Trusting Trade and the Private Sector for Food Security in Southeast Asia challenges policy makers who oversee the rice sector in Southeast Asia and reexamines deep-rooted precepts about their responsibilities. The authors argue that fixating on national self-sufficiency has been costly and counterproductive, and cooperation can both improve rice production at home and expand regional trade. Trusting Trade specifically examines private sector participation in the rice and (yellow) maize markets in five countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)--Indonesia, Malaysia, the...

The World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Research Institute, and the Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development (FASID), in collaboration with researchers affiliated with the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), recently conducted a study on Africa's domestic enterprises to improve the understanding of the constraints micro and small enterprises in Africa face in improving productivity and expanding their markets. In Africa, there are stark performance gaps between domestically owned enterprises and foreign-owned enterprises in terms of sales...

Guangdong, a province of over 93 million residents, is located on the southern coast of China, boarding with Hong Kong, China. As China's powerhouse for economic growth and a pioneer of reform and opening up, Guangdong has maintained an annual average GDP growth rate of 13.7 percent over the past three decades. Its historical achievements notwithstanding, Guangdong witnessed increased inequality and regional disparity. To assist the authority in developing a strategy for the new phase of reforms that promotes more inclusive and sustainable growth, Reducing Inequality for Shared Growth in...

South Asia has the highest rates of malnutrition and the largest number of malnourished women and children in the world. Childhood malnutrition is the main cause of child mortality--one-third of all child deaths are due to the underlying cause of malnutrition. For the children who survive, malnutrition results in lifelong problems by severely reducing a child's ability to learn and to grow to his or her full potential. Malnutrition directly leads to less productive adults and thus to weaker national economic performance. The negative impact of malnutrition on a society's productivity and a...

This book, designed for policymakers, academics and researchers, and SEZ program practitioners, provides the first systematic and comprehensive analysis of SEZ programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is the result of detailed surveys and case studies conducted during 2009 in ten developing countries, including six in Sub-Saharan Africa. The book provides quantitative evidence of the performance of SEZs, and of the factors which contribute to that performance, highlighting the critical importance not just of the SEZ itself but of the wider national investment climate in which it functions. It also...

Mobile Money is a booming industry in an increasing number of countries worldwide. The project results from increased demand for guidance and technical assistance from governments after the 2008 publication of an exploratory paper, Integrity in Mobile Phone Financial Services, which discussed mobile money and the application of international anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) standards. For most, how to craft a regulatory regime that expands access to financial services to the poor through the development of mobile phone financial services, but...

The East Asia and Pacific region is characterized by wide variations in sources of healthcare financing, pooling of funds, purchasing of care services, and the extent to which these policy instruments and programs provide social protection. Existing healthcare financing systems in the region are under increasing pressure from a continued prevalence of communicable diseases, an emergence of non communicable diseases, and a rapidly aging population. Large inequalities between the poor and the prosperous in their access to healthcare financing mechanisms can be reformed and strengthened to...

This volume first examines projected demographic changes that will affect the economic well-being of China's rural elderly over the next twenty years, taking into account both China's sharp demographic transition and the continued migration of young adults into cities. The projected old age dependency ratio of 34 percent in China's rural areas by 2030 suggests that support of the elderly is likely to be an increasing burden on China's families over the next twenty years. The book next documents the sources of financial support, poverty incidence and vulnerability of the rural elderly since...

Stronger agricultural growth is needed to reduce poverty in Africa, yet the region continues to fall behind. During the past three decades, many traditional African export crops have lost their competitive advantage in international markets, and many food crops consumed in Africa have faced increased competition from imports. In contrast to Africa's experience, during the same period farmers in two remote and formerly unpromising agricultural regions elsewhere in the developing world Brazil's Cerrado and the Northeast Region of Thailand conquered important world markets, defying the...

Central America has put the promotion of international trade at the center of its development agenda. Over the past years the region has witnessed the successful conclusion of negotiations for a significant number of free trade agreement, most notably the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) with the US and the Association Agreement (AA) with the European Union signed in May 2010. The priority given to international trade by Central America is unsurprising. Trade is generally perceived as being both beneficial for growth and a means for advancement for developing...