Gross domestic product (GDP) growth was
a disappointing 3.5 percent in 2013. It remained largely
unchanged compared to 2012, reflecting a decline in cereal
production and stagnation in the industrial sector. Services
continue to drive the economy. The economic outlook for 2014
was more positive, but poor rainfall and the Ebola outbreak
have forced downward revisions in GDP growth projections,
now expected to reach 4.5 percent. The plan Senegal emergent

Inorganic fertilizer use across
Sub-Saharan Africa is generally considered to be low. Yet,
this belief is predicated on the assumption that it is
profitable to use rates higher than currently observed.
However, there is little rigorous empirical evidence to
support this notion. Using a nationally representative panel
data set, and with due recognition of the role of risk and
uncertainty, this paper empirically estimates the

Economic growth, job creation, and
development are central to the decade of transformation
(2015-25) and long-term security for the people of
Afghanistan. The Bank and the Government of the Islamic
Republic of Afghanistan (GoIRA) recognize that agriculture
and rural development are a key to inclusive growth, and
hence need renewed vigor and strategic long-term
investments. Further, the Bank and the GoIRA acknowledge

The overall goal of this report is to
assist the World Bank Group (WBG) to achieve greater impact
for women from its current activities in agribusiness in
Papua New Guinea (PNG), and to provide clear recommendations
on additional interventions aimed at improving outcomes for
women. The report focuses on the supply chains for coffee,
cocoa, and horticultural products (fresh produce), as there
is a wealth of knowledge on these supply chains and on

This aquaculture sector review (with
supply chain mapping) has been implemented within the
framework of the International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Armenia investment climate reform project implemented by the
World Bank Group trade and competitiveness global practice,
in partnership with Austria’s federal ministry of finance
and Hungarian partnership funding and Hungary Export Import
(EXIM) Bank. This project aims to contribute to improving

This paper reviews the empirical
evidence on the existence of poverty traps, understood as
self-reinforcing mechanisms through which poor individuals
or countries remain poor. Poverty traps have captured the
interest of many development policy makers, because poverty
traps provide a theoretically coherent explanation for
persistent poverty. They also suggest that temporary policy
interventions may have long-term effects on poverty.

In many developing countries,
consumption of animal source foods among the poor is still
at a level where increasing its share in total caloric
intake may have many positive nutritional benefits. This
paper explores whether ownership of various livestock
species increases consumption of animal source foods and
helps improve child nutritional status. The paper finds some
evidence that food consumption patterns and nutritional

Recognizing the importance and
uniqueness of the Sundarbans, the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
declared the Indian portion of the forest a World Heritage
Site in 1987, and the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program
has included the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve in the Global
Network of Island and Coastal Biosphere Reserves
Contributing to Action on Climate Change and Sustainable

This paper investigates the
effectiveness of protected areas in slowing tropical forest
clearing in 64 countries in Asia/Pacific, Africa, and Latin
America for the period 2001-2012. The investigation compares
deforestation rates inside and within 10 kilometers outside
the boundary of protected areas. Annual time series of these
deforestation rates were constructed from recently published
high-resolution data on forest clearing. For 4,028 parks,

This paper examines the determinants of
agricultural productivity and its link to poverty using
nationally representative data from the Nigeria General
Household Survey Panel, 2010/11. The findings indicate an
elasticity of poverty reduction with respect to agricultural
productivity of between 0.25 to 0.3 percent, implying that a
10 percent increase in agricultural productivity will
decrease the likelihood of being poor by between 2.5 and 3

The need for countries in Sub-Saharan
Africa to build more productive, modern, and market-oriented
farming sectors is one of our most pressing development
challenges. In coming years, African agriculture will have
to increase food production and expand and intensify value
chains in order to meet changing demand on the part of a
rapidly expanding and urbanizing consumer base. The process
of doing this will enable African countries to begin pushing

After decades of turmoil and
instability, a period of calm and progress evolved in
Guinea-Bissau in 2009. A military coup in April 2012
interrupted it. A fresh start is needed to alter the
dynamics that kept Guinea-Bissau poor. In 2013, Gross
National Income per capita was US$590. Average economic
growth barely kept pace with population growth. In 2010,
poverty at the national poverty line of US$2 a day was 70