Uncertainty and risk are characteristics inherent in agricultural activities, and one of the main sources of risk is weather. Because agriculture depends heavily on rainfall, it is sensitive to weather changes. Agriculture is also vulnerable to extreme weather events; floods, droughts, and frosts cause both production and capital losses. Approximately 98 percent of the catastrophic risk to agriculture in Mexico stems from two types of weather events: droughts (accounting for 80 percent) and cyclones (accounting for 18 percent).

Decentralization is expected to lead to greater efficiency in the allocation of public resources, as subnational governments are said to have better information than central government about the needs for and requirements of public services in their jurisdictions, especially in agricultural and rural areas, where information about rural residents' priorities is more limited. This purported benefit of decentralization rests strongly on the assumption that local governments can in fact exercise fiscal discretion to allocate resources.

This study presents a detailed review of the poultry sector in Ethiopia in order to provide background information for further research related to pro-poor HPAI risk reduction strategies in Ethiopia. The report surveys information that exists in the literature and among the stakeholders in order to identify the research gaps that can be addressed in the project. In preparation of this report, published and grey literature, expert interviews and official documents were used.

"Migration can serve as an outlet for employment, higher earnings, and reduced income risk for households in developing countries. We use the 2004–2005 Human Development Profile of India survey to examine correlations between the receipt of remittances from internal migrants and human capital investment in rural areas. We employ a propensity score–matching approach to account for the selectivity of households into receiving remittances. We interpret the results conservatively due to the cross-sectional nature of the data.

The Philippines has undergone a series of trade reforms since the mid-1980s that have reduced protection on nonagricultural goods. However, protection on key food items is still in effect, and this has led to high domestic food prices. Such high prices have a considerable negative effect on poverty because more than 60 percent of the consumption of poor Filipino households is for food. The special product arguments of the World Trade Organization increase the pressure to maintain the existing high levels of food protection in the country.

Malnutrition rates among children 0-36 months and women of reproductive age in Nigeria are high and vary significantly across rural-urban locations, geopolitical regions, and agroecological zones, constituting a significant public health challenge. Using National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) 2003 data, we sought to understand better what the determinants of child and maternal nutrition are and whether they differ significantly in terms of their nature, levels, and effects across these domains.

"Uganda has experienced rapid economic growth and poverty reduction over the past decade but has failed to significantly improve incomes in its northern regions where prolonged conflict has hindered growth. We consider three strategies to close this regional divide: (1) develop a north-south corridor to encourage regional trade, (2) accelerate growth in the southern capital city and encourage north-south migration, and (3) improve agricultural productivity in rural areas.

"Previous studies implicitly assume uniform price-effects across regions or provinces within countries. They also do not address the issue of integration between the world food market and local markets. Instead, they assume a complete transmission of changes in world food prices to local food prices. In this paper, we first establish evidence of regional price heterogeneity across Ethiopia. We also applied the Johansen test for market integration over 95 local maize markets and found that none of the Ethiopian regional markets for maize is integrated to the world market.

Ethiopia’s national development strategy, A Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty for 2005/06 to 2009/10 (PASDEP) places a major emphasis on achieving high rates of agricultural and overall economic growth. Consistent with the PASDEP, Ethiopia is also in the process of implementing the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) together with other African governments.

This essay outlines an alternative “law and economics” interpretation of the concept of the land market. According to neo-institutional researchers, institutions provide the framework and the rules in a society, including legal regulations.

This strategic framework serves to guide and support the operational response of the World Bank Group (WBG) to new development challenges posed by global climate change. Unabated, climate change threatens to reverse hard-earned development gains. The poorest countries and communities will suffer the earliest and the most. Yet they depend on actions by other nations, developed and developing. While climate change is an added cost and risk to development, a well-designed and implemented global climate policy can also bring new economic opportunities to developing countries.

Reviews key gender issues that need addressing re IDP return and the resumption of livelihoods in the recovery of post-conflict Northern Uganda. Reveals the inadequacies in policy and law in addressing gender and land issues.