This report presents a case study on
groundwater governance in Kenya. The objectives of the study
were to: (a) describe groundwater resource and socioeconomic
settings for four selected aquifers; (b) describe governance
arrangements for groundwater management in Kenya; and (c)
identify the relevance of these arrangements for planning
and implementing climate change mitigation measures. The
report provides a comprehensive strategy to develop

Groundwater comprises 97 percent of the
worlds readily accessible freshwater and provides the rural,
urban, industrial and irrigation water supply needs of 2
billion people around the world. As the more easily accessed
surface water resources are already being used, pressure on
groundwater is growing. In the last few decades, this
pressure has been evident through rapidly increasing pumping
of groundwater, accelerated by the availability of cheap

The report begins with definitions of
watersheds and watershed management, a characterization of
the problem of watershed degradation, and a short history of
watershed management operations and policies (Chapter 1).
The following four chapters discuss the findings from
experience with implementing watershed management programs
over the last 20 years based both on the project review and
on the literature. The second chapter discusses the findings

German Development Cooperation has developed an approach for the sustainable production of charcoal that has proved to have a considerable impact in Northern Madagascar. Since both environmental and socioeconomic aspects are addressed in a very effective way, this approach has high potential referring to global challenges such as land degradation, rural poverty and climate change.

MENA’s permanent cropland – currently at less than 6% of the total land area – is shrinking due to serious land degradation and recurrent droughts. The region faces the most severe water shortage in the world with annual renewable water resources per capita estimated to decline from 1,045 m3/yr in 1997 to 740 m3/yr in 2015.

This document is a synthesis of outcomes from a knowledge process that was a collaborative effort involving researchers, scientists, and technicians from Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Yemen.

The forestry sector in Moldova faces
significant governance and sustainability challenges. The
insufficient level of forest coverage in Moldova has a
serious impact on environment and overall economic growth in
the country. The situation is exacerbated by the reportedly
intense pressure on forest resources exerted by the human
factor. Illegal logging and grazing are considered as
significant factors that contribute to forest loss. There is

This report summarizes the findings of
the Uganda Sustainable Land Management Public Expenditure
Review (SLM PER). The SLM PER was undertaken to achieve six
main objectives: (i) establish a robust data base on
SLM-related public expenditure that can support credible
empirical analysis; (ii) develop a sound methodology for
conducting SLM PERs, which could guide similar work in the
future; (iii) analyze the level and composition of SLM

The State of Uttarakhand experienced an
unprecedented high rainfall between June 15 and 17, 2013
that resulted in flash floods and landslides within the
State. The continuous rain disrupted normal life resulting
in a total of 580 human lives being lost, more than 4,000
persons missing and over hundred thousand pilgrims being
stranded. This event has affected over 900,000 people in
Uttarakhand this year. The numerous landslides and toe

The Palestinian economy has experienced
strong growth in recent years. This report examines the
economic benefits of lifting the restrictions on movement
and access, as well as other administrative obstacles, to
Palestinian investment and economic activity in a region
known as Area C. This region constitutes about 61 percent of
the West Bank territory and was defined under the Oslo Peace
Accords as the area that eventually would be transferred to

This report presents the World Bank
Group's experience in climate and disaster resilient
development and contends that it is essential to eliminate
extreme poverty and achieve shared prosperity by 2030. The
report argues for closer collaboration between the climate
resilience and disaster risk management communities through
the incorporation of climate and disaster resilience into
broader development processes. Selected case studies are

Africa is in the midst of a power
crisis. Despite abundant low-carbon, a low-cost energy
resource, Africa faces chronic energy shortages. The
region s power generation capacity is lower than that of any
other region in the world, and when compared with other
developing regions, its capacity growth has stagnated. The
power crisis is the result of several constraints that,
together, create a vicious cycle. Africa's electricity