Public Expenditures, Growth, and Poverty assesses the efficacy of poverty reduction programs in Latin America, Africa, and Asia by synthesizing studies conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute over the past ten years. Overall, the studies find that investments in...

Rice is a strategic commodity for food security in West Africa. Its consumption has grown rapidly over time as a result of population growth, urbanization, and increasing purchasing power. Dependency on imported rice exposes the region to external shocks stemming from the global market. Given...

This paper estimates the potential effects of achieving the agricultural goals set out in Iraq’s National Development Plan (NDP) 2013–2017 using a dynamic computable general equilibrium model. The findings suggest that raising agricultural productivity in accordance with the NDP...

Africa’s recent economic growth is at a historical high, the patterns associated with this growth appear to be quite different from the Asian experiences where rapid growth was fueled by labor intensive, export-oriented manufacturing. Because this pattern differs with our typical view of...

In this paper we explore how a value chain framework can inform the design of interventions for achieving improved nutrition. Conceptually, there are three main channels for value chains to improve nutrition: (1) through increased consumption of nutritious foods (a demand side pathway); or (2)...

The evolution of development policy over time can be characterized as a faltering pursuit of inclusive growth: namely, an integrated program of achieving highest possible rate of growth of the real GDP that doubles per capita income within a short period of time, with an eye on distributive...

Malawi has struggled to achieve sustained agricultural growth over the last four decades. As such there is need for in-creased investment and supportive policies if greater success is to be realized. As a prerequisite to identifying the role that improved policies and investment can play, a...

The policy of mandated representation (reservation) for disadvantaged social groups in Indian village councils or Gram Panchayats has been the subject of numerous studies. The implicit, and often unstated, assumption that underlies most of these studies is that the president of the council is...

This paper addresses the determinants of public expenditure policies, by reviewing theories and empirical investigations of what features explain the budget process and how the various attributes of actors—including politicians, bureaucrats, interest groups, and donors—and of...