The Horn of Africa (HoA) region has many
security and development challenges whose origins and
consequences go well beyond the borders of individual
countries. It is also a region with many human assets and
resource endowments, and some of the most dynamic economies
in the world. Despite its numerous challenges, the Horn of
Africa offers significant potential to address cross-border
issues that can help transform its countries and the region.

Benin has made substantial progress over
the past decade in reinforcing macroeconomic stability,
which has laid the foundation for modest but accelerating
growth. After averaging less than 3.7 percent from
2007-2011, GDP growth rose to 5.4 percent in 2012 and
reached 5.6 percent in 2013. Growth is expected to remain
strong at 5.5 percent in 2014. Benin s enhanced growth
performance has been supported by ongoing efficiency

Is Africa's rural economy
transforming as its economies grow? This paper uses
comparable income aggregates from 41 national household
surveys from 22 countries to explore the extent of income
diversification among rural households in Sub-Saharan
Africa, and to look at how income diversification in
Sub-Saharan Africa compares with other regions, taking into
account differences in levels of development. The paper also

This paper investigates the impact of
land tenure insecurity on the migration decisions of
China's rural residents. A simple model first frames
the relationship among these variables and the probability
that a reallocation of land will occur in the following
year. After first demonstrating that a village leader's
support for administrative land reallocation carries with it
the risk of losing a future election, the paper exploits

Climate change and climate policies will
affect poverty reduction efforts through direct and
immediate impacts on the poor and by affecting factors that
condition poverty reduction, such as economic growth. This
paper explores this relation between climate change and
policies and poverty outcomes by examining three questions:
the (static) impact on poor people's livelihood and
well-being; the impact on the risk for non-poor individuals

This paper examines the determinants of
agricultural productivity and its link to poverty using
nationally representative data from the Nigeria General
Household Survey Panel, 2010/11. The findings indicate an
elasticity of poverty reduction with respect to agricultural
productivity of between 0.25 to 0.3 percent, implying that a
10 percent increase in agricultural productivity will
decrease the likelihood of being poor by between 2.5 and 3

In many developing countries,
consumption of animal source foods among the poor is still
at a level where increasing its share in total caloric
intake may have many positive nutritional benefits. This
paper explores whether ownership of various livestock
species increases consumption of animal source foods and
helps improve child nutritional status. The paper finds some
evidence that food consumption patterns and nutritional

According to global spatial data sets in
2000 more than one-third of the rural population in
developing countries was located on less favored
agricultural land and areas. Less favored agricultural lands
are susceptible to low productivity and degradation, because
their agricultural potential is constrained biophysically by
terrain, poor soil quality, or limited rainfall. Less
favored agricultural areas include less favored agricultural

Rapid urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa
places immense pressure on urban services to meet the needs
of the burgeoning urban population. Although several
country- or city-level reports offer insight into the
housing challenges of specific places, little is known about
regional patterns affecting housing markets. This lack of
clear knowledge on the relative importance of the factors
influencing households' housing demand in countries in

In this issue: benchmarking global
poverty reduction; rethinking the stateapos;s role in
finance; coordinating housing and transport policies in
urban South Africa; making public sector reforms work;
helping women get to work; export superstars; why did
inequality in Latin America decline in the 2000s?

In this issue: cities: planning,
coordinating, and financing for a better future; measuring
inequality of opportunity; breaking out of the middle-income
trap; real-time macro monitoring and fiscal policy; bank
regulation and supervision: a crisis update; how does
nationalizing water services affect quality? And what drives
investments under the clean development mechanism?

This report reviews the role that safety
nets have played in Tanzania and explores options on how
they can contribute in accelerating poverty reduction in
Tanzania, focusing on mechanisms for giving transfers to the
poor. The report shows that given the large numbers of poor
in Tanzania and the country s limited resources, it is
essential that safety net interventions be well-targeted and
efficiently organized. Significant amounts of money are