Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs

415 items available

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http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9389

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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Now showing 1 - 10 of 94

Ghana - High Forest Biodiversity Conservation Project

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-08) Mastri, Lawrence

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) supported High Forest Biodiversity Conservation Project intended to increase the ecological security of globally significant biological resources, especially within threatened tropical moist forest ecosystems. The project aimed to establish effective systems for the protection of 30 Globally Significant Biodiversity Areas (GSBAs) in all tropical forest biomes in Ghana in four regions within the high forest zone - namely, Ashanti, Eastern, Central, and Western regions. The project focused on communities living at the periphery of these GSBAs.
Africa Region - Regional Environmental Information Management Program

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008-04) Mastri, Lawrence

The primary goal of the Regional Environmental Information Management Program (REIMP) was to improve planning and management of natural resources in the Congo Basin, with specific focus on biodiversity conservation, by providing the various stakeholders with appropriate information on the environment in response to the needs they identify. The project has five objectives: (i) ensure the circulation of environmental information and optimize benefits from existing initiatives; (ii) foster involvement of decision makers in environmental information use and facilitate sound land use planning in the Congo Basin; (iii) provide users (public and private sectors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), sub regional, and international organizations) with environmental information meeting their demand; (iv) strengthen national capacities for environmental information management; and (v) implement a Regional Fund for Local Initiatives (REFLI).
Restructuring Uganda’s Coffee Industry : Why Going Back to the Basics Matters

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-03) Baffes, John

Uganda's coffee industry consists of low input-intensity smallholders with an average farm size of 0.2 hectares and is the main source of income for an estimated 500,000 households. Following its introduction earlier in the 20th century, the industry expanded considerably during the 1950s and 1960s. However, the sector experienced a huge setback due to the civil strife of the 1970s, when output halved within a 5-year period (1972-77). During the late 1980s, the sector went through a liberalization process, which, coupled with high world prices, led to considerable supply response, with exports exceeding 4 million bags in two consecutive years (1995 and 1996), the only time in the sector's history. By all accounts, the reforms have been successful. Producers' share of export prices doubled and growers receive payments promptly. Entrepreneurial activity has increased enormously. Most important, there has been a well documented poverty reduction impact on households of the coffee growing regions. There has been no backtracking of reforms.
Senegal - Successful Innovation in the Water Sector

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-07) Mohan, P.C.

The water sector project's overall development objectives were to address: (a) sustainability, by improving the management, pricing and cost recovery and reducing government subsidies for industrial, domestic and irrigation water; (b) poverty alleviation and health, by increasing access to safe potable water and adequate and more affordable sanitation for the urban poor; and (c) private sector participation, by engaging a private company to manage urban water supply. Implemented over the period 1996-2004, with a credit of US$100 million, the project design and implementation were regarded as highly satisfactory. Donors such as Agence Francaise de Developpement, the European Union and the Banque Ouest Africaine de Developpement (the West African Development Bank) actively participated in the design of the project.
Reform Experience with the Tanzanian Cotton Sector

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-06) Baffes, John

Cotton, Tanzania's second largest crop after coffee, was introduced at the turn of the century by German settlers as a plantation crop but later efforts focused on smallholder production. Output rose considerably with the releases of new varieties, along with better organization of the sector following establishment of the Tanganyika Lint and Seed Marketing Board in 1956. By 1966, production reached 80,000 tons, or 0.75 percent of world production of 10.7 million tons.
The Tourism Sector in Madagascar

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-05) Thornton Christie, Iain

Madagascar has an impressive array of biodiversity, natural beauty and cultural resources to support tourism. The world's fourth largest island, Madagascar is home to many species found nowhere else on the planet, among them 30 species of lemur - currently the main tourist attraction. Madagascar's nearly 5,000 km of coastline is coupled with a continental shelf equal to 20 percent of the island's land area which presents numerous opportunities for developing resort-based tourism to complement eco-tourism.
Three Drivers of Effective Implementation : The Story of the South African River Health Program

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-03) Dirk J. Roux

No matter how sound the underlying principles or technical design, the intended merit of any policy or program can only be realized once and if it is effectively implemented. Implementation can be described as putting into practice, executing, achieving, or accomplishing. Because of the universal difficulty and even elusiveness experienced with putting new ideas into practice, the implementation challenge continues to fascinate scholars and frustrate practitioners.
Migrant Labor Remittances in Africa : Reducing Obstacles to Developmental Contributions

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-02) Sander, Cersten ; Mainbo, Samuel Munzele

Migrants have received heightened international recognition from the development community in recent times. New World Bank estimates on the volume of remittances show that documented remittance flows continue to increase at a rapid rate, putting global annual flows at US$88 billion for 2002 (revised up from earlier estimates of US$80 billion reported in the 2003 World Bank Global Development Report) and projecting $90 billion for 2003, based on trends in the first half of the year. Actual figures are generally accepted to be much higher. This means that remittance flows constitute the largest source of financial flows to developing countries after Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and indeed in many countries exceed FDI flows.
Kenya - The Arid Lands Resource Management Project

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-02) Mohan, P.C.

The project ( 1996-2001 - US$22 million credit ) was uniquely designed as a risk management instrument - it conceived the establishment of a viable, government-run system of drought management, through early warning systems, contingency plans, mitigation and quick response. The design also devolved responsibility to the district and community level, encouraging civil servants and other district development actors to empower local communities in the design and implementation of development projects. The project built on the experience of others before it such as the Netherlands-supported Drought Management Project ( DMP ) and subsequently, the Drought Preparedness, Intervention and Recovery Project ( DPIRP ). The IDA-financed Emergency Drought Recovery Project (EDRP ) also provided useful insights.
Tanzania’s Tea Sector : Constraints and Challenges’

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2004-12) Baffes, John

In 1968, the government initiated a smallholder tea development program in which all aspects of smallholder tea marketing and trade were turned over to the Tanzania Tea Authority which assumed a wide array of responsibilities. The Authority promoted smallholder tea production. Most of the smallholder tea leaf went to the eight Tea Authority-owned factories for processing, and the rest to factories owned by the estates. Despite its apparent success, there were numerous signs of distress in the smallholder sector. This note describes the constraints and challenges faced by the production of tea in Tanzania.