Uganda's recovery over the past 15 years from economic decline, conflict, and repressive government to macroeconomic stability, high growth, and considerable political freedom signifies a major turnaround in Africa. What makes Uganda's postconflict recovery significant is that it coincides with one of the most ambitious programs of economic liberalization on the African continent. This book focuses on postconflict recovery and economic liberalization. This book also provides a detailed discussion of the many issues policymakers have to consider when they try to guide a country out of a tragic...

Introduced in Bolivia a little over a decade ago, social funds have become a key community-led poverty reduction tool. A departure from traditional government-sponsored approaches, social funds encourage communities and local institutions to take the lead in identifying and carrying out small-scale investments, generally in social infrastructure such as schools, health clinics, and small-scale water supply and sanitation. The social fund model has proved to be a dynamic, replicable approach, easily adapted and scaled up in diverse countries around the world. In Latin America, Africa, the...

What are the alternatives to slash-and-burn in the Indonesian uplands? Based on fieldwork conducted in 1997 in some 40 small regions throughout Indonesia, as well as an extensive literature review, From Slash and Burn to Replanting, examines these alternatives.

Economic and ecological changes in Indonesia, were critical during 1997 and 1998. The currency and economic crisis struck city dwellers, while El Nino and forest clearing had devastating effects on rural areas. However, Indonesian smallholders showed some ability to adapt to changes, both to the unexpected windfalls from...

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Vietnam's economic performance was dismal, and Vietnam was one of the poorest countries in the world. With the adoption of new market-oriented policies in the late 1980's, economic growth increased rapidly. Vietnam achieved an extremely high rate of economic growth in the 1990s, averaging 8% per year from 1990 to 2000. This economic growth was accompanied by a large reduction in poverty (reduced from 58% in 1993 to 37% in 1998), dramatic increases in school enrollment, and a rapid decrease in child malnutrition. 'Economic Growth, Poverty, and Household Welfare in...

In no region other than Africa is the trade-off drawn more sharply between the achievement of skills development with Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and providing universal basic education. Both are important to economic growth and poverty reduction, but the fiscal and administrative capacity of the state to meet both goals is limited. The presence of HIV/AIDS and its de-skilling of the labor force compounds the problem. Defining the role of the state more strategically in the provision and financing of TVET is essential to achieving Education for All and the poverty...