Previous Ricardian analyses of
agriculture have either omitted irrigation or treated
irrigation as though it is exogenous. In practice, it is a
choice by farmers that is sensitive to climate. This paper
develops a choice model of irrigation in the context of a
Ricardian model of cropland. The authors examine how climate
affects the decision to use irrigation and then how climate
affects the net revenues of dryland and irrigated land. This

Costa Rica's Program of Payments
for Environmental Services (Pago de Servicios Ambientales,
PSA) provides a unique opportunity to evaluate direct
payments as a conservation policy tool. This paper reports
evidence on how much more forest has been conserved in Costa
Rica as a result of PSA contracts with landowners. Such
evidence requires estimating a counterfactual outcome: how
much forest would have been preserved if there had been no

This report is part of a broader global
study, the Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change (EACC),
which has two principal objectives: (a) to develop a global
estimate of adaptation costs for informing international
climate negotiations; and (b) to help decision makers in
developing countries assess the risks posed by climate
change and design national strategies for adapting to it.
The purpose of this study is to assist the Government of

This paper summarizes the methods and
findings of the hydrological assessment component of the
project studying likely impacts of climate change on water
resources and agriculture in Africa. The first phase of the
study used a version of a conceptual rainfall-runoff model
called WatBal (Water Balance) applied to gridded data to
simulate changes in soil moisture and runoff across the
whole continent of Africa rather than to any particular

This paper explores two different
conceptions of how an emerging climate regime might evolve
to strengthen incentives for more vigorous cooperation in
mitigating global climate change. One is the paradigm that
has figured most prominently in negotiations to this point:
the establishment of targets and timetables for countries to
limit their aggregate greenhouse gas emissions. The other
approach consists of a variety of loosely coordinated

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

The environment and security literature
has argued that freshwater scarcity often leads to
inter-state conflict, and possibly acute violence. The
contention, however, ignores the long history of
hydro-political cooperation exemplified by hundreds of
documented agreements. Building on a theory that considers
the relationship between scarcity and hydro-political
cooperation, this paper empirically investigates why

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

Indonesian agriculture is at a
crossroads. Supporting the livelihood of millions of
Indonesians, it needs to underpin renewed and robust growth
of the economy; and be a key component of the
Government's poverty alleviation strategy. The
challenge for the future is to reinvigorate productivity
gains among rural producers, and provide the foundation for
long run sustainability of these productivity gains.

Beyond the City evaluates the
contribution of rural development and policies to growth,
poverty alleviation, and environmental degradation in the
rest of the economy, as well as in the rural space. This
title brings together new theoretical and empirical
treatments of the links between rural and national
development. New findings and are combined with existing
literature to enhance our understanding of the how rural

Carbon transactions are defined as purchase contracts or ERPAs (Emission Reductions Purchase Agreements) whereby one party pays another party in return for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions that the buyer can use to meet its compliance or corporate citizenship - objectives vis-a-vis GHG mitigation. Payment is made using one or more of the following forms: cash, equity, debt, or in-kind contributions.

India's Northeastern Region
consists of eight states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura
-- occupying 262,179 square kilometers and with a population
of 39 million (2001 census). This report has come about at
the request of the Indian Government for the World Bank to
focus more of its attention on the Northeastern Region in
order to support poverty reduction and development in the