This paper focuses on evaluations with
findings that challenge important assumptions of the
development field. Its objective is to pinpoint the areas to
watch for in operations or policies that are decisive for
results. By drawing the attention of development
practitioners, policy makers, and evaluators to these
seemingly obvious but often neglected areas, it aims to
improve development effectiveness by better connecting

This country note briefly summarizes
information relevant to both climate change and agriculture
in Bolivia, with focus on policy developments (including
action plans and programs) and institutional make-up. Like
most countries in Latin America, Bolivia has submitted one
national communication to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) with a second one
under preparation. Land use change and forestry, coupled

This policy note was prepared in
response to a request from the Government of Southern Sudan
(GoSS) for World Bank assistance in developing legislative
and institutional policies and strategies that will take
advantage of the potential of the region's forest
resources to contribute to poverty alleviation, food
security, sustainable agriculture, economic growth, and to
protection of forest-related environmental services such as

This country note briefly summarizes
information relevant to both climate change and agriculture
in Brazil, with focus on policy developments (including
action plans and programs) and institutional make-up. In
Brazil, the 5th largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the
world, agriculture (including land use change and forestry)
is the largest contributor to green house gas (GHG)
emissions. The emission reduction potential of the

World Development Indicators (WDI) 2009
arrives at a moment of great uncertainty for the global
economy. The crisis that began more than a year ago in the
U.S. housing market spread to the global financial system
and is now taking its toll on real output and incomes. As a
consequence, an additional 50 million people will be left in
extreme poverty. And if the crisis deepens and widens or is
prolonged, other development indicators, school enrollments,

These organizations have joined together to recommend the principles presented below. The document concludes with anticipated next steps, which point toward a toolkit of best practices, guidelines, governance frameworks, and possibly codes of practice by the major sets of private actors.

This paper presents a framework for
analyzing tropical deforestation and reforestation using the
von Thunen model as its starting point: land is allocated to
the use which yields the highest rent, and the rents of
various land uses are determined by location. Forest cover
change therefore becomes a question of changes in rent of
forest versus non-forest use. While this is a simple and
powerful starting point, more intriguing issues arise when

This country note briefly summarizes
information relevant to both climate change and agriculture
in Mexico, with focus on policy developments (including
action plans and programs) and institutional make-up. Mexico
is the only developing country to have submitted three
national communications to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), indicating strong
commitment by the government for addressing climate change

This brief is based on the key messages
of a conference held on January 23, 2009 at the World Bank
to review the state of the art on 'agriculture and
climate change, investing now for a productive and resilient
future.' It is not the formal position of any one
academic institute or organization, but sets out the key
issues on: a) carbon as an integral part of sustainable
land, water and biodiversity management in developing

Over the last two decades Samoa has
suffered major damage from two cyclones in 1990-91, minor
damage from a third cyclone in 2004, and an earthquake
tsunami in 2009. Changes in the scale and impact of these
types of natural disasters are likely to be important
consequences of climate change for the country because the
increases in sea level and in average sea surface
temperatures will increase theintensity and damage

This report summarizes the findings of
the study on Competitive Commercial Agriculture for Africa
(CCAA). The objective of the CCAA study was to explore the
feasibility of restoring international competitiveness and
growth in African agriculture through the identification of
products and production systems that can underpin rapid
development of a competitive commercial agriculture. The
CCAA study focused on the agricultural potential of

The worldwide concern with deforestation
of Brazilian Amazonia is motivated not only by the
irreversible loss of this natural wealth, but also by the
perception that it is a destructive process in which the
social and economic gains are smaller than the environmental
losses. This perception also underlies the diagnosis,
formulation and evaluation of public policies proposed by
government and non-governmental organizations working in the