
political crisis beginning in 1999. Just as the economy was
starting to move forward, a new crisis struck in early 2011,

This overview paper positions the
question of benefit sharing in the context of REDD plus. It
shares findings from a cursory review of a sample of
Readiness Preparation Proposals (RPP) for REDD plus
submitted to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF).
It deconstructs the concept of benefit sharing. It also
provides a summary of the main findings from three recent
studies on benefit sharing that were financed by the Program

Like other regions, Eastern Europe and
Central Asia is vulnerable to climate change and its
potential socioeconomic impacts. While all countries are
facing warmer temperatures, a changing hydrology, and more
extreme events (for example, floods and droughts) and are
concerned about the level of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere, they differ in their financial and institutional
capacities to respond. Therefore, especially for the most

Mali, a landlocked West African nation
at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, has introduced a
program to produce biodiesel using jatropha curcas, a
non-edible shrub widely available throughout the country by
farmers for generations as a living fence for their gardens.
The aim of the program is to partially substitute diesel,
which is entirely supplied through imports, with domestic
biodiesel produced from a feedstock that does not have any

The World development report 2010:
development and climate change highlights the link between
biotechnology, development, and environment. Aside from
recognizing biotechnology's potential to improve crop
productivity, increase crop adaptation to climatic stresses
such as drought, and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, the
report emphasizes the need to establish science-based
regulatory systems 'so that risks and benefits can be

Over the past few years there has been a
growing interest in the role that forests play in supporting
the poor, in reducing their vulnerability to economic and
environmental shocks, and in reducing poverty itself.
International workshops in Italy, Scotland, Finland and
Germany have focused on the contribution of forests to
livelihoods and the policies needed to strengthen that
contribution. At the same time, Forestry Ministries, though

Linking farmers to markets is widely
viewed as a milestone towards promoting economic growth and
poverty reduction. However, market and institutional
imperfections along the supply chain thwart perfect vertical
and spatial price transmission and prevent farmers and
market actors from getting access to information,
identifying business opportunities and allocating their
resources efficiently. This acts as a barrier to market-led

There are countries in Asia, Europe, the
Middle East and even a few such countries in Africa that are
using non-renewable resources to drive development and have
not experienced conflict. South Africa, Namibia, Botswana,
and Zambia are such typical cases in Africa. Instead, the
presence of significant minerals in Botswana is associated
with economic development and democracy as well as peace.
This paper applies the "resource curse", thesis to

This country note for Georgia is part of
a series of country briefs that summarize information
relevant to climate change and agriculture for three
countries in the Southern Caucasus Region, with a particular
focus on climate and crop projections, adaptation options,
policy development and institutional involvement. The note
series has been developed to provide a baseline of knowledge
on climate change and agriculture for the countries