Reports

The field of conservation biology has set itself some imposing tasks: to describe Earth’s biological diversity, to protect what remains, and to restore what is damaged. It is also a crisis discipline because decisions often need to be made under pressure, with limited resources, and under tight deadlines. A long-term conservation vision is also needed…

The report start by revealing that although 70-80 percent of people in rural Africa work on their own farms, this work is often part-time, and comprises only 40 percent of total labor time in rural areas. Meanwhile, 60 percent of rural labor time is spent off the farm, and about 40 percent of this non-farm…

Sub-Saharan Africa, home to more than 950 million people, is the most electricity-poor region in the world. More than 600 million people lack access to electricity, and millions more are connected to an unreliable grid that does not meet their daily energy service needs. Most countries in this region have electricity access rates of about…

Assessing Regional Integration in Africa (ARIA) is a major publication of the Eco-nomic Commission for Africa (ECA), produced in collaboration with the Afri-can Union Commission (AUC) and other development partners. It is devoted to a close analysis and evaluation of Africa’s progress towards regional integration. ARIA addresses achievements and challenges and considers solutions to improve…

This report investigates and describes patterns of biofuel development inTanzania. It looks at the spread and scale, crop use and different models ofbiofuel production through several case studies. It also outlines the challengesand opportunities provided by this relatively new source of investment. Thereport finds that over 4 million hectares of land have been requested forbiofuel…

Seventy-five percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas and most are involved in agriculture. In the 21st century, agriculture remains fundamental to economic growth, poverty alleviation, and environmen-tal sustainability. The World Bank’s Agriculture and Rural Development publication series presents recentanalyses of issues that affect the role of agriculture, including livestock, fisheries, and forestry,…

Land reform is a complex process requiring changes in legal regulatory frameworks with often highly technical components. When a new tribunal service was proposed for England and Wales some twenty years ago, the senior judiciary illustrated this intricacy by responding that ‘the exceedingly complex network of tribunals in [land, housing and property] is a source…

Over the next century, states in Sub-Saharan Africa will become major players in the global community. As climate change continues to take a toll on the Earth, how Sub-Saharan African states handle the effects of climate change will help determine the future of the continent. This report explores the effects of climate change on Sub-Saharan…

Section 1 defines “green industrialization” and the related concepts of “green economy”, “green growth” and “green jobs”. Section 2 identifies potential data sources and indicators for measuring industrial resource use and environmental pollution, which are essential for assessing and monitoring progress towards green industrialization. Section 3 describes common policies, programmes and instruments for directly greening…

Africa 2030 analysis identified modern renewable technology options across sectors, across countries, collectively contributing to meet 22% of Africa’s total final energy consumption (TFEC) by 2030, which is more than a four-fold increase from 5% in 2013. Four key modern renewable energy technologies with highest deployment potentials for Africa are modern biomass for cooking; hydropower;…

Agriculture contributes significantly to the economic and social makeup of the majority of African countries and plays a substantially larger relative role in Africa than in other regions. The average value added from agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, for example, was 19 per cent in 2008, compared to 2 per cent in Europe and 7 per…

The “Agriculture in Africa– Telling Facts from Myths” project was initiated by the Chief Economist’s Office of the World Bank Africa Region in partnership with the African Development Bank, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, Cornell University, the Food and Agriculture Organization, London School of Economics, Maastricht School of Management, University of Pretoria, University of…

This article looks at African agriculture from a business perspective and highlights the current status of agricul-ture and agribusiness. It seeks to address a number of key questions: To what extent is African agriculture be-coming a business and what are the driving forces to make agriculture more market-oriented? How can the domestic and international private…

The purpose of this briefing paper is threefold. First, it presents some of the findings of a com-prehensive study undertaken for the MSP by the International Trade Centre, analyzing invest-ment opportunities by sector arising from trade agreements for selected Sub-Saharan Africancountries. Second, it summarizes the results of other research which has been done by variousplayers…