Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs
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These briefs report on ongoing operational, economic, and sector work carried out by the World Bank and its member governments in the Africa Region.
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Publication
Zambia - Social Investment Fund Project
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-07)The Zambia Social Investment Fund (ZAMSIF) is part of a two phase program (over 10 years) intended to support two of the objectives outlined in the Government of Zambia's (GRZ) National Poverty Reduction Strategic Framework & Action Plan (1999-2004). The specific project objectives were to (i) achieve sustainable improved availability and use of quality basic social services by beneficiary communities and specific vulnerable groups; (ii) contribute to the building of capacity for improved local governance; and (iii) strengthen the capacity to provide timely information on poverty and social conditions and facilitate its use in policy making. -
Publication
Mitigating the Food Crisis in Southern Africa : From Relief to Development
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-03)More than 10 million people in southern Africa-Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swazilan, Zambia, and Zimbabwe-are currently threatened with famine, with the crisis being particularly severe in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The immediate causes of the food shortage, namely of maize, the region's staple crop, are drought, flooding, and low levels of planting. However, what has made these countries so vulnerable to famine is chronic poverty, inadequate development policies and, in some cases, poor governance. Shocks such as drought bring collapse only to systems that are already weakened by these factors. The key to preventing food shortages and possibly famine, therefore, is effective and appropriate food security policies and responsible governance. Policies for mitigating the effects of a critical food shortage or famine lie on a spectrum ranging from immediate relief to recovery to initiating development. Preventing future famines requires long-term development policies. In addressing the crisis, policymakers should design measures that not only provide relief, but which also lay the foundations for development. Interventions must be combined and sequenced with each other, depending on a country's context, to generate the greatest possible short- and long-term benefits. Described here are policy approaches, that IFPRI research in Africa has shown to be effective in mitigating severe food shortage and enabling development. -
Publication
Listening to Farmers : Participatory Assessment of Policy Reform in Zambia's Agriculture Sector
( 1998-02)Since 1991, radical changes have taken place in the policy and institutional environment governing the agriculture sector in Zambia. Policies of liberalization and privatization have entailed the replacement of previously state-supplied agricultural services (notably credit, inputs supply and agricultural marketing) by private sector provision. The Agricultural Sector Investment Program (ASIP), assisted by the World Bank, provides the context for continuing agricultural policy development, as well as for the integration of previously fragmented projects and programs in the sector. ASIP is predicated upon participation in program design and implementation by the full range of stakeholders in the public, private and non-governmental sectors. As a means both of improving program implementation and of promoting the active participation of beneficiaries and other actors, ASIP has established systematic and regular feedback between policy makers and service providers, and those affected by programs, using methods such as Participatory Rural Appraisal. -
Publication
Accounting : The Zambia Centre for Accountancy Studies
(Washington, DC, 1996-05)The study education and training of accountants in Anglophone Africa examines the problems facing the accounting profession and identifies examples of best practice. One such example is the Zambia Centre for Accountancy Studies (ZCAS). The objective of this study is to address the problem of an acute shortage of qualified accountants. ZCAS was established in 1988 with support from the European Union (EU). The establishment of the centre enabled Zambia to introduce a national accounting qualification. The key lessons identified include: to successfully introduce a national accounting qualification, a country needs to have good accounting education, and quality education has increased the number of accountants, and improved the standing of the profession in Zambia.