The initial success of microfinance programs in the 1970s led pioneers to think that many essential problems of the poor might be resolved by access to credit alone -- the ability to acquire assets, to start businesses, to finance emergency needs and to insure against illness and disaster. Part...

L Indice Globale della Fame 2013 (GHI), relativo ai dati del periodo 2008-2012, mostra che la fame mondiale e diminuita di un terzo rispetto al 1990. Nonostante i progressi, il livello della fame nel mondo rimane "grave", con 870 milioni di persone a soffrirne, secondo le stime...

To improve their well-being, the poor in developing countries have used both collective action through formal and informal groups and property rights to natural resources. Collective Action and Property Rights for Poverty Reduction: Insights from Africa and Asia examines how these two types of...

The 2013 Global Hunger Index (GHI), which reflects data from the period 2008 to 2012, shows that global hunger has improved since 1990, falling by one-third. Despite the progress made, the level of hunger in the world remains serious, with 870 million people going hungry, according to estimates...

In this technical guide we describe the Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (SAKSS) concept developed by the International Food Policy Research Institute in response to the capacity gaps typically found in many African countries for generating and translating evidence into action....

In this original study Robert Paarlberg examines local policy responses to GM crop technologies in four important developing countries: Brazil, India, Kenya, and China.

Though famine has affected many parts of the world in the twentieth century, the conditions that produce famine—extreme poverty, armed conflict, economic and political turmoil, and climate shocks—are now most prevalent in Africa. Researchers differ on how to address this problem...

The devastating environmental effects of deforestation and the exploitation of other natural resources in the developing world have been well documented, yet their impact on local communities has received far less attention. This volume fills this gap by looking at how land degradation and...

This paper uses a longitudinal data set from rural Bangladesh to analyze the factors that affect men's and women's ability to participate in groups and to engage in relationships with powerful and influential people. Unlike studies from other countries that find group membership to be positively...