In 2012, the World Bank signed five
agreements with MRDPA for advisory services, out of which
one relates to the growth poles policy and to its
improvement for the programming period 2014-2020. This
agreement has three components: 1) an analysis of the growth
poles policy, 2) energy efficiency studies for each growth
pole; and 3) a review of the Integrated Development Plans
prepared by the growth poles for the period 2007-2013. In

There is limited documentation of soil and water management technologies that enhance adaptation to climate change in drylands of Kenya. Rainfall patterns were analyzed in the semi-arid Machakos and Makueni counties of eastern Kenya using historical data. A total of forty-three smallholder farmers implementing soil water management practices were sampled, and an estimate of the seasonal water budget for current crop and livestock production systems computed.

Small landholders can implement a range of climatesmart agricultural (CSA) practices and technologies, in order to minimize the adverse effects of climate change and variability, but their adoption largely depends on economic benefits associated with the practices. To demonstrate the potential economic benefits of CSA practices, we conducted a study with smallholder farmers in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of India.

Transformational engagements are a critical pillar of the World Bank Group’s strategy for achieving its twin goals of extreme poverty elimination and shared prosperity. This learning product uses evaluative evidence from the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) to understand the mechanisms and conditions for transformational engagements and the implications for the World Bank Group if it seeks to rely on such engagements to more effectively pursue its goals.

Hydrometeorological monitoring, as
discussed here, describes the activities required to
characterize the properties and processes of the hydrosphere
as it exists in the three-dimensional mesoscale environment
of the high-mountain catchment basins of the Hindu
Kush-Himalaya (HKH) Mountains. Credible monitoring involves:
(a) functional institutions; (b) operational instruments;
(c) trained, motivated individuals; (d) scientific

This paper presents the conceptual framework for a training program on
integrating disaster risk reduction and climate-change mitigation into
Agriculture and Rural Development Department (ARD) programming. Its
target audience consists of World Bank task team leaders and their national
counterparts and partners working in agriculture and rural settings.

This study reports the results of “action research” to identify and prioritize stakeholder driven,
locally relevant response options to climate change. These response options comprise the basis of
local action plans developed to address agricultural adaptations to climate change in three
diverse agroecoystems: the Yaqui Valley in northwestern Mexico, the Mantaro Valley in central
Peru, and the western littoral regional of Uruguay. The study has three primary objectives. The

The city of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania has undergone a period of unprecedented urbanization that has contributed to the degradation of the city’s natural environment. With a growth rate above or near 5% for the past three decades, it is the fastest growing city in East Africa. The arrival of thousands of in-migrants year after year has overwhelmed the city’s ability to deliver adequate public services, housing and jobs. Unplanned, densely populated informal settlements that lack basic water, sewer, and waste services now cover much of the city’s land area.

At the request of the Sri Lankan Government an assessment was designed and conducted as part of the development of the country’s national strategy on REDD+.  The assessment involved applying criteria from the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries, and Forests (VGGT) to analyze the tenure implications for a wide array of proposed policies and measures (PAMs) to address deforestation and forest degradation.  The assessment will help Sri Lanka to prioritize and make investment decisions among the PAMs.

This document provides an overview of how water resource software’s (WRS) are used to manage water resources issues, criteria for WRS selection, and a high level review of WRS currently available that central and state governments of India can use for water management. The water resource issues covered include water allocation and planning, flood management, groundwater management, conjunctive use, water quality, and sediment transport.

The urban heat island effect is often associated with large metropolises. However, in the Netherlands even small cities will be affected by the phenomenon in the future (Hove et al., 2011), due to the dispersed or mosaic urbanisation patterns in particularly the southern part of the country: the province of North Brabant.

This Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) identifies the binding constraints to reducing extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity in Ethiopia. Achieving those goals requires a two pronged strategy of building on the strengths of past performance as well as introducing new elements. Progress in rural livelihoods drove poverty reduction in the past and will likely do so in the future. In addition, faster, and more inclusive, private sector-led structural change and ‘getting urbanization right’ are essential going forward.