Sector/Thematic Studies

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http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2110

Economic and Sectoral Work are original analytic reports authored by the World Bank and intended to influence programs and policy in client countries. They convey Bank-endorsed recommendations and represent the formal opinion of a World Bank unit on the topic. This set includes the sectoral and thematic studies which are not Core Diagnostic Studies. Other analytic and advisory activities (AAA), including technical assistance studies, are included in these sectoral/thematic collections.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 44

Climate-Related Shocks and Fiscal Sustainability: Potential Impacts and Policy Options

(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-07-20) World Bank

Real GDP expanded by 17.7 percent in 2022, with per capita incomes surpassing the pre-pandemic levels. On the supply side, accommodation, transport, and commerce explained 60 percent of growth. On the demand side, exports (mainly tourism) and private consumption accounted for growth. The rebound in economic activity in 2022 was accompanied by a reduction in poverty (0.8 percentage points), despite the spike in inflation. Headline inflation reached 7.9 percent (y/y) in December 2022 after inflationary pressures emerged in 2021, fueled by high international oil and food prices and global supply chain disruptions due to the war in Ukraine. Higher food prices and low agricultural production, driven by the five year long drought, intensified food insecurity.
Somalia Economic Update, June 2022: Investing in Social Protection to Boost Resilience for Economic Growth

(Washington, DC, 2022-06) World Bank

Somalia is currently experiencing extreme and widespread drought which has been assessed as an unprecedented climatic event not seen in at least 40 years by meteorological agencies and humanitarian partners. After four consecutive seasons of poor rains, 90 percent of the country is experiencing severe drought conditions that include failed crop harvests, widespread water shortages, and decline in livestock production. The drought has intensified the humanitarian crisis and is driving the country into a brink of famine. Significant displacement of people is occurring as they abandoned their homes in search of food, water, and pasture for their livestock. The situation is being exacerbated by the war in Ukraine which has pushed up global food and oil prices. The higher commodity prices are disproportionally affecting the poor and exacerbating inequality. Against this challenging backdrop, the seventh edition of the World Bank’s Somalia Economic Update provides a detailed update of recent economic developments and growth outlook and makes a case for investing in Social Protection to help confront the frequent shocks that buffet the country. Overall, the Economic Update series aims to contribute to policymaking process and stimulate national dialogue on topical issues related to economic recovery and development.
Fit for Purpose: Dam Rehabilitation Prioritization Tool in Zimbabwe

(Washington, DC, 2022) World Bank

As a nation with highly variable and limited availability of water resources, Zimbabwe relies on a vast and aging water infrastructure stock that requires prompt rehabilitation to better support the water, food, and energy sectors. The country has limited water resources, with much of its area classified as semi-arid with highly variable rainfall. Zimbabwe relies on dams to store water to ensure irrigation for food security, water supply, and hydropower production. It has the second highest water storage capacity per capita in Southern Africa. There are about 10,000 dams, from large to small, and more publicly owned dams than private dams.
Strengthening Regional Water Security for Greater Resilience in the G5 Sahel

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-07-12) World Bank

The World Bank’s historical engagement in transboundary water in West Africa is at a turning point, at a time when the G5 Sahel region faces unprecedented challenges. Therefore, it is time for the World Bank to broaden its water sector approach in the G5 Sahel and shift its focus to establishing a regional water security framework. The dual objectives of this report on the G5 Sahel region are to: (i) do a high-level analysis of water security challenges and their impacts on regional socio-economic development and stability, and (ii) suggest directions for future World Bank engagement on regional water security. The focus of this note is more exclusively on regional water challenges and local challenges with cross-border or even regional spillover effects. The report takes a development-driven approach to: (i) identify some of the ways in which water security affects socio-economic development in the G5 Sahel, (ii) explore the linkages between water security, resilience and conflict prevention, and (iii) present a set of guiding principles for the next regional engagements on water security in the region, both in terms of types of investment and implementation modalities. This report will also serve as a basis for deepening the dialogue with counterparts in the next fiscal year.
Angola Agriculture Support Policy Review: Realigning Agriculture Support Policies and Programs

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-06-20) World Bank

This report assesses agriculture policy support estimates in Angola. These estimates represent the monetary value assigned to different agriculture support policies and programs using the OECD methodology for the years 2018–2019. The advantages of using the OECD methodology are that: (a) it provides a systematic and integrated view of agriculture support policies and programs (not limited to the more traditional public expenditure reviews or rate of protection); (b) given the large number of countries using this same methodology to measure support estimates, an immediate benchmarking is possible across a large set of comparators; and (c) the methodology is simple and can be integrated into the agriculture public policy analysis conducted by the Government and other stakeholders. The methodology also has some disadvantages and limitations, mainly: (a) while it quantifies the level of support provided to producers and consumers, it does not further disaggregate support received by type of agricultural producers (small-scale, large-scale; family farm, commercial) or consumers; (b) since the estimates are based on the monetary value of budget and price support, non-monetary support, like the quality of policies, is not captured (e.g., the methodology is able to identify how much policy/program support is invested in land administration efforts, but unable to qualify the impact (quality) of those policies/programs). This assessment aims to support the Angolan Government in reviewing its agriculture policies and programs, in particular to: (a) provide new estimates and a new approach to assess sector support for policy decision-making; (b) allow for benchmarking agriculture support policies with a large global database of countries using the same estimate methodology; and (c) help kickstart a policy dialogue on realigning agriculture policies and programs in Angola towards greater sector competitiveness and fast economic recovery from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, increased food security and nutrition outcomes, and climate sustainability through a build back better approach.
The Cost of Air Pollution in Lagos

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-08) Croitoru, Lelia ; Chang, Jiyoun Christina ; Kelly, Andrew

Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital is one of the world’s fastest growing megacities, but many are breathing polluted air. This report estimates that in 2018, air pollution caused more than 11,200 premature deaths in Lagos. Children under five are the most affected accounting for about sixty percent of the deaths. The health cost of air pollution was estimated at 2.1 billion US dollars, corresponding to about 2.1 percent of Lagos state’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Climate-Smart Agriculture Implementation Brief: A Summary of Insights and Upscaling Opportunities through the Africa Climate Business Plan

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-06) World Bank

African countries are adopting a range of context-specific climate-smart technologies and practices to meet their food security and climate change goals. Improved livestock production is the most prevalent practice, followed by improved water management, conservation agriculture, agroforestry, and, notably, digital agriculture. The application of digital technology in the design and delivery of integrated weather and market advisories using big data analytics is increasingly helping countries identify conditions that may endanger food security and inform farmers’ decisions to adequately respond to and, when possible, capitalize on, the changing conditions.
Leveraging the Landscape: Case Study of Erosion Control through Land Management in the Lake Victoria Basin

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-05) Zhang, Guoping ; Majaliwa, Mwanjalolo J.G. ; Xie, Jian

Land degradation is a major environmental issue that affects rural livelihoods and the well-being of inhabitants by substantially impacting the sustainability of food production and other ecosystem services as well as rural infrastructures that are essential to the prosperity of these communities. Land degradation refers to the human-induced reduction or loss of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of land, which is most often attributed to poor land management practices and unsustainable land use. Land degradation consists of a multitude of processes including deforestation, soil erosion, and increased sedimentation, among others. These processes interact in concert to cause severe environmental impacts such as the reduction of biomass and biodiversity, nutrient depletion of soils, loss of organic matter in soil, reduction in soil structure and quality, and destruction of rural infrastructure such as roads or dams, to name a few. The effects of land degradation, both onsite and offsite, are widespread and linked. The onsite consequences include loss of productivity, reductions in resilience leading to higher variability in yields and vulnerability to extreme weather conditions, and a reduction in the capacity to adapt to climate change while the off-site consequences are global or regional, such as increased carbon emissions and poor water regulation, resulting in floods, sedimentation and reduced base flow downstream. After the introductory chapter, chapter two presents an overview of soil erosion, land degradation and SLWM practices in the LVB. Chapter three first introduces the case study area – the Simiyu catchment and its constituencies, and then the methodology used. Key findings and results regarding the effectiveness of the various SLWM practices are discussed in chapter four. Chapter five presents monitoring and evaluation frameworks and soil erosion indicators. Chapter six summarizes the recommendations resulting from the case study.
Assessment of Farmer-Led Irrigation Development in Ghana

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020) Dittoh, Saa

Adequate agricultural production for food and nutrition security as well as better incomes for farmers and rural inhabitants represent key development objectives of many nations, and they are most crucial in Africa. Water is critical in food production, and its use now and in the future is a major determinant of whether the stated objective is achieved. Because of climate change and associated variability, dependence on rainfed food production is risky and unsustainable. There is a need for substantial increase in irrigated production, particularly farmer-led irrigation development (FLID), in Africa and especially in Ghana. This report consists of an assessment of FLID in Ghana as well as of associated business and financing models that can be pursued for its further development.
Tanzania Economic Update, December 2019: Transforming Agriculture - Realizing the Potential of Agriculture for Inclusive Growth and Poverty Reduction

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-12) World Bank Group

Tanzania was again one of the top growth performers in the region. Official GDP figures show that growth remained steady in the first half of the year, driven by higher public investment and by a recovery in exports. Inflation has been low and stable, and the balance of payments is quite sound despite a widening current account deficit. Exports are recovering from last year’s contraction. The Government's Tanzania Development Vision 2025 and the Five-Year Development Plan (FYDP II) set out ambitious goals for reducing poverty and sustainably industrializing so that the country can achieve middle-income status by 2025. The government recognizes agriculture as central to realizing its objectives of socioeconomic development, which are well-articulated in the Second Agriculture Sector Development Program (ASDP II). Among the goals of ASDP II are to transform agriculture by promoting commercialization, prioritizing high-potential commodity value chains, and mobilizing capital by giving the formal private sector a growing role in agriculture. Because agriculture and related value chains drive two-thirds of all jobs—three-quarters for the poor— the sector is central to creating more and better jobs at scale and significantly reducing poverty.