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...

This poverty assessment aims to inform poverty-focused policymaking in Chad. The report examines recent trends in poverty, inequality, and other social indicators and identifies key constraints on poverty reduction. Although agriculture, pastoralism, and related activities provide livelihoods...

Mozambique's economy has experienced strong growth over the last two decades, with GDP expanding at an annual average rate of 7.2 percent. However, this growth has been unequally shared and rural areas still lag far behind urban centers in both monetary and non-monetary dimensions of wellbeing....

Bolivia is a country with a vast geographical diversity, from a high plateau (altiplano) that reaches 3,000 meters above sea level to valleys at mid-altitude and tropical plains. During the last decade, the magnitude of Bolivia's weather patterns has undergone significant changes; extreme...

Indonesia has sustained robust growth over a long period, and this has enabled millions of citizens to move out of poverty. Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) has risen at an average 5 percent a year since 1990 and 5.3 percent a year after the Asian financial crisis at the end of the...

Reducing all forms of malnutrition, including stunting, is central to the World Bank Group's twin goals of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity, as well as building resilience and preventing instability. Maternal and child under nutrition is estimated to be responsible for...

The Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) authorities had been trying to set in motion a process to address the root cause of the region's vulnerability - a largely undiversified economic basis overly dependent on oil. The CEMAC Commission had put in place a large-scale...

Guinea-Bissau is fighting a battle against poverty, low growth, and political fragility. Each of these areas presents both a formidable challenge as well as an opportunity for serious, long-lasting and much-needed change. Poverty is entrenched, inequality is high and other human development...

This report examines the role of infrastructure in explaining why the region lags so far behind the rest of the country. More importantly, it looks at how improved infrastructure may help the region catch up. Infrastructure is examined here through its impact on social as well as economic...

Guinea is a country with a rich historical legacy, abundant natural resources, a privileged geographical location - and a rapidly growing population. A successful political transition and the emergence of a vibrant civil society have helped to ensure ethnic peace and the absence of civil wars in...