Agribusiness (including agriculture) accounts for almost one third of South Asia’s GDP and has the potential to almost double over the next fifteen years (reaching 1.5 trillion US dollars by 2030). This increase will be driven by rapid growth in population, incomes and urbanization, as well as...

In this note, the instruments supporting risk retention and risk financing at the national and regional/international levels will be the sole focus. Risk transfer, including insurance, is a very broad subject and requires a separate discussion; however, when a hybrid solution involves a transfer...

Earthquakes, floods, cyclones, and such other hazards each year affect approximately 200 million people. Developing countries absorbed 98 percent of these disasters and accounted for nine out of ten disaster-related deaths in the period 1991-2005. In fact, low and middle income countries suffer...

The recent political upheavals in the Middle East and North Africa region have exposed growing concerns about conflict risk, political stability, and reform prospects across its societies. Given the prevalence of oil and gas resource endowments in the region, which a voluminous literature...