The international development community
is increasingly demanding better evidence on the
effectiveness of policies and programs across different
sectors. The forest sector is no exception. Governments and
donor agencies explicitly seek to link investment to proven
impact. Yet the evidence base necessary to inform
interventions in the forest sector that can successfully
enhance the livelihoods of the forest-dependent poor, foster

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.

China is considered one of the most seriously eroded countries in the world. The
many causes of this degradation can be divided into natural, human-induced and root causes.
The consequences of watershed degradation are severe and reach even beyond the country’s
boundaries. Addressing this issue requires a sustainable participatory and integrated watershed
management approach. The Loess Plateau Watershed Rehabilitation Projects, implemented by
the Ministry of Water Resources and co-financed by the World Bank has provided a model that

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

Environmental and social responsibility
is becoming more and more important in todayapos;s global
economy. There are thousands of environmental and social
codes and standards in the world today. The codes and
standards define the rules and the objectives. But the
challenge is in the implementation. An environmental and
social management system (ESMS) helps companies to integrate
the rules and objectives into core business operations,

This booklet offers advice for
farmers and extension workers interested in using
conservation agriculture techniques to boost crop yields,
soil quality and water retention. These practices represent
some of the many ways we can become more climate smart,
which is essential if we are to sustainably produce more
food on less land to feed our growing planet.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
(MEA), The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity study
(TEEB) and the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity
and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) provide a comprehensive and
useful framework to understand human dependence on ecosystem
services and how best to protect these services in
perpetuity. In these three authoritative studies, payment
for ecosystem services (PES) is listed as one of the

This forest policy note (FPN) offers
an outside view of the Moldovan forestry sector, provides
some strategic guidance to help define sector goals, and
identifies opportunities for consideration in the continued
development of the sector and for the implementation of the
Moldova and World Bank (WB) country partnership strategy
(CPS). This study is based on a number of short visits to
Moldova and on a number of background studies undertaken

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

Bolivia’s distinct characteristics and
aspirations are a key for understanding its development
trajectory. Bolivia is one of the countries with the highest
share of indigenous population, representing a tapestry of
different groups with different historical, cultural and
economic features, with a significant influence in policy
decision making. The country is landlocked and one of the
most sparsely populated in the world. As a result, long

Kazakhstan made steady progress on
poverty reduction and social development during the review
period, driven by impressive economic growth and rising
hydrocarbon prices. Yet, the country continues to grapple
with a number of systemic challenges, including: a lack of
progress on economic diversification and anticorruption; a
dominant role of the state in the economy; a lack of skills
in the labor force; and a legacy of environmental problems

The purpose of this report is to improve
the knowledge base for facilitating investments in land
management technologies that sequester soil organic carbon.
While there are many studies on soil carbon sequestration,
there is no single unifying volume that synthesizes
knowledge on the impact of different land management
practices on soil carbon sequestration rates across the
world. A meta-analysis was carried out to provide soil