This report presents the outcomes of the
functional review of Romania's agricultural
administration. Given the sectoral and territorial relevance
of its regulatory domain, Romania s Agricultural and Rural
Development Administration is a key administrative body
undergoing this Functional Review. The review will examine
whether the policy goals and objectives of the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) and its agencies

Lesotho began a structural economic
transformation in the early 1990s. The transformation has
brought higher, more secure incomes to households while the
government succeeded in dramatically improving access to
services such as education, health, water, and
transportation. Yet today, Lesotho faces a number of serious
development challenges, including a high rate of chronic
poverty, entrenched income inequality, and most troubling

The objective of the Agricultural
Insurance pre-feasibility study is to identify the
institutional, operational, technical and financial
challenges for the development of agricultural risk transfer
solutions and insurance for rice, fruit and vegetables,
livestock, and the aquaculture sector in Guyana. The
specific objectives of the study include: (i) to identify
the production systems, constraints and risks faced by

After 20 years of neglect by
international donors, agriculture is now again in the
headlines because higher food prices are increasing food
insecurity and poverty. In the coming years it will be
essential to increase food productivity and production in
developing countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and
with smallholders. This however requires finding viable
solutions to a number of complex technical, institutional

The purpose of this paper is to provide
information on how to transform and strengthen pluralistic
agricultural extension and advisory systems in moving toward
the broader goal of increasing farm income and improving
rural livelihoods. The focus of this book is primarily on
the technical knowledge, management skills, and information
services that small-scale farm households will need to
improve their livelihoods in the rapidly changing global

There have been numerous episodes of
widespread adoption of improved seed and long-term
achievements in the development of the maize seed industry
in Sub-Saharan Africa. This summary takes a circumspect view
of technical change in maize production. Adoption of
improved seed has continued to rise gradually, now
representing an estimated 44 percent of maize area in
Eastern and Southern Africa (outside South Africa), and 60

This report was prepared to provide
information and analysis of the Samoan livestock sub-sector
for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries through a
technical assistance assignment financed by the World Bank.
The Word Bank contributed technical assistance support to
the Government of Samoa to help identify measures to
strengthen agriculture sector institutions, to improve the
performance of selected commodities - including in the

This paper aims to develop a vision
statement for the agricultural sector that may then guide
the future investments in Chile's agricultural
innovation system, A joint and shared perspective on how the
sector might look and what role agricultural innovation
should play in getting there is a prerequisite for any
effective strategy. But developing such a vision is not only
a function of what the country wants: it also depends on the

The specific objective of this policy
note is to derive insights that can contribute to rapid and
sustainable integration of small-scale farmers into the
livestock and horticulture value chains in Swaziland. It
seeks to do this by identifying constraints that may be
contributing to poor performance in the two value chains,
evaluating technological options that could improve
productivity, and identifying priority areas for future

The Kenya agricultural carbon project is
breaking new ground in designing and implementing climate
finance projects in the agricultural sector. The project is
regarded as an innovative example for climate-smart
agriculture within and outside the World Bank. For the first
time, while increasing productivity and enhancing resilience
to climate change, smallholder farmers in Africa will
receive payments for greenhouse gas mitigation based on

This issue includes the following
headings: seeds and soil: smallholder agriculture;
innovation: pairing commercial buyers with rural producers;
grain storage: a ready role for public-private partnerships
(PPPs); agricultural clusters: powering Africas agricultural
potential; and interviews: AgDevCo, bill and Melinda gates
foundation, earth policy institute.

This report presents the impact and
lessons learned from the Andhra Pradesh Drought Adaptation
Initiative (APDAI). The APDAI was implemented as a package
of pilot activities in two dryland districts in Andhra
Pradesh (Anantapur and Mahbubnagar) with the aim of
developing and testing approaches for natural resource-based
economic activities to better respond to current climate
variability and long-term consequences of climate change.