The report is an initiative of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department (ARD) of the World Bank. Aquaculture is the fastest-growing food sector in the world and is expected to contribute more than 50 percent of total fish consumption by 2020. Just over 90 percent of aquaculture...

This paper examines the potential of leasing as a tool in rural finance. It is based on a survey of providers drawn from Africa, South Asia, Central Asia, and Latin America, across a spectrum of different types of organizations including two banks, a NGO, a cooperative, a state-owned company,...

This discussion paper builds on a previous paper that suggested that the enhanced use of leasing in rural areas should be supported because leasing overcomes some of the existing constraints in providing credit in rural areas. This paper reinforces the argument by presenting case studies of...

More than 50 nations, almost all in the developing world, produce and export coffee, one of the world's most valuable traded commodities. Some of these countries are dependent on coffee exports for a very significant portion of their international trade and export income. Between 17 and 20...

During the last decade, Bihar's agricultural sector has been one of the fastest growing in India. This study is organized as follows. Chapter 2 provides a framework for understanding the competitiveness of Bihar's agricultural/ agribusiness sector by examining the relative position of Bihar on a...