This Sourcebook has been prepared to
help in implementing the World Bank's current rural
strategy, by sharing information on investment options and
innovative approaches that will aid the design of future
lending programs for agriculture. The Sourcebook provides
generic good practices and many examples that demonstrate
that investment in agriculture can provide rewarding and
sustainable returns to development efforts. The contents

One of the recurring themes in the sustainability literature has been the legitimacy of using an economic framework to account for natural resources. This paper examines the potential for substituting between different inputs in the generation of income, where the inputs include natural resources such as land and energy resources. A nested constant elasticity of substitution (CES) production function is used to allow flexibility in the estimated elasticities of substitution.

Private sector management and financing
of airports has continued to expand in developing countries.
Long-term concessions for airports are the predominant model
today, with governments often taking a minority shareholding
in the venture. Careful attention to policy design,
regulatory issues, and management of concessions will
continue to be important in ensuring that private
participation delivers efficient and effective airport

This study entitled, Landfill gas
capture opportunity in Sub-Saharan Africa, analyzes urban
waste in both quantitative and qualitative terms in selected
Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries to find out if available
methane from municipal waste could be used as a
supplementary energy source and evaluate whether potential
waste-to-energy (WTE) project candidates meet a certain
level of cost effectiveness, which is valuable to investors.

In recent years helpful guides have
appeared in both English and Spanish to assist planners and
officials to construct accessible buildings and pedestrian
infrastructure which are usable by seniors, persons with
disabilities, and all others who especially benefit from
universal design. Less has been written about access to
public transport systems. Very little guidance is available
concerning specific issues which confront those planning Bus

Despite their economic importance, herders are generally neglected both by the governments of African countries and international donors. During the 1990s, nomadic livestock raising accounted for 75 percent of Mauritania's agricultural output, but received only 10 percent of the country's agricultural budget and donor support. In the past, there were few specific regulatory protections of nomadic economic activities. This article analyzes the content and impact of the Code Pastoral (enacted in 2000, effective in 2004) of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

The question of how rural labour markets and migration can be made to work better for poverty reduction is the focus of the paper. Using select case and longitudinal studies from five parts of India and Bangladesh, the key processes that shape rural labour markets and how these have evolved over time with the changing macro-economic, policy, agro-ecological and infrastructural context are discussed.

By using long-term panel data sets of rural households in the Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh, and India and cross-sectional data sets in Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia, the roles of labor markets in long-term poverty reduction in Asia is compared with the current situation in East Africa. The study finds that the reliance on agricultural labor markets alone will not reduce poverty to a significant extent, in view of the declining share of agricultural wage income in Asia and its negligibly low level in East Africa.

The Urban Sector Rehabilitation Project
(URSP) consisted of a large program of infrastructure
rehabilitation works and institutional reform activities
covering 8 project towns - Arusha, Iringa, Morogoro, Mbeya,
Moshi, Mwanza, Tabora and Tanga. Additional investments in
Dodoma and Dar-essalaam were, in comparison, of limited
scope and complexity. The project with a Credit of US$ 141.3
million equivalent was implemented by the government between

This note presents the main lessons
drawn from an analytical and sector work on trade logistics
in Morocco. Public and private counterparts recognized the
positive impact of the World Bank's report to catalyze
and accelerate reforms' pace and to facilitate
cooperation between public and private parties involved in
logistics reforms. A careful preparation process and a
strong buy-in from public and private stakeholders involved

This report examines the Doing Business
database for 6 cities in Pakistan in order to assess how
cities in the Punjab – Lahore, Faisalabad and Sialkot, may
hypothetically improve their global rankings, as defined by
the Doing Business methodology, by adopting the policies,
regulations and practices of other cities in Pakistan. The
report attempts to distinguish between those areas which are
related to policies and regulations from those which are

The authors provide estimates of the impact that removing all merchandise trade distortions (including agricultural subsidies) would have on food and agricultural production, trade, and incomes.