In this paper, the authors seek to answer three questions about poverty and forests in Malawi: (1) What is the extent of biomass available for meeting the energy needs of the poor in Malawi and how is this distributed? (2) To what extent does fuelwood scarcity affect the welfare of the poor? (3) How do households cope with scarcity? In particular, do households spend more time in fuelwood collection and less time in agriculture in response to scarcity? The authors attempt to answer these questions using household and remote-sensing data.

In this paper, the authors have assessed the incidence and determinants of pesticide poisoning among rice farmers in Vietnam's Mekong Delta. Blood cholinesterase tests suggest that the incidence of poisoning from exposure to organophosphates and carbamates is quite high in Vietnam. Using the medical test results as benchmarks, the authors find that farmers' self-reported symptoms have very weak associations with actual poisoning. Regression analysis of blood tests reveals a lower incidence of poisoning for farmers who avoid the most toxic pesticides and use protective items.

Many countries are reforming their economies and setting macroeconomic policies that have direct and indirect impact on the performance of the irrigation sector. One reason for the movement toward reform in the water sector across countries is that water resources are increasingly becoming a limiting factor for many human activities. Another reason for increased pressures to address water policy issues is that many countries are in the process of removing barriers to trade, particularly in agricultural commodities.

A major problem in the Europe and
Central Asia (ECA) agricultural sector and rural areas
during the transition was the breakdown of the relationships
of farms with input suppliers and output markets. The
simultaneous privatization and restructuring of the farms
and of the up- and downstream companies in the agrifood
chain have caused major disruptions. The result is that many
farms and rural households face serious constraints in

The study develops a new method to
measure the impacts of climate change on agriculture called
the Agro-Ecological Zone (AEZ) Model. A multinomial logit is
estimated to predict the probability of each AEZ in each
district. The average percentage of cropland and average
crop net revenue are calculated for each AEZ. Then an
estimate of the amount of cropland in Africa and where it is
located is provided. Using current conditions, the model

The fisheries and aquaculture sectors are significant contributors to the economy of Vietnam. Direct production value (at the farm gate or on the wharf) in 2003 was approximately $1.7 billion. Both sectors have expanded rapidly over the past decade, with marine fisheries production rising from 800,000 to 1.5 million tons over the period 1990 to 2003. Aquaculture production has increased rapidly to around one million tons, while inland fisheries contribute in excess of 200,000 tons.

The main objective of this paper is to provide estimates of the cost of moving out of subsistence for Madagascar's farmers. The analysis is based on a simple asset-return model of occupational choice. Estimates suggest that the entry (sunk) cost associated with moving out of subsistence can be quite large - somewhere between 124 and 153 percent of a subsistence farmer's annual production.

Using cross-country and panel regressions, the authors show that financial sector development significantly reduces undernourishment (hunger), largely through gaining farmers and others access to productivity-enhancing equipment, translating into beneficial income and general effects. They show specifically that a deeper financial sector leads to higher agricultural productivity, including higher cereal yields, through increased fertilizer and tractor use. Higher productivity in turn leads to lower undernourishment.

The authors describe and analyze river basin management in the Guadalquivir River Basin in Spain. The Guadalquivir river flows westerly across southern Spain, with nearly all of its 57,017 k

The authors describe and analyze an unconventional approach to river basin management in a developing country undergoing rapid economic, political, and institutional change. The founding of the Brantas River Basin Management Corporation (Perum Jasa Tirta I - PJT 1), a national state-owned company for river basin management, initiated an emphasis on river basin management to operate and maintain existing infrastructure, plan and implement the allocation of water, and address problems that affect basin-level water resources.

The authors examine the performance of the crop insurance scheme in Karnataka, a southern state of India and the second driest state in the country. Their analysis highlights weaknesses in product design, implementation challenges, and operational problems. The authors' finding is that the crop insurance scheme in its current form does not achieve its objectives, either explicit (risk management) or implicit (safety net and containment of both the central and state governments' contingent liability).

For Rwanda, one of the poorest countries in the world, trade offers the most effective route for substantial poverty reduction. But the poor in Rwanda, most of whom are subsistence farmers in rural areas, are currently disconnected from markets and commercial activities by extremely high transport costs and by severe constraints on their ability to shift out of subsistence farming. The constraints include lack of access to credit and lack of access to information on the skills and techniques required to produce commercial crops.