Investing to promote agricultural growth and poverty reduction is a central pillar of the World Bank's current rural strategy, 'Reaching the Rural Poor' (2003). This 'Sourcebook' addresses how to implement the rural strategy, by sharing information on investment options and identifying innovative approaches that will aid the design of future lending programs for agriculture. It provides generic good practices and many examples that demonstrate investment in agriculture can provide rewarding and sustainable returns to development efforts. It is divided into eleven self-contained modules. Each...

Accountability of government to citizens--the idea that the public sector must answer to the people for its performance--is the foundation for good governance. Under good governance, public expenditures are allocated to maximize welfare, revenues are collected efficiently, and the public at large has access to a number of public services including water and sanitation, infrastructure, education and health. Unfortunately in many developing countries, the people suffer the results of dysfunctional governance systems that fail to provide even minimal levels of vital public services. This happens...

This year's 'Word Development Report', the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person's chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report's main...

This year's 'Word Development Report', the twenty-eighth, looks at the role of equity in the development process. It defines equity in terms of two basic principles. The first is equal opportunities: that a person's chances in life should be determined by his or her talents and efforts, rather than by pre-determined circumstances such as race, gender, social or family background. The second principle is the avoidance of extreme deprivation in outcomes, particularly in health, education and consumption levels. This principle thus includes the objective of poverty reduction. The report's main...

The book presents estimates of total wealth for nearly 120 countries, using economic theory to decompose the wealth of a nation into its component pieces: produced capital, natural resources and human resources. The wealth estimates provide a unique opportunity to look at economic management from a broader and comprehensive perspective. The book's basic tenet is that economic development can be conceived as a process of portfolio management, so that sustainability becomes an integral part of economic policy making. The rigorous analysis, presented in accessible format, tackles issues such as...

Persistent malnutrition is contributing not only to widespread failure to meet the first MDG to halve poverty and hunger but to meet other goals in maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, education, and gender equity. The choice is now between continuing to fail, or to finally make nutrition central to development. Underweight prevalence among children is the key indicator for measuring progress on non-income poverty and malnutrition remains the world's most serious health problem and the single biggest contributor to child mortality. Nearly a third of children in the developing world are either...

In the wake of the financial crises of the late 1990s, there was a surge of interest in the systematic assessment of financial sectors, with a view to identifying vulnerabilities and evaluating the sector's developmental needs. Consequently, there has been an increased demand from financial sector authorities in many countries for information on key issues and sound practices in the assessment of financial systems and the appropriate design of policy responses. In response, 'Financial Sector Assessment' presents a general analytical framework and broad guidance on approaches, methodologies...

Land is the integrating component of all livelihoods depending on farm, forest, rangeland, or water (rivers, lakes, coastal marine) habitats. Due to varying political, social, and economic factors, the heavy use of natural resources to supply a rapidly growing global population and economy has resulted in the unintended mismanagement and degradation of land and ecosystems. 'Sustainable Land Management' provides strategic focus to the implementation of sustainable land management (SLM) components of the World Bank's development strategies. SLM is a knowledge-based procedure that integrates...

High-quality public debt management plays a critical role in reducing the vulnerability of developing countries to financial crises. With sound risk and cash management, effective coordination with fiscal and monetary policy, good governance, and adequate institutional and staff capacity in place, governments can develop and implement effective medium-term debt management strategies. 'Managing Public Debt: From Diagnostics to Reform Implementation' draws insights from a joint pilot program set up by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to design relevant reform and capacity-building...

Why abolish school fees in Africa? The answer seems obvious: to achieve the right to education for all and thus promote equitable participation in economic growth and political action. However, moving from a system based on user fees, which stifled enrollment of the poorest and most vulnerable children, to one of free basic education for everyone has hidden costs if the effort is unplanned or underplanned. The immediate and dramatic influx of students can overburden the education system and compromise quality because of a lack of qualified teachers, an increase in class size, and the loss of...