The Horn of Africa (HoA) region has many
security and development challenges whose origins and
consequences go well beyond the borders of individual
countries. It is also a region with many human assets and
resource endowments, and some of the most dynamic economies
in the world. Despite its numerous challenges, the Horn of
Africa offers significant potential to address cross-border
issues that can help transform its countries and the region.

Women comprise 50 percent of the
agricultural labor force in Sub-Saharan Africa, but manage
plots that are reportedly on average 20 to 30 percent less
productive. As a source of income inequality and aggregate
productivity loss, the country-specific magnitude and
drivers of this gender gap are of great interest. Using
national data from the Uganda National Panel Survey for
2009/10 and 2010/11, the gap before controlling for

Horizontal inequalities (HIs) within a
country, or inequalities among groups, have been shown to be
an important source of violent conflict. Relevant group
categorizations include religion, ethnicity, and region. HIs
can also be measured in different ways. Ethnicity, language,
religion, race, and region are examples of potentially
relevant and salient group categorizations. In this paper
the authors will review the prevailing HIs and their

The Country Partnership Framework (CPF)
will succeed the Myanmar interim strategy note (FY13-14) and
be the first full country strategy for Myanmar since 1984.
This CPF comes at a time of great opportunity for Myanmar;
over the three year period covered in this CPF, the reforms
initiated in 2011 have the potential to bring Myanmar into a
new era of peace and prosperity. Myanmar s history, ethnic
diversity, and geography combine into a unique set of

Conventional wisdom holds that
Sub-Saharan African farmers use few modern inputs despite
the fact that most growth-inducing and poverty-reducing
agricultural growth in the region is expected to come
largely from expanded use of inputs that embody improved
technologies, particularly improved seed, fertilizers and
other agro-chemicals, machinery, and irrigation. Yet
following several years of high food prices, concerted

This paper uses farm panel data from
China to examine the dynamics of land transactions, machine
investments, and the demand for machine services. Recently,
China's agriculture has experienced a large expansion
of machine rentals and machine services provided by
specialized agents, which has contributed to mechanization
of agricultural production. The empirical results show that
an increase in nonagricultural wage rates leads to expansion

This note reviews the role legal aid can
play as a catalyst to empower and strengthen the livelihoods
of the poor in a World Bank-funded project in the Indian
state of Andhra Pradesh (AP), the AP Rural Poverty Reduction
Project. This note shows how land-related legal aid
activities can be implemented to support community-driven
development project objectives. Initial evidence on the
positive impacts of legal aid on economic and social

There is a growing recognition of
agriculture's potential to spur growth and reduce
poverty in Africa. Agriculture accounts for one-third of the
continent's gross domestic product (GDP), and
two-thirds of its citizens rely on the sector for their
incomes. Investments in agriculture will hence not only
improve productivity and the continent's ability to
feed a growing population, but will also lift families out

Africa has great potential for
agriculture. Although international commodity prices have
been buoyant, Africa’s supply response seems to be weak. A
variety of constraints may exist. Using the case of
Tanzania, the paper examines the impact of market
connectivity, domestic and international, on farmers’ crop
choices. It is shown that the international market
connectivity, measured by transport costs to the maritime

This module provides guidance and a
comprehensive menu of practical tools for integrating gender
in the planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of
projects and investments in climate-smart agriculture (CSA).
The module emphasizes the importance and ultimate goal of
integrating gender in CSA practices, which is to reduce
gender inequalities and ensure that men and women can
equally benefit from any intervention in the agricultural

Honduras’ recent economic performance
has been positive, especially taking into account the global
economic context. Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth
accelerated from 2.8 percent in 2013 to 3.1 percent in 2014
and 3.6 percent in the first half of 2015. Growth has been
supported by improved terms of trade, higher remittance
inflows and export demand driven by the on-going recovery of
the United States (US), and improved investor confidence.

The housing finance market in Mali
remains small and under developed. Few banks currently offer
a full mortgage product with Banque Malienne de Solidarite,
Mali Housing Bank (BHM), Bank of Africa, and EcoBank being
the main lenders although at minimal levels. The total
annual housing need in Mali based on the household formation
rate amounts to 82,500, split between 51,100 urban units and
31,400 rural units. Overall some social housing is