Could the simplifying assumptions made
in project appraisal be so far from the truth that the
expected benefits of public investments are not realized?
Using data for Vietnam, commonly used estimates of the
benefits from irrigation investments based on means are
compared with impacts assessed through an econometric
modeling of marginal returns that allows for household and
area heterogeneity using integrated household-level survey

This article uses survey data from
Ecuador to examine the effects of women's employment on
the allocation of paid and unpaid labor within the
household. The reader compares a region with high demand for
female labor with a similar region in which demand for
female labor is low. The comparison suggests that market
labor opportunities for women have no effect on women's
total time in labor but increase men's time in unpaid

The Sustainable and Participatory Energy
Management project - PROGEDE was implemented by the
government between 1997 and 2004. From project preparation
to supervision the World Bank worked in close collaboration
with Dutch Co-operation (DGIS). At the time of project
preparation, forest-based traditional fuels (firewood and
charcoal), mainly used for household cooking purposes,
represented 53 percent of Senegal's final energy

The authors empirically estimate the
impact of social capital on household welfare in
Bolivia--where they found 67 different types of local
associations. They focus on household memberships in local
associations as being especially relevant to daily decisions
that affect household welfare and consumption. On average,
households belong to 1.4 groups and associations: 62 percent
belong to agrarian syndicates, 16 percent to production

The note focuses on the external
benefits of rural electrification (RE), i.e., improved
access to communication, education, and economic
opportunities, in addition to extended health services. It
outlines key lessons to scaling up RE, namely macroeconomic
stability, continued government commitments, and
institutional capacity. However, it also suggests that grid
extension is not always cost-effective, rather,

Participatory community-based Natural
Resources Management (NRM) Projects have been implemented
over the last 5-6 years in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, and
Niger with the support of France, Germany, Norway, the
United States, and the World Bank's International
Development Association facility. Furthermore, pilot
operation concentrating on specific NRM issues are underway
in Chad (pastoral perimeters) and Guinea (land tenure

This issue, which serves as the annual
review on the environment, looks at the Bank's work
from July 2002 through June 2003, dedicated this year to
Water and the Environment, on the occasion of the Fifth
World Parks Congress in Durban, South Africa. Following the
overview, which reviews progress in the implementation of
the Environment strategy, the report presents viewpoints on
ways to move forward in delivering water as committed in

The Water Resources Sector Strategy
(WRSS) supports implementation of the Bank's 1993 Water
Resources Management Policy, using the experience updated
internationally, with water resources and management. This
country Water Resources Assistance Strategy (CWRAS)
identifies the Philippines principal water resource
challenges, the current situation, how the Bank is assisting
at present, and what it should in the future. In summary

What factors influence community
participation in the delivery of urban services? In
particular, does security of tenure enhance the probability
of participation as it provides individuals with incentives
to act collectively in pursuit of a common objective? And
are collective efforts less likely to succeed when there is
a high degree of heterogeneity in culture or endowments
among community members? The authors use household level

This has to be accomplished against a
background of high illiteracy rates, rapidly growing
populations, low and erratic rainfall, inherently infertile
soils, and development strategies which have had a strong
urban bias. Under such conditions, traditional production
systems are unable to sustain the population. Without
significant change, land degradation will accelerate and the
natural resource base on which agricultural production

Nontraditional infrastructure service
providers supply many low-income consumers in slums and
urban peripheries in developing countries. And technological
change has eased entry by new providers. But the current
approach to private participation in infrastructure
typically gives exclusivity to a local monopoly for a long
period. In return, the monopoly utility is obligated to
provide service to all in the area at a certain standard,

The study reviews Niger's water
resources, and planning process, through its short- and
medium-term water investment program, and priorities in the
water supply, and sanitation sector. Critical challenges are
examined for improving its complex water resources
management to support economic growth, given its landlocked
situation, with diffuse, and mostly rural population, and
immense, untapped fossil aquifer supplies. Despite multiple