Dry tropical woodlands provide around 80
percent of the energy needs of both urban and rural
populations in Africa and are of similar importance on a
more localized scale in other areas. They also provide
livestock fodder, building poles and many of the daily needs
of the rural people living in and around them. Concern about
the degradation and depletion of these woodlands date back a
long time. Large numbers of woodfuel projects were launched

This report summarizes the findings of a
study undertaken by the World Bank at the request of the
Government of Rwanda. The study had three main objectives:
(i) Validate the argument that agriculture has potential to
become a leading engine of pro-poor growth in Rwanda and
identify potential sources of rapid and sustainable growth
within the agricultural sector; (ii) identify key actions
that will be needed to unlock these sources of agricultural

Central control of forests takes
management responsibility away from the communities most
dependent on them, inevitably resulting in tensions. Like
many African countries, Tanzania--which has forest or
woodland cover over 30-40 percent of its land--established
central forestry institutions at a time when there was
little need for active management and protection because
population pressures were low. But in the face of scarce

This paper uses resource-based cereal
equivalent measures to explore the evolution of China's
demand and supply for food. Although demand for food
calories is probably close to its peak level in China, the
ongoing dietary shift to animal-based foods, induced by
income growth, is likely to impose considerable pressure on
agricultural resources. Estimating the relationship between
income growth and food demand with data from a wide range of

Disease risks to humans, animals, and
plants are determined by interconnected environmental
variables that affect incidence, transmission, and outbreak.
Climate change affects many of the environmental variables
that lead to disease. Regardless of the species involved,
the impacts can ultimately affect the health, livelihood,
and economic security of humans. The objective of this World
Bank economic and sector work is to build on scientific and

The overall goal of this report and the
accompanying report summarizing the findings and
recommendations, both based on the economic and sector work
(ESW), is to advance the understanding and integration in
operational terms of environmental water allocation into
integrated water resources management. The specific
objectives of the reports are the following: 1) document the
changing understanding of environmental flows, both by water

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 design, implementation, and
monitoring and evaluation of livestock sector public and
private sector investments are based on evidence and
information generated by a multitude of data collection
systems, including regular and one-off, or ad-hoc, surveys.
This note reviews the major survey methods that are
regularly implemented by developing country governments,
including: the agricultural and livestock census;

Linking farmers to markets is widely
viewed as a milestone towards promoting economic growth and
poverty reduction. However, market and institutional
imperfections along the supply chain thwart perfect vertical
and spatial price transmission and prevent farmers and
market actors from getting access to information,
identifying business opportunities and allocating their
resources efficiently. This acts as a barrier to market-led

The authors focus on the timing of
marriages of women in rural Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean marriages
are associated with bride welath payments, which are
transfers from (the family of) the groom to the bride's
family. Unmarried daughters could therefore be considered
assets who, at time of need, can be cashed in. The authors
investigate to what extent the timing of a marriage of a
daughter is affected by the economic conditions of the

This teaching tool provides a basic
understanding of food quality issues in developing countries
and introduces the reader to Hazard Analysis Critical
Control Points (HACCP) and other dominant methodologies for
improving food quality. Quality has long been a factor in
the success of food trade transactions; however, recent food
safety issues have propelled quality control to the
forefront of international trade concerns. Now with the

The book discusses basic concepts on key
topics to managing a small piped water system ideally for up
to 1,000 households. It presents tools that can be adapted
by Community-Based Water Organizations (CBOs) for use in
their operations, such as forms, checklists and procedural
guidelines. Illustrative examples have also been compiled
from the experiences of the district local governments,
support organizations and CBOs operating in East and West