There is now broad consensus among
policymakers that social protection is a powerful way to
fight poverty and promote inclusive growth. This
international consensus is most clearly articulated in the
African Union's Social Policy Framework (SPF), which
was endorsed by all African heads of state in 2009. The SPF
explains that social protection includes 'social
security measures and furthering income security; and also

This note on making livelihoods and
social protection approaches gender- sensitive is the
seventh in a series of guidance notes on gender issues in
disaster risk management (DRM) in the East Asia and the
Pacific region. Targeting World Bank staff, clients and
development partners, this note gives an overview of the
main reasons for including gender sensitive social
protection and livelihoods approaches in DRM; it identifies

This article reviews trends in poverty,
economic policies, and growth in a sample of African
countries during the 1990s, drawing on the better household
data now available. Experiences have varied. Some countries
have seen sharp drops in income poverty, whereas others have
witnessed marked increases. In some countries overall
economic growth has been pro-poor and in others not. But the
aggregate numbers hide systematic distributional effects.

This Country-Level Effectiveness and
Accountability Review (CLEAR) examines the efficacy of
microfinance aid in Madagascar, based on an objective
analysis of donor assistance for the sustainable development
of financial systems targeting the poor. The three levels of
the financial system are the micro level (e.g., retail
institutions), the meso level (e.g., apex, technical service
providers), and the macro level (e.g., regulations and

Data from China's national rural
and urban household surveys are used to measure and explain
the welfare impacts of changes in goods and factor prices
attributable to accession to the World Trade Organization
(WTO). The price changes are estimated separately using a
general equilibrium model to capture both direct and
indirect effects of the initial tariff changes. The welfare
impacts are first-order approximations based on a household

The process by which different
ecological conditions and historical trajectories interacted
to create different social and cultural systems resulted in
major differences in economic development performance within
Southeast Asia. In the late 19th century, Indonesia, the
Philippines, and Thailand commonly experienced
vent-for-surplus development through exploitation of unused
lands. Nevertheless, different agrarian structures were

As opposed to agribusiness or corporate farming, FAO defined family farming as “a means of organizing agricultural, forestry, fisheries, pastoral and aquaculture production which is managed and operated by a family, both female and male. The family and the farm are linked, co-evolve and combine economic, environmental, reproductive, social and cultural functions.

The State of Uttarakhand experienced an
unprecedented high rainfall between June 15 and 17, 2013
that resulted in flash floods and landslides within the
State. The continuous rain disrupted normal life resulting
in a total of 580 human lives being lost, more than 4,000
persons missing and over hundred thousand pilgrims being
stranded. This event has affected over 900,000 people in
Uttarakhand this year. The numerous landslides and toe

This basic Agriculture Public
Expenditure Review (AgPER) documents and analyzes
information on the volume and structure of Liberia's
past public expenditure on the agriculture sector and draws
conclusions that can provide an orientation for future
policies in view of the effectiveness of spending. The
AgPER's focus is on the sectors of agriculture,
including crops, fisheries, and forestry, in line with the

Ghana, like many other African
countries, had made a commitment in 2003 to allocate at
least ten percent of their national budgetary resources to
develop the agricultural sector by 2008, following the
adoption of the Comprehensive African Agriculture
Development Programme (CAADP), with an aim towards realizing
food security and poverty reduction. This Agriculture Public
Expenditure Review (AgPER) for Ghana analyzes data on public

The Palestinian economy has experienced
strong growth in recent years. This report examines the
economic benefits of lifting the restrictions on movement
and access, as well as other administrative obstacles, to
Palestinian investment and economic activity in a region
known as Area C. This region constitutes about 61 percent of
the West Bank territory and was defined under the Oslo Peace
Accords as the area that eventually would be transferred to

The importance of agriculture in the
economies of sub-Saharan African countries cannot be
overemphasized. With agriculture accounting for about 65
percent of the region's employment and 75 percent of
its domestic trade, significant progress in reducing hunger
and poverty across the region depends on the development and
transformation of the agricultural sector. Transforming
agriculture from largely a subsistence enterprise to a