This study on Nigeria Lagos State,
states finances review and agenda for action reviews Lagos
State's fiscal performance in recent years, highlight
the main risks that may affect the fiscal outlook in the
medium term, and help the Lagos State Government (LASG)
develop an agenda for deepening the reforms in key aspects
of public finance management (PFM) and service delivery,
based on further analytical work. The quality of information

Poverty in Kosovo is widespread and has
remained persistent in the first half of this decade. The
evidence suggests that poverty is higher among those who
live in families that are large, have many unemployed
members, and have low education levels. The poor are also
geographically concentrated in rural areas and a few
regions. The main message of this report is that the slow
and volatile growth was doubly disadvantageous. The first

The overall objective of the
Comprehensive Assessment of the Agricultural Sector (CAAS)
is to provide an evidence base to enable appropriate
strategic policy responses by the Government of Liberia
(GoL) and its development partners in order to maximize the
contribution of the agriculture sector to the
Government's overarching policy objectives. Given the
strong relationship between growth in agricultural

This study assesses the development
effectiveness of World Bank assistance in addressing
constraints to agricultural development in Africa over the
period of fiscal years 1991-2006. This Independent
Evaluation Group (IEG) review of World Bank assistance to
agriculture in Africa has a twofold purpose. First, it is a
pilot for the proposed IEG study on Bank-wide assistance in
agriculture scheduled for fiscal year 2009. Second, the

The report analyses the contribution to
date of agricultural water management to poverty reduction
and growth in the in sub-Saharan Africa region, the reasons
for its slow expansion and apparently poor track record, as
well as the ways in which increased investment in
agricultural water management could make a sustainable
contribution to further poverty reduction and growth. The
first chapter places agricultural water management in the

Indonesian agriculture is at a
crossroads. Supporting the livelihood of millions of
Indonesians, it needs to underpin renewed and robust growth
of the economy; and be a key component of the
Government's poverty alleviation strategy. The
challenge for the future is to reinvigorate productivity
gains among rural producers, and provide the foundation for
long run sustainability of these productivity gains.

As Kosovo moves towards resolution of
its political status, the attention of the authorities and
of the international donor community is increasingly turning
towards the need for modernization of Kosovo's economic
and social infrastructure in order to facilitate sustained
economic growth and development. This note looks further
into the underlying causes and the actions that will be
required to address them. The main conclusions of the note

This report focuses on the potential and
opportunities for smallholder commercialization in Zambia.
The paper discusses the framework for Zambia's
smallholder commercialization strategy, the current state of
smallholder agriculture in Zambia, key issues, support from
agribusiness to smallholders, and development of potential
and opportunities for smallholder commercialization. The
paper concludes with three strategy areas: how to strengthen

Balochistan is the largest province in
Pakistan, with 44 percent (347,000 sq. kms.) of the land
area but only 5 percent of the population (6.5 million). The
province is blessed with a large number of natural resources
which are to a great extent unexplored and unutilized. It
has an 1100-kilometer coastline which can prove to be an
important trade corridor in the region by connecting China
and Central Asian republics in the north to the sea in the

This sector report claims that in the
three years between 2002 and 2005 alone, almost 235,000
people have moved out of poverty in Albania. Strong economic
growth and large inflow of remittances are at the center of
this impressive achievement. However, low productivity of
predominantly small family farms has put a drag on rural
growth prospects. Moreover, Ndihma Ekonomike (NE) program,
the means-tested income support program is small in scale,

The main objective of the Country
Environmental Analysis (CEA) in Nepal is to identify
opportunities for enhancing the overall performance of
select environmental management systems through improvements
in the effectiveness of institutions, policies, and
processes. CEA has been built upon the following three
primary study components: (a) an examination of the
environmental issues associated with infrastructure

The objective of the Diagnostic Trade
Integration Study (DTIS) is to build the foundation for
accelerated growth by enhancing the integration of its
economy into regional and global markets. Burkina Faso is
one of the best economic performers in West Africa, yet its
integration into the world economy, as measured by its trade
and foreign investment performance, is among the lowest.
Economic growth has been strong, higher than all other