The authors use regression analysis to
assess the potential welfare impact of rainfall shocks in
rural Indonesia. In particular, they consider two shocks:
(i) a delay in the onset of monsoon and (ii) a significant
shortfall in the amount of rain in the 90 day post-onset
period. Focusing on households with family farm businesses,
the analysis finds that a delay in the monsoon onset does
not have a significant impact on the welfare of rice

This paper estimates the impact of a
change in procurement strategy of a private buyer in the
central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Beginning in October
2000, internet kiosks and warehouses were established that
provide wholesale price information and an alternative
marketing channel to soy farmers in the state. Using a new
market-level dataset, the estimates suggest a significant
increase in soy price after the introduction of kiosks,

This study examines the relationship
between transport infrastructure and agriculture in
Sub-Saharan Africa using new data obtained from geographic
information systems (GIS). First, the authors analyze the
impact of road connectivity on crop production and choice of
technology. Second, they explore the impact of investments
that reduce road travel times. Finally, they show how this
type of analysis can be used to compare cost-benefit ratios

Wastewater use in agriculture is a
growing practice worldwide. Drivers include increasing water
stress, in part due to climate change; increasing
urbanization and growing wastewater flows; and more urban
households engaged in agricultural activities. The problem
with this trend is that in low-income countries, but also in
many middle-income countries, it either involves the direct
use of untreated wastewater or the indirect use of polluted

Why do many households remain exposed to
large exogenous sources of non-systematic income risk? This
paper uses a series of randomized field experiments in rural
India to test the importance of price and non-price factors
in the adoption of an innovative rainfall insurance product.
The analysis finds that demand is significantly
price-elastic, but that even if insurance were offered with
payout ratios similar to US, widespread coverage would not

The amount of available water has been
constant for millennia, but over time the planet has added 6
billion people. Water is essential to human life and
enterprise, and the increasing strains on available water
resources threaten the mission of institutions dedicated to
economic development. The ultimate goal is to achieve a
sustainable balance between the resources available and the
societal requirement for water. In this evaluation the

Women's contributions to poverty
reduction, economic growth, and private sector development
are increasingly recognized globally. A growing amount of
research demonstrates the link between women's
empowerment and societal well-being. Yet research also
indicates that woman's economic contributions continue
to lag behind their achievements in health and education,
and a variety of barriers still prevent women in many parts

Yemen is particularly vulnerable to
climate change and variability impacts because of its water
dependence and current high levels of water stress. This
natural resource challenge is compounded by demographic
pressure, weak governance and institutions, and by a
deteriorating economic situation. The economic and social
outlook is not bright, and planning and international
support will certainly be needed to help Yemen to adapt to

Malawi needs to focus on exports to
maintain and broaden its current inspiring levels of
economic growth. The focus of future policy should therefore
be on reforms that improve competitiveness in global and
regional markets. This does not require a fundamental shift
in direction, but instead a rebalancing of policy and
expenditures to support an outward-oriented development
framework. Until the recent global financial crisis,

This paper investigates the potential of
and constraints to a rice Green Revolution in Sub-Saharan
Africa's large-scale irrigation schemes, using data
from Uganda, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and
Senegal. The authors find that adequate irrigation, chemical
fertilizer, and labor inputs are the key to high
productivity. Chemical fertilizer is expensive in Uganda and
Mozambique and is barely used. This is aggravated when water

Microfinance is often criticized for not
adequately addressing seasonality and hard-core poverty. In
Bangladesh, a program known as PRIME was introduced in 2006
to address both concerns. Unlike regular microfinance, PRIME
introduces a microfinance scheme that offers a flexible
repayment schedule and consumption smoothing, as well as
production, loans. It targets the ultra-poor, many of whom
are also seasonally poor, with a severe inability to smooth

This paper proposes a parametric
approach to estimating a dynamic binary response panel data
model that allows for endogenous contemporaneous regressors.
This approach is of particular value for settings in which
one wants to estimate the effects of an endogenous treatment
on a binary outcome. The model is next used to examine the
impact of rural-urban migration on the likelihood that
households in rural China fall below the poverty line. In