The livelihoods of communities in rural
areas of Peru are predominantly dependent on
climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture. Given their
close connection with the environment, the understanding of
how these communities perceive risks and how they adapt to
and cope with climate hazards is important for identifying
entry points for efforts aimed at building resilience. In
this context, it is assumed that the successful use of

This paper describes the contract
mechanism developed for the Regional Integrated
Silvopastoral Ecosystem Management Project, which is being
implemented with financing from the Global Environment
Facility (GEF). The project is testing the use of the
payment-for-service mechanism to encourage the adoption of
silvopastoral practices in three countries of Central and
South America: Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. The

The review examines the use of
environmental valuation in 101 projects in the World
Bank's environmental portfolio approved in fiscal years
2000, 2001, and 2002. It has three broad objectives. First,
it examines the extent to which environmental costs and
benefits have been incorporated in the economic analysis of
projects. Second, it examines how well valuation was used.
Third, it seeks to identify areas of weakness so as to feed

This paper seeks to clarify how
valuation should be conducted to answer specific
environmental policy questions. In particular, it looks at
how valuation should be used to examine four distinct
aspects of the value of ecosystems: 1) Determining the value
of the total flow of benefits from ecosystems; 2)
Determining the net benefits of interventions that alter
ecosystem conditions: 3) Examining how the costs and

This paper disaggregates the term
"biodiversity" into components (landscapes,
ecosystems, communities, species/populations, and genes) and
attributes (structure, composition, and function). It then
disaggrgates "logging" by detailing the vast range
of activities subsumed under the term including variation of
logging intensities, logging methods, collateral damage, and
silvicultural approaches. Using the richness present in both

This paper analyzes the available
literature about the effects of structural adjustment
programs (SAPs) on the environment and the convincing
evidence for their success or failure. The studies covered
refer to the SAPs by the World Bank as well as to general
government programs that have similar policy implications.
SAPs are designed to reform economies to become more
liberalized and export-oriented while reducing the role of

The authors use China's national
household surveys for rural and urban areas to measure and
explain the welfare impacts of the changes in goods and
factor prices attributed to WTO accession. 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 model incorporating

About 50 countries have prepared interim
and full Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs). In this
context, this paper examines Millennium Development Goal
(MDG)7: Ensuring Environmental Sustainability, its targets
and indicators, and responds to three questions: To what
extent do PRSPs define and adopt targets and indicators that
align with those of MDG7? To what extent do the available
data allow tracking of progress with respect to MDG7? When

The aim of this study is to improve
understanding of how biological resource conservation
concerns can be better incorporated into projects and
programs that primarily address the objective of rural
development rather than environmental conservation. A
multi-disciplinary study team was assembled and six
background papers produced, along with the main overview
paper. The six papers were on: 1) measuring biodiversity,

Human welfare and development are
heavily influenced by climatic factors. As many as 95
percent of all disaster-related casualties occur in
developing countries, and after an event the recovery often
takes years. Natural disasters can significantly derail the
process of social and economic development. The Bank has
always supported reconstruction in countries affected by
natural disasters. A forward-looking approach to disaster

Many fear China's accession to the
World Trade Organization (WTO) will impoverish its rural
people by way of greater import competition in its
agricultural markets. Anderson, Huang, and Ianchovichina
explore that possibility bearing in mind that, even if
producer prices of some (land-intensive) farm products fall,
prices of other (labor-intensive) farm products could rise.
Also, the removal of restrictions on exports of textiles and

28 May 2014

GRAIN | La Vía Campesina

For immediate release