This report is the most recent in a
series aimed at monitoring economic developments in Ghana
and has two sections. The first section summarizes the
recent macroeconomic developments in the country while the
second section presents the main findings on poverty and
employment published recently by the Ghana statistical
service. Ghana s overall macroeconomic conditions have
deteriorated further in 2014 with large twin-deficits

Real gross domestic product (GDP)
expanded by 6.7 percent in 2013, a modest deceleration from
the 7 percent recorded in the previous year, but well above
the average 4.9 percent rate of growth recorded over the
last ten years. The economy benefited from strong growth in
the agriculture (rebounding from last year's drought),
mining and services sectors, which largely offset weaker
activity in fishing activity. A continuation of these

Economic growth, job creation, and
development are central to the decade of transformation
(2015-25) and long-term security for the people of
Afghanistan. The Bank and the Government of the Islamic
Republic of Afghanistan (GoIRA) recognize that agriculture
and rural development are a key to inclusive growth, and
hence need renewed vigor and strategic long-term
investments. Further, the Bank and the GoIRA acknowledge

The purpose of this report is to assess
the climate change impacts on water resources in Romania
from an integrated, multi-sectoral perspective, and to
recommend priority actions for addressing the identified
risks and opportunities. The analysis is presented from an
integrated water resources perspective, thereby including
all pertinent water-related sectors, viz. municipal water
supply and sanitation, industrial water supply, agriculture,

Myanmar is a low-income agrarian country
with a high poverty rate. The livelihood of many poor people
depends on the performance of agriculture, especially the
rice sector. Rice accounts for 70 percent of Myanmar s total
cultivated area and 30 percent of the value of its
agricultural production. Increasing returns to rice
production will be the key to increasing farm wages and
incomes in the short to medium run. Higher rice production

Nonseparable household models outline
the links between agricultural production and household
consumption, yet empirical extensions to investigate the
effect of production on dietary diversity and diet
composition are limited. Although a significant literature
has investigated the calorie-income elasticity abstracting
from production, this paper provides an empirical
application of the nonseparable household model linking the

The overall goal of this report is to
assist the World Bank Group (WBG) to achieve greater impact
for women from its current activities in agribusiness in
Papua New Guinea (PNG), and to provide clear recommendations
on additional interventions aimed at improving outcomes for
women. The report focuses on the supply chains for coffee,
cocoa, and horticultural products (fresh produce), as there
is a wealth of knowledge on these supply chains and on

In a changing climate, saltwater
intrusion is expected to worsen in low-lying coastal areas
around the world. Understanding the physical and economic
effects of salinity ingress, and planning adaptation, are
key to the long-term development of countries for which sea
level rise has been identified as a major risk from climate
change. This paper presents a study conducted in Bangladesh,
which quantifies the prospective relationship between

This forest policy note (FPN) offers
an outside view of the Moldovan forestry sector, provides
some strategic guidance to help define sector goals, and
identifies opportunities for consideration in the continued
development of the sector and for the implementation of the
Moldova and World Bank (WB) country partnership strategy
(CPS). This study is based on a number of short visits to
Moldova and on a number of background studies undertaken

This issue of the Cambodia economic
update covers the following selected issues: 1) making the
most of the Cambodian rise sector; and 2) creating
opportunities for firms as reflected in findings from the
investment climate assessment. For FY2014 economic growth
held up well despite domestic uncertainty and instability in
neighboring countries. Real growth is estimated to reach 7.2
percent, driven by the garment, construction, and services

This aquaculture sector review (with
supply chain mapping) has been implemented within the
framework of the International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Armenia investment climate reform project implemented by the
World Bank Group trade and competitiveness global practice,
in partnership with Austria’s federal ministry of finance
and Hungarian partnership funding and Hungary Export Import
(EXIM) Bank. This project aims to contribute to improving

The Multi-Donor Trust Fund for
Sustainable Logistics (MDTF-SL) aims at promoting innovative
assistance projects that can break new grounds, test new
ideas, and generate new knowledge for sustainable logistics
that can be replicated in other countries and project. In
November 2013 we were asked to write a position paper that
analyses the state of affairs in Agro-Logistics. It aims to:
(1) review and suggest a conceptual grounding for the