Since its adoption in December 2015 by the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21), within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), 175 countries to date have ratified the Paris Agreement. These countries have made commitments Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), in...

Digital technologies have significant potential to improve efficiency, equity, and environmental sustainability in the food system. A range of digital technologies are already leading to: better informed and engaged consumers and producers, smarter farms, and improved public services. Adoption...

This note analyzes the evolution of Credit Information Systems, including the emergence of new technologies that use alternative data in credit decisioning and the opportunities and risks associated with these trends. This paper also predicts the potential development effect of these disruptive...

A small open economy, Benin has seen growth that is above average for the region. The volatility of high growth spells combined with low productivity growth has translated into limited gains in income per capita. Following its transition from low-income country to lower middle income country...

The rural economy in Bangladesh has been a powerful source of economic growth and has substantially reduced poverty, especially since 2000, but the remarkable transformation and unprecedented dynamism in rural Bangladesh are an underexplored, underappreciated, and largely untold story. The...

A competitive city is a city that successfully facilitates its firms and industries to create jobs, raise productivity, and increase the incomes of citizens over time. Worldwide, improving the competitiveness of cities is a pathway to eliminating extreme poverty and to promoting shared...

Partnership for growth: linking large firms and agro-processing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) presents lessons learned from various models utilized by public and private sector programs to stimulate the growth of agro-processing SMEs through linkages to larger firms in developing...

Major changes are occurring in the Indian economy that should inform public policy and investments in the food sector. The main drivers of changes occurring in the Indian economy include rising per capita incomes and urbanization. These patterns have led to increased demand for food and food...

This World Bank publication provides an overview of mutual funds in developing countries, outlining their role in the financial sector; the different types of mutual funds; the structure of the mutual fund industry; and the industry's interdependency with other sectors such as pension funds and...

The agri-food industry, comprising agricultural inputs, primary agricultural production, off-farm food processing, food distribution, food retail and consumption, and other food-related services, is one of the most important industries in the Western Balkans in terms of turnover, jobs and...