The Tajik government in its Poverty
Reduction Strategy Paper for 2010-12 set an ambitious target
of doubling Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in a decade.
Tajikistan clearly has the potential to grow at more than
seven percent a year as it has done in the recent past, but
it is not going to be easy. The potential for
'catch-up' growth from the depths of the recession
of the 1990s is largely exhausted, the external environment

This research report examines the
technical efficiency and impact of the Zambia Fertilizer
Support Program (FSP). The FSP was launched by the
Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) in 2002 as a
temporary measure to provide subsidized hybrid maize seed
and fertilizer packages to smallholder farmers and to
promote the participation of private traders in supply. When
the FSP was announced, the Government indicated that farmers

Cambodia's growth over 1998-2008
has been remarkable (almost 10 percent per annum for a
decade). This paper applies a "growth diagnostic"
approach to understand how this happened and how it can be
sustained. Past growth has been driven by the coincidence of
a set of historical and geographic factors (including
opportunistic policy responses), together with the use of
natural assets (although in a non sustainable way) and the

The past decade has witnessed major
shift thinking about water, including how water
infrastructure development strategies can help advance
sustainable development and the global fight against
poverty. This reflects, in part, greater attention now being
paid to governance reforms promoting integrated water
resource management (IWRM), the efficient and wise use of
water, and expanding access to water and energy services. In

East Asia and the Pacific is a region of
dynamic growth. Women have contributed significantly to this
growth and have benefited from it through active
participation in the labor market. However, women are still
disproportionately represented in the informal sector and in
low paid work. Efforts to identify barriers to women's
business and entrepreneurial activities in the region are
critical not only to facilitate inclusive growth in a

In 2004, the government of Sierra Leone
opted for a rethink of its national governance arrangement
by embarking on the resuscitation of democratically elected
local government after 32 years experimenting with central
government appointed district and municipal governments. The
decision by the government and the people of Sierra Leone
was driven by a primary consideration to address the
country's seeming nonperformance in the areas of

Women are a powerful force for
sustainable economic growth. A growing body of microeconomic
empirical evidence and emerging macroeconomic analysis shows
that gender inequality limits economic growth in developing
economies. Research also shows that considerable potential
for economic growth could be realized if countries support
women's full economic participation. Increases in
women's income tend to correlate with greater

Doing Business 2011: making a difference
for entrepreneurs is the eighth in a series of annual
reports investigating regulations that enhance business
activity and those that constrain it. Doing Business
presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and
the protection of property rights that can be compared
across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over
time. A set of regulations affecting 11 areas of the life of

Nigeria's vision of 2020 is a bold
desire to be among the top twenty economies by the year
2020. The economy has posted impressive growth figures since
2003 driven by higher oil prices and a series of home-grown,
economic reforms. The country is now firmly on the road to
middle-income status. This Investment Climate Analysis is
built on a 2,300 firm survey and provides evidence-based
recommendations designed to support the vision 2020. Survey

The newly delineated Peshawar City
District (PCD) has undergone significant transformations in
the past ten years. Originally encompassing the adjoining
districts of Charsadda and Nowshera, the district gradually
shrunk in size after both sub-divisions acquired a district
status of their own in the mid-nineties. However, as the
provincial capital, Peshawar continues to enjoy a special
status within North West Frontier Province (NWFP). It houses

The World Bank group, among the
world's largest development institutions, is a major
source of financial and technical assistance to developing
countries around the world. In fiscal 2009, the World Bank
group sponsored 767 projects with a total commitment of
$58.8 billion, distributed in credits, loans, grants, and
guarantees. This fiscal year's funding marks a 54
percent increase over the previous fiscal year and a record

This year's annual review of
development effectiveness (ARDE) is being written against
the backdrop of a global financial crisis, declining growth,
and massive fiscal stimulus efforts to revitalize markets.
Demand for greater development support from the World Bank
has grown, along with concerns that resources be used
effectively and efficiently to achieve their development
objectives. This ARDE focuses on the Bank's performance