The objective of the Urban Development Project is to support Rwanda’s urbanization process by delivering basic services that will improve living conditions and promote local economic development.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: plots of land were measured by tape measure to determine the size. This will be done in the presence of the Displaced persons and the committee chosen to follow-up the asset inventory and valuation; houses were measured by tape measure, type and quantity of construction materials used on the houses will be determined, state of the structure also determined, all were done in the presence of the affected owner and valuation committee; crops valuation criteria based on area of coverage, in other cases number of standing crops and age; valuation is for annual crops since the seasonal crops shall be harvested by the time of project commencement. For those hiring or care taking for the actual land owner, compensation shall be written against those hiring or care taking of the land not to the land owners to avoid any misconduct by the land owners seize the compensation packages intended for those who hired the land; and all this data was entered into individual valuation field sheets for each plot of land and for each affected person. Each of these were verified by the valuation committee, verified by the affected person, who signed against the sheet. These sheets were signed off by the Cell and Sector authorities before they are sent to Muhanga District land commission for endorsement and for payment processing.
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The objective of the Urban Development Project is to support Rwanda’s urbanization process by delivering basic services that will improve living conditions and promote local economic development.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: plots of land were measured by tape measure to determine the size. This will be done in the presence of the Displaced persons and the committee chosen to follow-up the asset inventory and valuation; houses were measured by tape measure, type and quantity of construction materials used on the houses will be determined, state of the structure also determined, all were done in the presence of the affected owner and valuation committee; crops valuation criteria based on area of coverage, in other cases number of standing crops and age; valuation is for annual crops since the seasonal crops shall be harvested by the time of project commencement. For those hiring or care taking for the actual land owner, compensation shall be written against those hiring or care taking of the land not to the land owners to avoid any misconduct by the land owners seize the compensation packages intended for those who hired the land; and all this data was entered into individual valuation field sheets for each plot of land and for each affected person. Each of these were verified by the valuation committee, verified by the affected person, who signed against the sheet. These sheets were signed off by the Cell and Sector authorities before they are sent to Muhanga District land commission for endorsement and for payment processing.
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Ratings for the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF/WECARD) - CORAF Trust Fund for Africa were as follows: outcomes were satisfactory, the risk to development outcome was moderate, the Bank performance was moderately satisfactory, and the Borrower performance was also moderately satisfactory.
... See More + Some lessons learned included: Initiate unavoidable changes as soon as possible.Accurate time estimation is crucial for good project management.Accurate time estimation is crucial for good project management.Functional innovation platforms (IP) are effective in helping deliver Integrated Agricultural Research for Development (IAR4D).
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Implementation Completion and Results Report ICR4143 JUN 27, 2017
What is the future for agriculture in Peru? Once the principal source of employment and income for much of the population, Peru’s agricultural sector has declined in importance as the national economy has grown and urbanized.
... See More + Economic activity in the sector has continued to grow, but economic activity in other sectors has grown more rapidly, leaving agriculture to make up an ever smaller share of the overall economy. The future of Peruvian agriculture should concern policy makers, for at least five reasons. First, agriculture makes up an important part of the economy, so if agricultural growth decelerates, overall growth will suffer. Second, an expanding agricultural sector diversifies Peru’s economy and reduces dependence on extractives, so if the agricultural sector contracts relative to other sectors, economic growth could become more volatile. Third, agriculture-led growth is good for the poor, so if agricultural growth slows, an important means of reducing poverty will be lost. Fourth, Peru relies on food imports to make up production shortfalls, so if agricultural production fails to keep pace with population growth, national food security could be threatened. Fifth, climate-smart agricultural practices can play a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and sequestering carbon, so if future agricultural practices are not climate smart, an important opportunity to help mitigate climate change will be missed. This report synthesizes current knowledge about the ongoing transformation of Peru’s agriculture and food system, assesses the recent performance of the agriculture sector with an emphasis on productivity and competitiveness, and highlights opportunities for enhancing the future contribution of the agriculture sector toward meeting the country’s development challenges.
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Zimbabwe’s economy grew by 0.7 percent in 2016 despite the combined effect of the El Nino drought and domestic financial turmoil. The drought reduced agricultural output and increased food prices towards the end of the year, despite the government’s efforts to boost production and stabilize prices.
... See More + The public provision of agricultural inputs, the creation of food-for-work programs, and the establishment of price supports for staple foods accentuated the government’s expansionary fiscal-policy stance. Meanwhile, the government also increased spending on a cash basis to clear domestic arrears. The authorities financed much of the widening fiscal deficit by issuing Treasury bills purchased by commercial banks and a US$ 1 billion overdrafts with the RBZ. As domestic borrowing reduced liquidity and crowded out credit to the private sector, demand fell, imports contracted sharply, and economic growth slowed. Good rains are projected to boost growth in 2017 but other sectors remain lackluster. To allow GDP growth to recover in 2017 and beyond, the authorities will need to improve public expenditure efficiency and ensure adequate liquidity in the financial sector. The newly introduced command agriculture program provided farmers with inputs which are to be repaid by delivering grain to the Grain Marketing Board at the end of the growing season. These policies are projected to boost agricultural output in 2017. However, government intervention is both expensive and inefficient, especially the use of price support, as floor prices are set far higher than import competing prices.4 Favorable rains during the 2016/17 agricultural season are expected to drive a robust recovery, and the agricultural sector is projected to make a sizeable contribution to GDP growth in 2017. Improving weather conditions will be complemented by the ongoing suspension of import duties on some fertilizer products through end-2017, and by the ongoing allocation of underutilized land managed by the parastatal ARDA and other government agencies to experienced farmers.
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Working Paper (Numbered Series) 116309 JUN 21, 2017
The Second Rural Productive Partnerships Support Project (Programa de Apoyo a las Alianzas Productivas II - PAAP II) closed in June 2015, leaving the World Bank Group without an active IBRD-funded lending operation in the agricultural sector in Colombia for the first time in more than two decades.
... See More + With agricultural and rural development having been identified as a priority both in the government’s national development strategy as well as in the World Bank Group’s Country Partnership Framework 2016-21, there is interest from both parties in continuing collaboration in the sector. The purpose of the activity is to: (1) support the ongoing dialogue with the National Planning Department (Departamento de Planeación Nacional - DNP), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural – MADR) and other key actors responsible for agriculture and rural development; (2) allow the World Bank Group to make available knowledge, data, and tools that can be used by the Government to inform the design and implementation of its new agricultural and rural development strategy; and (3) explore areas for potential future collaboration. The development objective is to explore with the Colombian Government opportunities for the World Bank Group to provide analytical services, technical assistance, and/or financing in support of the Government's agriculture and rural development policies and strategies.
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The objective of the Social Investment and Local Development Project for Armenia is to improve the quality and use of and access to community and intercommunity infrastructure.
... See More + Some of the negative impacts and mitigation measures include: the local construction and environment inspectorates and communities have been notified of upcoming activities; the public has been notified of the works through appropriate notification in the media and/or at publicly accessible sites (including the site of the works); waste collection and disposal pathways and sites will be identified for all major waste types expected from demolition and construction activities; mineral construction and demolition wastes will be separated from general refuse, organic, liquid and chemical wastes by on-site sorting and stored in appropriate containers; the approach to handling sanitary wastes and wastewater from building sites must be approved by the local authorities; before being discharged into receiving waters, effluents from individual wastewater systems must be treated in order to meet the minimal quality criteria set out by national guidelines on effluent quality and wastewater treatment; monitoring of new wastewater systems (before/after) will be carried out; construction vehicles and machinery will be washed only in designated areas where runoff will not pollute natural surface water bodies; and if the building is a designated historic structure, very close to such a structure, or located in a designated historic district, notification shall be made and approvals/permits be obtained from local authorities and all construction activities planned and carried out in line with local and national legislation.
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This study uses novel household survey data that are representative of Bangladesh's large cities, and of slum and nonslum areas within the cities, to investigate the effects of demographic and socioeconomic factors on early child growth in 2013.
... See More + The study also decomposes the difference in mean child growth between slum and nonslum areas in 2013, and the increase in mean child growth in slum and nonslum areas from 2006 to 2013. Mother's education attainment and household wealth largely explain the cross-sectional difference and intertemporal change in child growth. Although positive in some cases, the effects of maternal and child health services, and potential health-protective household amenities, differ by the type of health facility, household amenity, and urban area. The results suggest that a focus on nutrition-sensitive programs for slum residents and the urban poor is appropriate.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8094 JUN 08, 2017
This paper presents findings from a large scale multi-arm randomized control trial implemented in 2014-2015 across 236 poor settlements across Bulgaria with the aim to improve full-day kindergarten participation of poor children, especially Roma and Turkish.
... See More + It finds that removing the costs of kindergarten reduced the share of children aged 3-6 not registered in kindergarten by half – while also significantly increasing attendance by about 20 percent. Additional financial incentives of either BGN7 or BGN20 monthly conditional on attendance had no clear impact on registration and attendance. Organizing community meetings to provide information about the importance of kindergarten also did not impact participation in kindergarten, although it slightly improved parental perceptions of the benefit of kindergarten and raised parental aspirations for their children – especially girls. Overall, removing kindergarten costs was thus the most cost-effective strategy to increase kindergarten participation. However, the effect on short-term child development – emergent literacy, numeracy, motor and socio-emotional skills – is mixed: slightly positive for Bulgarian children, while negative for Roma and Turkish children. These results suggest that all children may not immediately benefit from kindergarten, especially minority children who may need additional support to successfully transition to, and benefit from, kindergarten.
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The groundnut value chain is of major economic, social and political importance in Senegal. Most rural households grow the crop, and its transport, storage or processing is a key source of nonfarm employment in both formal and informal enterprises.
... See More + Senegal’s groundnut sector was originally developed by colonial authorities, using a monopoly over exports to control the domestic market. For groundnuts in Senegal, the French-owned oil processor was nationalized to form SONACOS in 1975, which proved increasingly costly to operate and was eventually privatized in 2005 to form SUNEOR in 2007. That too has suffered increasing losses and in January 2010 the government finally ended the monopoly system, allowing farmers to sell to competing firms for either direct export or processing. Despite turmoil in the groundnut processing sector, groundnut production itself remains a mainstay of the rural economy. This report builds on a number of previous studies to inform ongoing changes in the sector. Most notably, we build on the diagnostic analysis of the groundnut value chain that was conducted in 2014 (World Bank 2015) and addressed a set of key reform proposals. The focus of this report is detailed in its Terms of Reference (Annex 4).
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Working Paper 117011 JUN 01, 2017
rg;; 000213994:El Hadj Adama Toure:etoure@worldbank.oDisclosed
This paper uses unique data collected in rural Pakistan to assess the extent to which consanguinity, which is widespread in North Africa, Central and West Asia, and most parts of South Asia, is linked to child cognitive ability and nutritional status.
... See More + As economic benefits of marrying cousins may lead to upward bias in estimates of the effects of consanguinity on child outcomes, prior work likely underestimates the negative impacts of consanguinity on child outcomes. This paper finds that children born into consanguineous marriages have lower test scores, lower height-for-age, and a higher likelihood of being severely stunted. After controlling for current household wealth and parent education, the effects of endogenous consanguinity on child cognitive ability and height-for-age are identified by (current and past) grandfather land ownership and maternal grandparent mortality as instruments for consanguineous marriage of parents.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8074 MAY 24, 2017
A substantial literature has examined the impact of stress during the early stages of life on later-life health. This paper contributes to that literature by examining the later-life health impact of stress during adolescence and early adulthood, using a novel proxy for stress: risk of military induction in the United States during the Vietnam War.
... See More + The paper estimates that a 10 percentage point (2 standard deviation) increase in induction risk in young adulthood is associated with a 1.5 percentage point (8 percent) increase in the probability of being obese, and a 1 percentage point (10 percent) increase in the probability of being in fair or poor health later in life. These findings do not appear to be due to cohort effects; the associations exist only for men who did not serve in the war, and are not present for women or men who did serve. These findings add to the evidence on the lasting consequences of stress, and indicate that induction risk during the Vietnam War may, in certain contexts, be an invalid instrument for education or marriage, because it appears to have a direct impact on health.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8063 MAY 16, 2017
Cawley,John Horan; De Walque,Damien B. C. M.; Grossman,DanielDisclosed
This factsheet surveys multisectoral nutrition assessment in Sri Lanka's estate sector where malnutrition is an issue of public health concern; under nutrition in children under five years and among pregnant women has far-reaching consequences for them and society at large; several risk factors prevail in the estate sector that lead children to be malnourished; problems have been identified in food utilization and feeding practices; knowledge is not translated into practice; gaps in quality of service provision for children were noted; significant space for improving nutrition service delivery for women both before and during pregnancy; poor standards of Child Development Centers; provision of safe water and sanitation facilities prevents malnutrition and diarrhea.
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Working Paper 115196 MAY 13, 2017
;000299428:Dilinika Peiris:dpeiris@worldbank.org; 000232652:Phoebe M. Folger:pfolger@worldbank.org; ;000250282:Yi-Kyoung Lee:ylee1@worldbank.org;Disclosed
Much of the current analysis on agricultural productivity is hampered by the lack of consistent, high quality data on soil health and how it is changing under past and current management.
... See More + Historically, plot-level statistics derived from household surveys have relied on subjective farmer assessments of soil quality or, more recently, publicly available geospatial data. The Living Standards Measurement Study of the World Bank implemented a methodological study in Ethiopia, which resulted in an unprecedented data set encompassing a series of subjective indicators of soil quality as well as spectral soil analysis results on plot-specific soil samples for 1,677 households. The goals of the study, which was completed in partnership with the World Agroforestry Centre and the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, were twofold: (1) evaluate the feasibility of integrating a soil survey into household socioeconomic data collection operations, and (2) evaluate local knowledge of farmers in assessing their soil quality. Although a costlier method than subjective assessment, the integration of spectral soil analysis in household surveys has potential for scale-up. In this study, the first large scale study of its kind, enumerators spent approximately 40 minutes per plot collecting soil samples, not a particularly prohibitive figure given the proper timeline and budget. The correlation between subjective indicators of soil quality and key soil properties, such as organic carbon, is weak at best. Evidence suggests that farmers are better able to distinguish between soil qualities in areas with greater variation in soil properties. Descriptive analysis shows that geospatial data, while positively correlated with laboratory results and offering significant improvements over subject assessment, fail to capture the level of variation observed on the ground. The results of this study give promise that soil spectroscopy could be introduced into household panel surveys in smallholder agricultural contexts, such as Ethiopia, as a rapid and cost-effective soil analysis technique with valuable outcomes. Reductions in uncertainties in assessing soil quality and, hence, improvements in smallholder agricultural statistics, enable better decision-making.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS8057 MAY 11, 2017
The development objective of the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project for Yemen, Republic of is to contribute to the provision of basic health and essential nutrition services for the benefit of the population of the Republic of Yemen.
... See More + The proposed grant will help scale up delivery of essential health and nutrition services in response to the unprecedented malnutrition situation in Yemen caused by the ongoing conflict and food security crisis. The amount of USD 83 million equivalent is raised through recommitment of cancelled IDA grants for Yemen resulting from portfolio restructuring. The following changes are proposed: (a) scaling up support for prevention and treatment of moderate acute malnutrition in the Republic of Yemen given the deteriorating food insecurity; and (b) modification of the PDO-level and intermediate results indicators, to better capture the expected increase in project results.
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The development objective of the Emergency Health and Nutrition Project for Yemen, Republic of is to contribute to the provision of basic health and essential nutrition services for the benefit of the population of the Republic of Yemen.
... See More + The proposed grant will help scale up delivery of essential health and nutrition services in response to the unprecedented malnutrition situation in Yemen caused by the ongoing conflict and food security crisis. The amount of USD 83 million equivalent is raised through recommitment of cancelled IDA grants for Yemen resulting from portfolio restructuring. The following changes are proposed: (a) scaling up support for prevention and treatment of moderate acute malnutrition in the Republic of Yemen given the deteriorating food insecurity; and (b) modification of the PDO-level and intermediate results indicators, to better capture the expected increase in project results.
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