Cape Verde shifted from a socialist to a capitalistic model in the late 1980s. This shift enabled the population to benefit from rapid economic growth, but concerns have been expressed about a potential increase in inequality. Two household surveys with consumption data implemented in 1988–89...

Conflicts and political instability have been serious constraints to growth in Guinea-Bissau. Of special concern was the civil war of 1998, which lasted 11 months and led to substantial loss of life as well as to a massive decrease in GDP per capita. Based on research on the economic cost of...

This paper presents some analytical techniques to help policymakers gauge the technical and fiscal feasibility of development targets. While each of the techniques discussed below has deficiencies, taken together they have proven very useful in providing a sense of realism to target setting. The...

This chapter is based on qualitative focus group and in-depth interview data collected among rural residents and urban migrants in the five focus countries for this study. The chapter documents the relationship between climate change and internal human mobility as seen by the population, as well...

Climate change is a major source of concern in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and migration is often understood as one of several strategies used by households to respond to changes in climate and environmental conditions, including extreme weather events. Other coping and...

A large part of this study is based on data collected in 2011 in five focus countries of the MENA region. In addition, other existing data sources were used as well, as documented in the various chapters that follow, but this need not be discussed in this chapter. This chapter documents the...

What are the coping mechanisms and adaptation strategies (apart from migration which is discussed in part III of the study) that households use in order to respond to changes in climate and environmental conditions? Are households forced to sell assets or take other emergency measures in cases...

This study aims to be relevant for the MENA region as a whole, but it focuses on five countries - Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, and Yemen, and in many (but not all) cases on specific geographic areas within each of the five countries. After a brief introduction, this chapter outlines the...

Unlike Mexico as a whole, the south (that is, the states of Chiapas, Guerrero, and Oaxaca) may well not reach many of the MDGs. The objective of this paper is to document this assertion and discuss some of the constraints toward reaching the MDGs, as well as some initiatives recently taken to...

Due in part to 40 years of cyclical violence, economic growth in Burundi has remained well below the sub-Saharan Africa average, and Burundi is now the third poorest country in the world. The status quo is unacceptable, and it is essential that the Government drive the changes needed to achieve...