The vision of Pakistan's social
protection strategy to reach the poor and vulnerable (2007)
is 'to develop an integrated and comprehensive social
protection system, covering all the population, but
especially the poorest and the most vulnerable'.
Consistent with this vision, the goals of the strategy are
identified as: 1) to support chronically poor households and
protect them against destitution, food insecurity,

Despite robust annual growth of 5.7
percent in the recent past, poverty in Zambia remains
stubbornly high. The poverty headcount rate is 60 percent
(as of 2010), and 39 percent of the population live in
extreme poverty, with insufficient consumption to meet their
daily minimum food requirements. Chronic malnutrition
remains very high, with 47 percent of children under the age
of 5 being stunted in 2010, close to the high levels of the

This paper contributes to the
long-standing debate on the merits of decentralized
beneficiary targeting in the administration of development
programs, focusing on the large-scale Malawi Farm Input
Subsidy Program. Nationally-representative household survey
data are used to systematically analyze the decentralized
targeting performance of the program during the 2009-2010
agricultural season. The analysis begins with a standard

Azerbaijan experienced a 'golden
age' in the last decade, during which the average
growth rate reached record high levels and poverty decreased
significantly. On average, the economy grew by 15.3 percent
per year in real terms during this period, mainly driven by
the oil sector (21.5 percent growth per year), but with a
significant contribution from the non-oil sector (11.1
percent per year). As a result, poverty declined

The report is structured to allow
readers familiar with Macedonia s agriculture sector to
quickly grasp the essentials needed to improve the sector,
as well as to inform a general audience on how to address
the challenges of a modern European Union (EU)-aspiring
state. Chapter two provides an in-depth analysis of the
sectoral background, illustrating the main characteristics
and challenges of Macedonia s agriculture sector. The

Following the world food price spike in
2008 and again in 2011, there has been increased attention
on better understanding the drivers of food prices, their
impacts on the poor, and policy response options. This paper
provides a simple model that closely simulates actual
historical food price behavior around which the analysis of
the drivers of food price levels, volatility, and the
associated response options is derived. Future food prices

In many Pacific island countries,
meeting non-food basic needs is a growing challenge and
further complicated by substantial economic and
environmental risks. Hardship and vulnerability are
increasingly prominent concerns in Pacific island countries,
but the knowledge base to guide policymaking is limited.
Family and community networks are central to life in most
Pacific island countries, providing critical support to

This paper assembles data at the
all-India level and for the village of Palanpur, Uttar
Pradesh, to document the growing importance, and influence,
of the non-farm sector in the rural economy between the
early 1980s and late 2000s. The suggestion from the combined
National Sample Survey and Palanpur data is of a slow
process of non-farm diversification, whose distributional
incidence, on the margin, is increasingly pro-poor. The

Delivering on results is a key to
achieving our Latin America and Caribbean strategy. This
publication presents some of the recent results achieved by
the World Bank Group, our clients, and our partners in the
Latin America and Caribbean Region. The stories reflect our
effort to help clients solve their development challenges
quickly and effectively by providing a suite of financing,
advisory and convening services. This is a way to

The objective of this report is twofold:
first, analyze and discuss the linkages between different
minimum standards currently used in the Kyrgyz Republic and
with the Monthly Benefit for Poor Families (MBPF), and,
secondly, to analyze the potential of alternative targeting
methods and benefit levels. The analysis in this report
mainly draws on data from the Kyrgyz Integrated Household
Survey (KIHS) 2010. The report is structured as follows: the

Benin has made substantial progress over
the past decade in reinforcing macroeconomic stability,
which has laid the foundation for modest but accelerating
growth. After averaging less than 3.7 percent from
2007-2011, GDP growth rose to 5.4 percent in 2012 and
reached 5.6 percent in 2013. Growth is expected to remain
strong at 5.5 percent in 2014. Benin s enhanced growth
performance has been supported by ongoing efficiency

Burkina Faso's Poverty Reduction
Strategies (PRS) of the 2000s, which were implemented as
annually rolled-over Priority Action Programs, focused on
four pillars: a) accelerating broad based growth; b)
expanding access to social services for the poor; c)
increasing employment and income-generating activities for
the poor; and d) promoting good governance. Increased public
expenditure and targeted social service provision also led