During the last decade, the seed sector has been included in economic reform programmes in a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa but it is not clear whether these initiatives have helped or hindered the process of improving small farmers' access to improved seed. This study explores this...

All the world’s cocoa is grown in developing countries — more than half in West Africa — essentially for export. Except in Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia, it is grown by smallholders. In the international cocoa market, prices rose steeply in 1977 but have been in almost constant decline...

Qu'apporte le Club de Paris aux pays débiteurs, et plus particulièrement aux plus pauvres d'entre eux ? Destiné à desserrer la contrainte de liquidité d'un pays faisant face à des problèmes de paiement, en rééchelonnant sa dette auprès des gouvernements créanciers, le Club de Paris...

Ce document technique présente les résultats d'une enquête sur l'impact des réglementations juridiques et fiscales sur les micro-entreprises, assimilées ici au secteur informel, en Tunisie. Son objectif est de déterminer dans quelle mesure les petits entrepreneurs respectent les...

Buoyant oil revenues in the 1970s provided Nigeria with the basis for large but unsustainable increases in incomes and public expenditure. Agriculture was neglected and the economy became heavily dependent on crude oil and more vulnerable to external shocks. These led to fundamental changes in...

What does the Paris Club do for debtor countries, and more particularly for the poorest of them? Set up to ease the liquidity constraints of a country experiencing payment problems, by rescheduling its debt with the creditor governments, the Paris Club has frequently had to intervene since the...

This document presents the different debt-reduction measures from which Niger has benefited since 1983. The country had a sizeable debt with commercial banks, resulting from the development of the uranium mining. Thus, to reschedule its public debt, Niger regularly resorted to both the London...

This paper presents a dynamic model simulating the Mexican economy, concentrating on the effects of public indebtedness. Three main variables are at the heart of the economic dynamic which is described here: the real domestic interest rate, the price of the debt on the secondary market, and the...

This paper presents the results of a survey of the impact of regulations and taxes on micro enterprises, considered here as part of the informal sector, in Tunisia. Its purpose is to determine the extent to which small entrepreneurs comply with current regulations, and the consequences of these...

This paper presents the variety of debt relief measures from which Mali has benefited in recent years. Particular emphasis is placed on the 1988 measures accorded by the Paris Club under the Toronto terms, of which the country was the first beneficiary. This relief, and the adjustment policy...