This study provides estimates of social
and financial costs of environmental damage in India from
three pollution damage categories: (i) urban air pollution;
(ii) inadequate water supply, poor sanitation, and hygiene;
and (iii) indoor air pollution. It also provides estimates
based on three natural resource damage categories: (i)
agricultural damage from soil salinity, water logging, and
soil erosion; (ii) rangeland degradation; and (iii)

This paper examines the dynamics of
poverty and vulnerability in Haiti using various data sets.
As living conditions survey data are not comparable in this
country, we first propose to use the three rounds of the
Demographic Health Survey (DHS) available before the
earthquake. Decomposing household assets changes into age
and cohort effects, we use repeated cross-section data to
identify and estimate the variance of shocks on assets and

This report lays the groundwork for a
safety net system that can address the needs of the poor in
Cameroon. Cameroon does not have a coordinated system of
safety nets; rather, small, isolated interventions which
together do not address the needs. Moreover, food and fuel
price subsidies which mainly benefit the rich cost around 2
percent of GDP/year much more than total safety net
spending. There is a need for a social protection strategy

This report examines poverty trends and
distribution of the poor in this larger context, paying
particular attention to the most recent past. The report
contributes to our understanding of the progress made in
combating poverty in three ways. First, it updates our
knowledge of poverty outcomes by examining the trends in
poverty and vulnerability, as well as the profile and
distribution of the poor and vulnerable across the country.

Half of humanity about 3 billion people
are still relying on solid fuels for cooking and heating. Of
that, about 2.5 billion people depend on traditional biomass
fuels (wood, charcoal, agricultural waste, and animal dung),
while about 400 million people use coal as their primary
cooking and heating fuel (UNDP and WHO 2009). The majority
of the population relying on solid fuels lives in
Sub-Saharan Africa and in South Asia. In some countries in

Agriculture sector growth has made a
powerful contribution to post-war economic recovery in
Tajikistan, accounting for approximately one third of
overall economic growth from 1998 to 2004. Sector output
increased by 65 percent in real terms during this period,
and has now returned to the level extant at independence in
1990. Total Factor Productivity (TFP) has also increased, by
3 percent per year. Despite this progress, there is

Tajikistan is highly vulnerable to the
adverse impacts of global climate change, as it already
suffers from low agricultural productivity, water stress,
and high losses from disasters. Public awareness of the
multiple consequences of climate change is high, with
possible impacts on health, natural disasters, and
agriculture of greatest public concern. Climate change can
potentially deepen poverty by lowering agricultural yields,

The diaspora of developing countries can
be a potent force for development for their countries of
origin, through remittances, but also, importantly, through
promotion of trade, investments, research, innovation, and
knowledge and technology transfers. This book brings
relevant experience from both developed and developing
countries to bear on issues confronting today's
governments in linking with their diaspora. The chapters

The Kingdom of Lesotho is a land-locked
nation located in the Drakensberg mountain range in Southern
Africa. The country has a total area of 30355 km² and in
2009 had an estimated population of nearly 2.1 million, with
nominal per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$ 1080
(in 2010). About 75 percent live in rural areas, often in
scattered mountain villages, while most of the urban
population lives in and around the capital Maseru and the

The East Asian and Pacific region has
achieved tremendous progress in poverty reduction in recent
years. However, further progress in poverty reduction may be
undermined by the high levels of vulnerability in many
countries across the region. The term vulnerability is
viewed from an economic context, where it is conceived as
the likelihood of suffering from future deteriorations in
standard of living which may result in a state of poverty,

These report overviews recent
developments in the consumption and production of bioenergy.
It examines the main issues and possible economic
implications of these developments and assesses their
potential impact on land use and the environment, especially
with respect to forests. The report examines both solid
biomass and liquid biofuels, identifying opportunities and
challenges at the regional and country levels. The

Over the past few years there has been a
growing interest in the role that forests play in supporting
the poor, in reducing their vulnerability to economic and
environmental shocks, and in reducing poverty itself.
International workshops in Italy, Scotland, Finland and
Germany have focused on the contribution of forests to
livelihoods and the policies needed to strengthen that
contribution. At the same time, Forestry Ministries, though