The Port of Cotonou is of primary importance to economic growth and diversification in Benin. Furthermore, given its key geographic location as a port serving Niger and other land-locked countries to its north, and its proximity to Nigeria and Lagos, the Port of Cotonou is an important regional port.
... Vea más + Over 80 percent of all goods entering the Port of Cotonou are destined for final delivery outside of Benin. Niger and Nigeria account for about 90 percent of Cotonou's transit and re-export traffic, with Nigeria accounting for the bulk of this traffic, most of it informal. As such, the economic impact of the Port of Cotonou on economic activity, job creation and livelihoods is vastly larger than the role it plays in simply serving the direct import and export needs of Benin's economy. Some 20 percent of national Gross Domestic Product, or GDP is directly related to trade with Nigeria alone, informal or otherwise. The purpose of this note is to provide some insight into port operations and to propose reforms for facilitating the movement of goods through the port in an effort to reduce dwell time and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of port operations, all with a view to improving the competitiveness of the port.
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Documento de información sobre el proyecto 80541 JUL 24, 2014
This paper proposes diagnostics to assess the accuracy of survey-to-survey imputation methods and applies them to examine why imputing from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey into the Labor Force Survey fails to accurately project poverty trends in Sri Lanka between 2006 and 2009.
... Vea más + Survey-to-survey imputation methods rely on two key assumptions: (i) that the questions in the two surveys are asked in a consistent way and (ii) that common variables of the two surveys explain a large share of the intertemporal change in household expenditure and poverty. In addition, differences in sampling design can lead validation tests to underestimate the accuracy of survey-to-survey predictions. In Sri Lanka, the causes of failure differ across sectors. In the urban sector, the primary culprit is differences between the two surveys in the design of the questionnaire. In the rural and estate sectors, the set of common variables in the prediction model does not adequately capture changes in poverty. The paper concludes that in Sri Lanka, survey-to-survey imputation between the Household Income and Expenditure Survey and the Labor Force Survey cannot produce accurate poverty estimates unless the Labor Force Survey adds additional questions on assets and is redesigned to use a questionnaire that is compatible with the Household Income and Expenditure Survey. Alternatively, a new welfare-tracking survey that satisfies these conditions could be established.
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Documento de trabajo sobre investigaciones relativas a políticas WPS6961 JUL 01, 2014
Newhouse, D.; Shivakumaran, S.; Takamatsu, S.; Yoshida, N.
This paper reviews key issues in the 'cash versus food' debate, including as they relate to political economy, theory, evidence, and practice.
... Vea más + In doing so, it benefited from a new generation of 12 impact evaluations deliberately comparing alternative transfer modalities. Findings show that differences in effectiveness vary by indicator, although they tend to be moderate on average. In some cases differences are more marked (i.e., food consumption and calorie availability), but in most instances they are not statistically significant. In general, transfers' performance and their difference seem a function of the organic and fluid interactions among factors like the profile and 'initial conditions' of beneficiaries, the capacity of local markets, and program objectives and design. Costs associated with cash transfers and vouchers tend to be substantially lower relative to food. Yet methods for cost-effectiveness analysis vary and need to be more standardized and nuanced. The reviewed evaluations are helping to shift the debate from one shaped by ideology, political economy and 'inference' of evidence to one centering on robust and context-specific results.
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Documento de trabajo (Serie Numerada) 89502 JUL 01, 2014
The Nigerian Economic Report (NER) is a regular publication of the World Bank. Each edition of the NER includes a macroeconomic overview and gives special attention to an additional topic of high policy relevance.
... Vea más + In addition to macroeconomic performance, this edition of the NER focuses on recent releases of new statistical information. First, newly re-based Gross Domestic Product figures indicate a larger, more diversified, and complex economy in Nigeria than was hitherto reported, with significant contributions to growth coming from manufacturing and some services not captured in previous data. Second, Chapter 2 provides an analysis of recent NBS GHS household survey data, which supports the hypothesis that the larger NBS HNLSS survey of 2009/2010 may have underestimated consumption.
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Ratings for the Community Based Poverty Reduction Project (CPRP) for Nigeria were as follows: outcomes were moderately satisfactory, the risk to development outcome was moderate, the Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and the Borrower performance was also moderately satisfactory.
... Vea más + Some lessons learned included: community-based initiatives need to be integrated and coordinated with the broader poverty reduction strategy of the government in order to effectively tackle poverty reduction. The CPRP is an example of a project that was likely more successful than the M&E data can possibly tell. Key indicators were regularly collected and used by state agencies to carry out desk and field assessments of proposals, as well as the selection and funding of micro-projects, and to monitor the realization of the community infrastructure. But very little was collected on targeting, the participatory process, and impacts on the well-being of the communities. Community-development projects, when properly designed, have the potential of addressing the needs of community members who are traditionally marginalized or not adequately represented.
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Informe de evaluación de proyecto 88077 JUN 30, 2014
Ratings for the Rural Community Development Project (PACR) for Mali were as follows: outcomes were satisfactory, the risk to development outcome was moderate, the Bank performance was satisfactory, and the Borrower performance was also satisfactory.
... Vea más + Some lessons learned included: necessity for authorities to discuss and decide early on Project hosting arrangements. Government authorities need to be as proactive as possible on project hosting arrangements so as to discuss and decide on this critical aspect as soon as possible so that not only possible delays in project preparation can be avoided or significantly reduced but also ownership is fostered and stronger commitment of authorities early on. It is important to note that when a conflict situation does occur in any country, central institutions can be severely weakened. In this context, CDD approach and related projects are often among the few interventions that may still function. Experience has shown that CDD approach can play an important role in the reconciliation process between communities affected by the conflict. PACR approach and implementation procedures of the local productive initiative fund (LPIF) were critical to give more responsibility to the different actors, those of government institutions, but particularly at the community level. This allowed a better ownership of local investments and an increase of awareness for appropriate maintenance and sustainability.
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Informe final de ejecución y resultados ICR3171 JUN 27, 2014
Ratings for the Second National Fadama Development Project for Nigeria were as follows: outcomes were moderately satisfactory, the risk to development outcome was substantial, the Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and the Borrower performance was satisfactory.
... Vea más + Some lessons learned included: the Fadama program is illustrative of the risks that are attendant in neglecting social analysis in technical work streams. The project's first phase contributed to conflict between natural resource users groups by financing activities that expanded livelihood benefits to one user group at the expense of others. The sustainability of community-based initiatives depends crucially on an enabling institutional environment, which requires government commitment, and on accountability of leaders to their community to avoid 'supply-driven demand-driven' development. Programs designed to change behavior need to be grounded in a deep understanding of context; they need to be willing to engage in a study of what motivates people. Programs implemented at scale should include a sensitive design that takes into account the different cultural, linguistic and ethnic characteristics of the targeted population. Programs designed to change behavior also require observational and qualitative indicators that in turn, require capacity building and implementation support to tweak project assumptions and project adjust design in real time.
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Informe de evaluación de proyecto 88958 JUN 26, 2014
In 2000, the Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (hereinafter PMGSY) with the primary objective of providing all-weather road connectivity (with necessary culverts and cross-drainage structures operable throughout the year), to eligible unconnected habitations in rural areas.
... Vea más + Currently, about 60 percent of the 170,000 eligible habitations have a road. By the end of 2010, expenditures for the program had amounted to about US$14.6 billion, and a further US$40 billion is estimated to be required to complete the program by 2020 (World Bank, 2010). The PMGSY program is a very large undertaking with the World Bank also being involved in its financing and execution all along; the most recent credit amounted to US$1.4 billion. This report summarizes findings based on data collected as part of the primary survey, coupled with findings from the qualitative survey which included focus group discussions (FGDs). It highlights findings which answer the six key questions which are relevant to decision makers as evidence to improve existing and proposed programs and for further policy dialogue. This is a short version of a separate detailed report which in addition to the key findings of the quantitative and qualitative surveys has annexes on key impacts and detailed findings by state. The detailed analysis and tables generated are part of the full statistical analysis report by international consultants and the preliminary findings report which will serve as background reports for reference as required. It is hoped that the report(s) will make a useful contribution to the process of drawing up recommendations to improve PMGSY's impact in the sphere of ascriptive distribution - in short, on its 'inclusiveness'.
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Otros estudios del sector rural AUS5487 JUN 12, 2014
According to the latest data from Eurostat, more than 124 million people in the European Union, almost 25 percent of EU citizens, are at risk of poverty or social exclusio
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This study seeks to examine how National Rural Livelihoods Mission or NRLM may be leveraged to improve food and nutrition security (FNS) in tribal areas, preferably in a manner that would enhance the effectiveness of the program's core livelihoods focus.
... Vea más + More broadly, the objective is to strengthen the capacity of the Government of India (GoI) to deliver (or support) effective FNS interventions in tribal and backward areas (TABAs). As such, the study aims to do the following: develop the evidence base on those constraints which STs face with regard to achieving food security and favorable nutritional outcomes; examine approaches which have been used to address issues of poor nutrition elsewhere in India or abroad to identify interventions that could be effective in tribal areas; and Recommend models for improving FNS in tribal areas within the context of NRLM. The primary focus of this work is operationally oriented toward identifying entry points for NRLM to address tribal malnutrition as it expands into states with larger tribal communities, particularly Jharkhand and Odisha.
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India, currently, has one of the highest malnutrition rates in the world. One-third of its children are born with low birth-weight, 43 percent of children under five are underweight, 48 percent are stunted and 20 percent are wasted.
... Vea más + Stunting rates in India are two to seven folds higher than those of other BRICS countries. Micronutrient deficiencies are extremely high with almost 75 percent of the under threes being anemic, 62 percent deficient in vitamin A and over 13 million infants remaining unprotected from iodine deficiency disorders. There are large differentials in the prevalence across states and socio economic groups. Sixty percent of the malnutrition burden exists in low income states: Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The Government's policy commitment to address malnutrition and the multitude of programs that are being implemented, progress in reducing under nutrition has been slow. It therefore becomes imperative to address the malnutrition challenge and to prevent and reduce maternal and child malnutrition as early as possible across the life cycle especially through pregnancy and in the first two years of life, i.e., in the first 1,000 days of life, and in adolescent girls and women. In order to accelerate improvements across the states, the Government of India (GOI) has made policy commitments to mobilize multisectoral action to address the multiple causes of malnutrition effectively through formulating a multisectoral strategy and a multisectoral program to be implemented in 200 high malnutrition burden districts of the country. The multisectoral strategy also aims to bring a strong nutrition focus in various sectoral plans to address maternal and child malnutrition.
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Rwanda is experiencing its best growth performance since independence. With average annual GDP growth rate of 8 percent and 5.2 percent for agricultural GDP from 1999-2012, Rwandas recent growth is a historical record.
... Vea más + The poverty headcount fell from 59 percent in 2001 to 45 percent in 2011, and agriculture continues to be one of the main drivers of growth and poverty reduction in Rwanda, significantly lifting rural households out of poverty. Yet, challenges in the agriculture sector remain. Specifically, to: (i) sustain the productivity gains in the short and medium-term, which have contributed to strong agriculture growth and raised rural incomes; ii) increase and improve nutrition security for the rural population; iii) strengthen and deepen value chain development including increasing agro-processing to create non-farm employment; iv) secure and strengthen linkages to domestic and international markets for agriculture production; and v) enhance the enabling environment to attract the private sector to invest in the sector and add value to the productivity increases.
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The development objective of the Rural Development Program Project for Philippines is to increase rural incomes and enhance farm and fishery productivity in targeted areas.
... Vea más + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: (1) earthmoving and cutting of slopes during dry months; (2) handling and disposing of waste oil and grease to prevent contamination of surface and groundwater; (3) setting up adequate latrine and toilet facility at the base camp; (4) keeping the road open to traffic flow and minimizing disruptions along the access road and or construction area to avoid traffic; (5) coordinating with department of environment and natural resources (DENR) for the enactment of ordinance deputizing the local community to enforce forestry laws; and (6) hiring priority shall be given to qualified local residents.
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The paper uses harmonized household survey micro-data to assess the levels and determinants of economic inequality in 12 Arab countries. It focuses on the sources of rural-urban, as well as metropolitan-nonmetropolitan, inequalities and applies the unconditional quantile regression decomposition technique to analyze the welfare gaps across the entire distribution.
... Vea más + The analysis finds moderate inequality levels, with the Gini coefficient for the distribution of household real per capita total expenditures ranging between 30.7 in Libya and 45 in Mauritania. Differences in households' endowments, such as demographic composition, human capital, and community characteristics, appear as the main sources of the urban-rural welfare gap. There is inequality between metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions in many countries, mainly because of differences in returns to households' characteristics and particularly returns to human capital.
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Documento de trabajo sobre investigaciones relativas a políticas WPS6911 JUN 01, 2014