The most traditional and widely used
farming systems in the humid upland tropics are based on
fallowing and various forms of slash-and-burn agriculture.
Their sustainability depends on the duration of the fallow;
as long as the fallow stage is longer than seven or eight
years, slash-and-burn systems usually remain efficient. They
produce a moderate yield using a low-input technology that
is especially efficient in terms of returns to labor. With a

The country environmental safeguard
review provides an overall assessment of Bhutan's
environmental safeguard system. The study is not intended to
be comprehensive or prescriptive. It is meant to provide a
broad overview of some key legal, policy, and institutional
challenges and highlight some options for possible future
action. The following points identify the broad focus of the
review: (i) identify critical gaps in Bhutan's policies

This report is a review of the Lesotho's financial system covering: i) the macro-financial environment; ii) safety and soundness of the banking system; iii) non-bank financial institutions; and iv) microfinance and finance for small and medium enterprises. The report was based on data and other information collected during the March 2003 mission.

This Fisheries Sector Approach Paper has
been written in recognition of the mounting challenges that
the World Bank and the developing world face in meeting the
fishery sector-related Millennium Development Goals and the
outcomes of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable
Development. It augments the Bank's Rural Strategy,
Reaching the Rural Poor, which advocates a holistic approach
to rural poverty reduction, and support for equitable

During the 2007 spring meetings, the
development committee endorsed the World Bank Group's
action plan on the Clean Energy Investment Framework (CEIF).
This progress report is a response to the committee's
request for an update on the implementation of the action
plan for the annual meetings in October 2007. It summarizes
accomplishments in the three areas of the action plan: 1)
energy for growth, with a particular emphasis on access to

In conformity with its objective of
functioning as a local Government, Kathmandu Metropolitan
City (KMC) sought the assistance of the World Bank for the
preparation of a City Development Strategy (CDS). The
various sectoral as well as integrated strategies presented
in this document seem to be an overwhelming demand on KMC
with its limited manpower and money. A CDS is essential if
KMC is to focus its development potential. The optimism lies

This study compares the financial costs
and returns to tobacco growing with twelve (traditional and
non-traditional) alternative crops, looking at
profitability, costs, labor intensity, financial support,
technical infrastructure, land-suitability, marketing
difficulties, world demand, and production risks. It aims to
provide an improved understanding of the trade-offs farmers
face in deciding what crops to grow. The analysis is based

This report is part of a strategy to
promotes trade competitiveness within the East Asia and
Pacific Region. It presents an overview of the logistics
issues facing East Asia countries and proposes a development
agenda for them. Based on the recognition that the
countries have basic differences in their level of
development, extent of openness, and composition of trade,
it begins by discussing the benefits of improved logistics.

A major section of over 720 million
rural poor in India continue to depend on biomass sources
for meeting their energy requirements. Most of these poor
people continue to burn biomass in energy-inefficient
devices, locally called Chulhas. This study report is based
on an evaluation of the National Program for Improved
Chulhas (NPIC) conducted as part of a larger Bank study
entitled India : household energy, indoor air pollution and

In carrying out the program for investment climate reform, Orissa State has to keep three things uppermost: It s critical to strike the right balance between private and social interests so that both are mutually reinforced and growth is equitable and inclusive. 2) Both the implementation capacity of government and the political economy of reforms will require appropriate prioritization of reforms with a clear identification of short-, medium-, and long-term actions.

In July 2001, the extractive industries
review (EIR) was initiated with the appointment of Dr. Emil
Salim, former Minister of the Environment for Indonesia, as
eminent person to the review. The EIR was designed to engage
all stakeholders-governments, nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), indigenous peoples' organizations, affected
communities and community-based organizations, labor unions,
industry, academia, international organizations, and the

Economic development has brought about,
the decline in contribution of the agricultural sector to
the economy of Sri Lanka, and, consistent with this economic
transformation, the structure of employment also changed.
Thus, as labor migrates away from agriculture, the
productivity, for those who remain in the land, needs to
increase significantly. This report examines the constraints
to promoting more rapid agricultural, and rural non-farm