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Transportation has continued to increase worldwide and fossil-fuel dependency is strong which leads to a number of problems, e.g. increased emissions of green-house gases (GHG) and risks related to energy security. Biofuels have until now been one of the few renewable alternatives which have been able to replace fossil fuels on a large scale. The biofuel share in relation to the total use of fuel in the transportation sector is still small, but in many places in the world political targets are set to increase the share of renewable fuels, of which biofuels are supposed to be an important part. Within the European Union targets for renewable energy have been set, including within the transportation sector, where 10% shall come from renewable sources by 2020 according to the EU Renewable Energy Directive (EU RES). Biofuels also need to fulfill the sustainability criteria in the EU RES, to be regarded as renewable. Depending on how biofuels are produced their resource efficiency varies, and the differences in environmental and economic performance can for instance be significant. The aim of this thesis is to describe and analyze conditions for a development towards increased and more resource-efficient production of biofuels in Sweden. The conditions have been studied from a regional resource perspective and from a biofuel producer perspective since it has been assumed that the producers are in possession of important knowledge, and potentially will play an important role in future biofuel development. The concept of resource efficiency used in this thesis includes an environmental and economic perspective as well as an overall societal dimension to some extent. The region of Östergötland in Sweden was used for the assessment of the resourcefocused biofuel potential for the year 2030, where two scenarios based on assessments regarding socio-technical development in relation to regional resources were used. The scenarios were based on semi-structured interviews with biofuel actors, literature studies and information from experts in the field. In the EXPAN (Expansion) scenario a continued development in line with the current one was assumed, but also an increased availability of feedstock primarily within the agricultural and waste sectors (also including byproducts from industry) for biofuel production. In the INNTEK (Innovation and Technology development) scenario greater technological progress was assumed to also enable the use of some unconventional feedstock besides increased available arable land and improved collection/availability of certain feedstock. Biomass feedstock from four categories was included in the potential: waste, agriculture, forestry and aquatic environments. One important feedstock which was not included in this study, but which is often included in studies of potential, is lignocellulosic material from the forest. This choice was also supported by the regional actors who judged it as less probable that there will be any large-scale use of such feedstock for biofuels in this region within the given timeframe. Regarding arable land available for biofuel production a share of 30% was assumed at maximum in the region, of which 15% is already used for cereal production for ethanol fuel. On these additional 15% assumed to be available for biofuel production year 2030, ley cropping for production of biogas was assumed in this study. Aquatic biomass is often not included in biofuel potentials. Here, algae were assumed to be a potentially interesting substrate for biogas production since harvesting algae in for instance the Baltic Sea could be seen as a multifunctional measure, i.e., contributing additional environmental benefits such as reducing eutrophication. Based on the assumption that the energy need in the transportation sector will be the same in 2030 as in 2010, up to 30% could be substituted with biofuels in the EXPAN scenario and up to 50% in the INNTEK scenario, without seriously conflicting with other interests such as food or feed production. In the study of potential, production systems for biogas production were prioritized since such systems were judged to have a large potential for resource efficiency. This is because they have a big capacity to utilize by-products and waste as feedstock, and also because they can contribute to closing the loops of plant nutrients, seen as an important goal in society, if the digestate is returned to arable land. The utilization of by-products and waste however in many cases requires cooperation between different actors in society. Within the research field of industrial symbiosis, cooperation regarding material and energy flows is studied from different perspectives, e.g. how such cooperation between actors evolves and to what extent such cooperation can contribute to improving the environmental and economic performance of systems. Both these perspectives are interesting in relation to biofuels since production often involves a large number of energy- and material flows at the same time as resource efficiency is important. How the producers organize the production when it comes to feedstock, energy, by-products and products and what influences this is therefore interesting to study. In this thesis four biofuel producers of three different biofuels (ethanol, biodiesel and biogas) on the Swedish market were studied, focusing on how they organize their biofuel production in terms of e.g. their material and energy flows, and how they intend to organize it in the future. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with the biofuel producers as well as literature studies. In all the cases, a number of areas of material and energy flow cooperation were identified and it could also be concluded that there had been some change regarding these patterns over time. Looking into the future a clear change of strategy was identified in the ethanol case and partly also in the biodiesel case where a development towards improved valorisation and differentiation of by-product flows was foreseen. If such a "biorefinery" strategy is realized, it can potentially improve the economic viability and resource efficiency in these biofuel producers. In the biogas cases, instead a strategy to lower the costs for feedstock through the use of lower quality feedstock was identified. This strategy also has a potential to increase economic viability and improve the resource efficiency. However, the success of this strategy is to a large extent dependent on how the off-set of the biofertilizer can be arranged regarding the economic challenges that the biogas producers' experience, and yet no strategy for implementation regarding this was identified. The EU Renewable Energy Directive was mentioned in relation to most cooperation projects and therefore regarded as an important critical factor. All of the studied companies also struggle to be competitive, for which reason the importance of the direct economic aspects of cooperation seems to increase. ; Transporterna i världen ökar kontinuerligt och det fossila beroendet är fortsatt stort vilket medför flera problem, bl. a. ökade utsläpp av växthusgaser och en osäkerhet kring framtidens energiförsörjning. Biodrivmedel har hittills varit ett av de få förnyelsebara alternativ som kunnat ersätta fossila drivmedel i stor skala. Andelen biodrivmedel av den totala bränsleanvändningen inom transportsektorn är dock fortfarande liten, men på många håll i världen finns nu politiska mål för att öka andelen förnyelsebara drivmedel av vilka biodrivmedel förväntas utgöra en viktig del. Inom EU har mål för förnybar energi satts upp bl. a. inom transportsektorn där 10% skall komma från förnybara energikällor senast år 2020 enligt EUs förnybarhetsdirektiv. Biodrivmedel måste dessutom, om de ska räknas som förnyelsebara, uppfylla direktivets hållbarhetskriterier. Beroende på hur biodrivmedel produceras är de olika resurseffektiva, med exempelvis betydande skillnader avseende miljömässig och ekonomisk prestanda. Syftet med den här avhandlingen är att beskriva och analysera förutsättningarna för en utveckling mot ökad och mer resurseffektiv produktion av biodrivmedel i Sverige. Förutsättningarna har studerats med ett regionalt resursperspektiv samt från ett biodrivmedelsproducentperspektiv eftersom producenterna sitter på viktiga kunskaper och sannolikt spelar en betydande roll för den framtida utvecklingen. Resurseffektivitetsbegreppet som används i den här avhandlingen inkluderar ett miljömässigt och ett ekonomiskt perspektiv liksom ett övergripande samhälleligt perspektiv. När det gäller ett regionalt resursperspektiv har Östergötland använts för att med hjälp av två scenarier för år 2030 ta fram en biodrivmedelspotential utifrån en bedömning av en socio-teknisk utvecklingspotential i förhållande till regionala resurser. Scenarierna togs fram med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer med aktörer i branschen, litteraturstudier och i vissa fall med hjälp av sakkunniga. I scenario EXPAN (expansionsscenario) antogs en fortsatt teknikutveckling i linje med den hittills-varande och en samtidig ökning av tillgängligheten av potentiella resurser inom framförallt jordbrukssektorn och avfallssektorn (inkluderat också restproduktsresurser inom industrin) för biodrivmedelsproduktion. I scenario INNTEK (Innovations och teknikutvecklingsscenario) har utöver ytterligare antagen tillgänglig jordbruksmark också större tekniksprång antagits som möjliggör användning av icke konventionella råvaror för biodrivmedelsproduktion, samt förbättrad insamling/tillgängliggörande av vissa råvaror. I potentialen har biomassa från fyra olika sektorer inkluderats; avfall, jordbruk, skogsbruk och akvatiska miljöer. En viktig biomassaresurs som inte inkluderats i denna potentialstudie, men som vanligen inkluderas i potentialstudier, är lignocellulosarika material från skogen. Detta var ett val som också stöddes av de regionala aktörerna som i den här studien bedömde det som mindre sannolikt att någon storskalig användning av sådana råvaror kommer att finnas i regionen inom den aktuella tidsramen. När det gäller jordbruksmark som kan utnyttjas för bioenergiproduktion så har en andel på 30% antagits, varav 15% redan idag utnyttjas till spannmålsodling för produktion av etanol. På de ytterligare 15% som antas kunna tas i anspråk för biodrivmedelsändamål år 2030, har vallodling för biogasändamål antagits i denna studie. Akvatisk biomassa ingår ofta inte i bioenergipotentialstudier, men har inkluderats här eftersom alger skulle kunna vara ett intressant substrat för biogasproduktion, men också för att algskörd i akvatiska miljöer skulle kunna ses som en multifunktionell åtgärd med ytterligare miljönytta som t.ex. minskad övergödning i Östersjön. Med antagandet att energibehovet inom transportsektorn blir lika stort år 2030 som år 2010, skulle upp till 30% av de fossila drivmedlen kunna ersättas av biodrivmedel i scenario EXPAN och upp till 50% i scenario INNTEK, utan att större intressekonflikter skulle uppstå i förhållande till andra behov såsom mat eller foderproduktion. I potentialstudien har vidare produktionssystem för biogas prioriterats eftersom sådana system bedömdes ha stor potential när det gäller resurseffektivitet. Först och främst för att de har stor kapacitet när det gäller användning av restprodukter, men också för att de kan bidra till att sluta kretsloppet av växtnäringsämnen om rötresten återförs till åkermark. Nyttiggörande av restprodukter och avfall kräver emellertid i många fall samarbete mellan olika aktörer i samhället. Inom forskningsfältet industriell symbios studerar man bl. a. hur samarbeten kring energi- och materialflöden mellan aktörer uppstår och i vilken utsträckning samarbetsgraden kan bidra till att förbättra miljöprestandan och ekonomiska prestanda i systemen. Dessa perspektiv är intressanta i förhållande till biodrivmedel eftersom produktionen av dessa är förknippad med ett stort antal energi- och materialflöden samtidigt som resurseffektiviteten är viktig. Hur biodrivmedelsproducenterna organiserar produktionen när det gäller råvaror, energi, biprodukter och produkter och vad som styr detta är därför intressant att studera. I den här avhandlingen studerades hur fyra svenska biodrivmedelsproducenter för tre olika biodrivmedel (etanol, biodiesel och biogas) på den svenska marknaden har organiserat sin produktion, med fokus på energi- och materialflöden, samt hur de planerar att organisera den framöver. Studien baseras framförallt på semi-strukturerade intervjuer med aktörerna samt litteraturstudier. I samtliga fyra fall kunde ett antal samarbeten kring bl.a. material och energiflöden kartläggas samt hur dessa förändrats över tiden. När det gäller framtiden kunde en tydlig strategiomläggning ses i etanolfallet och delvis i biodieselfallet mot en valorisering och diversifiering av rest-/bi-produktflöden. Om denna "bioraffinaderistrategi" lyckas kan den bidra till bättre lönsamhet och bättre resurseffektivitet. I biogasfallen fanns istället strategier för att försöka sänka råvarukostnader genom att hitta råvaror av lägre kvalitet. Också denna strategi kan öka lönsamheten och förbättra resurseffektiviteten, men detta förutsätter att avsättningen av biogödsel också kan lösas på ett lönsamt sätt. Detta är en fortsatt stor utmaning för biogasproducenterna. En av de viktigaste kritiska faktorerna för de olika samarbetsprojekten var EUs förnybarhetsdirektiv som nämndes i samband med de flesta samarbetsprojekt och som här sågs som en miljömässig drivkraft. Också det långsiktiga byggandet av gröna varumärken verkar vara en drivkraft, åtminstone när det gäller vissa samarbetsprojekt. Samtliga biodrivmedelsproducenter kämpar idag med lönsamheten varför också de ekonomiska aspekterna kring samarbeten är mycket väsentliga.

INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC UNIONS - ICSU SCIENCE INTERNATIONAL Newsletter No.65 August 1997 Code Number:NL97009 Sizes of Files: Text: 100.8K Graphics: No associated graphics files MEETING REPORTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR THE ICSU'S PROGRAMME ON CAPACITY BUILDING IN SCIENCE Julia Marton-Lefevre, Executive Director, ICSU The first meeting of the Advisory Committee for the newly launched ICSU Programme on Capacity Building in Science (PCBS) took place in Paris at the end of June. The Members of the Advisory Committee are listed. The meeting was also attended by a number of invited observers from UNESCO and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. The Advisory Committee reviewed plans for launching a Programme organized around the previously identified themes of Primary Level Education; Public Understanding of Science, and the Organization of Actions to Reduce the Isolation of Scientists. It was agreed that the Programme should initially concentrate on a few highly visible pilot projects in each of the areas and that some of these should begin immediately. FIRST MEETING OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN SCIENCE (SCRES) Oslo, Norway, 19-22 June 1997 Kathinka Evers, Executive Secretary, SCRES The recently established Standing Committee on Responsibility and Ethics in Science (SCRES) held its first meeting 19-22 June 1997 at the Norwegian Academy of Science in Oslo, Norway. The main task of the meeting was to establish the precise role that SCRES should play in the future: what are its main goals? what does SCRES aim to produce? who is the intended audience? The first discussion focused on how the committee intends to operate, and how it should communicate with other ICSU members. ICSU PRESS ACTIVITIES: ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING IN SCIENCE Sir Roger Elliott, Chairman ICSU Press When the General Assembly in Washington received the report of the UNESCO/ICSU Press Expert Conference on Electronic Publishing in Science it charged the ICSU Press Committee with the task of undertaking the follow-up activities which derived from the recommendations of the Conference. SPOTLIGHTS ON SCIENCE WORLD CLIMATE RESEARCH PROGRAMME (WCRP): Further Strategic Steps in Internationally Coordinated Climate Research: a report of the eighteenth session of the Joint Scientific Committee (JSC) for the WCRP H. Grassl, Director, WCRP The WCRP is jointly sponsored by ICSU, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. Overall scientific guidance for the programme is provided by the ICSU/WMO/IOC Joint Scientific Committee (JSC), consisting of eighteen scientists selected by mutual agreement between the three sponsoring organizations and representing the atmospheric, oceanographic, hydrological and polar science communities. At the kind invitation of the Atmospheric Environment Service of Canada, the eighteenth annual session of the Committee was held in Toronto from 17 to 21 March 1996. IGCP: INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIVE PROGRAMMES CENTRAL TO THE IGCP ENVIRONMENTAL DEBATE Edward Derbyshire Chairman IGCP What's in a name? Seen from outside, a programme with the title of "international Geological Correlation Programme" might appear rather narrow and prescriptive. in particular, the word "correlation" could even be construed as indicating that the IGCP is concerned with ensuring that national programmes conform to some kind of scientific norm. in fact, neither of these two impressions could be farther from the truth. It may not be generally known that the IGC]? is widely regarded as the most successful international collaborative programme of its type. Jointly sponsored by UNESCO and the international Union of Geological Sciences (lUGS), it brings together researchers in all aspects of the study of the solid earth sciences. It is open to scientists from any nation, and may be led by geoscientists of any nationality. This is vitally important for, after all, geological boundaries do not stop at national borders! THREAT TO FULL AND OPEN ACCESS TO DATA Ferris Webster, Chairman, ICSU Group on Data and Information New intellectual property laws may have potential adverse effects on the conduct of science and education. That was the principal concern of the Group on Data and Information of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) and the Commission on Data Access of the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA), which met jointly at ICSU Headquarters in June. At issue is the protection of databases that lack creativity in the selection, arrangement, or presentation of the information even though they may require a substantial amount of time, effort, or financial investment to produce. The creative elements of databases are already protected under copyright. The proposed sui generis right would in addition protect the contents (i.e., the facts themselves) of databases. Thus, all. sorts of compilations of data or datasets that have traditionally been in the public domain for lack of sufficient "originality" (to make them copyrightable) will now be protected against unauthorized uses and would enable the database owners to charge at whatever level they chose for authorized use. ENVIRONMENT EARTH COUNCIL: RIO+5 - FROM AGENDA TO ACTION Rio de Janeiro, 13-19 March 1997 Sophie Boyer King, Environmental Science Officer, ICSU The Earth Council was set up in 1992, with ICSU's sponsorship, and is principally aimed at encouraging non-governmental bodies to be involved in environment and development issues. The culmination of these activities led to a series of events in Rio de Janeiro in March 1997, five years after the Earth Summit: Rio+5, from Agenda to Action. ICSU agreed to contribute to the Earth Council's Rio+5 activities, providing inputs before the conference, and playing an important facilitator and participatory role during the March events. As part of preliminary reporting activities, ICSU conducted a survey among its members regarding the progress and difficulties in the implementation of ASCEND 21 (Agenda of Science for Environment and Development into the 21st Century). Responses received were incorporated into a Special Focus Report, one of the many documents which shaped the Rio+5 agenda. DIALOGUE SESSION ON SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES Fifth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, United Nations, April 1997 Sophie Boyer King, Environmental Sciences Officer, ICSU ICSU was invited by the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (UN CSD) to participate in and facilitate a dialogue session of scientific and technological communities with UN government delegates, as part of the Fifth session of the CSD. Each Major Group had three hours in which to make presentations and respond to questions from the floor, in a first-time event at a UN session. JOINT SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL COMMITTEE FOR GLOBAL OCEAN OBSERVING SYSTEM (J-GOOS) Sophie Boyer King, Environmental Sciences Officer, ICSU The fourth meeting of J-GOOS took place in Miami on the 23-25 April 1997. During the two days preceding J-GOOS IV, the JGOOS ad hoc planning group had met to discuss the progress and direction of the J-GOOS plan, GOOS 1998. J-GOOS was informed of a proposal to merge the Strategic Sub Committee (SSC) of the Intergovernmental Committee of GOOS (I-GOOS), with J-GOOS to form a GOOS Steering Committee. This committee would have more executive functions than the present J-GOOS and would include members from operational organisations to reflect this. After some discussion, J-GOOS endorsed the proposal for a restructured GOOS. The new director of the GOOS Project Office, Dr Colin Summerhayes, updated participants on the activities of the office, including increasing coordination with the various communities which contribute to the development of GOOS. IGBP AT UNGASS EXHIBITION During the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Rio+5 (UNGASS), an exhibition was held showing "Sustainable Development in Action". The IGBP was part of this exhibition and presented posters that were specially developed for this event. In addition, the homepage was made available for browsing and a selection of IGBP Reports and Newsletters was displayed. ENVIRONMENT OCEAN CIRCULATION AND CLIMATE: The 1998 WOCE Conference, Halifax, N.S. Canada, 24-29 May 1998 World Ocean Circulation Experiment: WOCE is a component of the World Climate Research Programme investigating the role played by the ocean circulation in the earth's climate system. Its aim is to develop improved ocean circulation models for use in climate research. The WOCE observational phase from 1990-1997 has used satellites and in-situ physical and chemical measurements to produce a data set of unprecedented scope and precision. WOCE is now entering its phase of Analysis, interpretation, Modelling and Synthesis (AIMS) which will continue until the end of WOCE in 2002. The reconciliation of model results and observations, and ultimately the assimilation of ocean data into models, presents the ocean science community with a novel set of challenges. HOUSE NEWS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ICSU Jean-Francois Stuyck-Taillandier has been appointed to replace Julia Marton-Lefevre and will become Executive Director of ICSU, for an initial 2-year period, as of 1 September. NEW EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF SCRES Kathinka Evers, a native of Sweden, graduated in Philosophy at the Lund University and later obtained a doctorate in philosophy of science and logic in 1991. NEW CHAIRMAN OF IGBP Dr. Berrien Moore III was recently appointed to replace Dr Peter Liss as the Chair of the SC-IGBP and will start his term at the beginning of 1998. Moore is a mathematician from the USA and is Director of the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space at the University of New Hampshire. NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF IGBP IGBP and ICSU are happy to announce the appointment of the new Executive Director of IGBP. Will Steffen, an Australian national, is due to replace Chris Rapley in January 1998. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT SCIENCE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES G.Thyagarajan, Scientific Secretary, COSTED-IBN EXCERPTS FROM THE PRESENTATION AT THE 25TH ICSU GA, WASHINGTON D C The Global Science & Technology Scenario Threat of Scientific and Technological Marginalisation Special Problems of Small States INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS During the last five years no other issue has engaged the attention of national governments, politicians, scientists and technologists, industrialists, trade leaders, the media and the wider public, as the Uruguay Round, GATT, the Marrakech Agreement and the arrival of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Reactions have ranged from complete faith in the new order to its abject rejection. The issues generated are complex and have the potential to have far-reaching implications because, unlike the original GATT (which concerned international trade rules in the goods sector only) the 'Final Round' entered three new areas namely, Investment, Intellectual Property Rights and Services. It also extended to the sensitive areas of agriculture and textiles. 32ND COSPAR SCIENTIFIC ASSEMBLY and Associated Events - 40th Anniversary Nagoya, Japan, 12 - 19 July 1998 Preliminary Program CALENDAR Details of forthcoming events from August 1997 to November 1997. PLANS TO FOLLOW UP TO THE REPORT ON THE ASSESSMENT OF ICSU Members of the ICSU family received a memorandum sent from Paris on 4 July with information pertaining to the preparation of the Extraordinary General Assembly of ICSU to be held in Vienna, Austria on 25 April 1998 and with the Executive Board's proposals to follow up the recommendations contained in the Report on the Assessment of ICSU. The Extraordinary General Assembly, was called for by a Resolution at the 25th General Assembly of ICSU which requested "that the Executive Board formulate a strategy for responding to the recommendations of the Assessment Panel Report and present its suggestions for approval by an Extraordinary General Assembly.". Summary of Executive Board's proposals to follow up the Report on the Assessment of ICSU LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE ICSU GENERAL COMMITTEE FOR THE PERIOD 1996-1999 EUROPEAN RESEARCH CONFERENCES Co-sponsored by the European Science Foundation and the Euroconferences Activity of the European Union Space-Time Modelling of Bounded Natural Domains: Virtual Environments for the Geosciences near Kerkrade The Netherlands, 9-14 December 1997 GLOBAL CHANGE SCIENTIST The Global Analysis, Interpretation and Modelling task force (GAIM) of the lnternational Geosphere Biosphere Program (IGBP) invites applications and nominations for a Science Officer to begin in September, 1997.

Waste management issues have been hounding both urban and rural communities for decades. The passing of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 was meant to ensure the protection of public health and environment, while encouraging resource conservation and recovery, and public cooperation and responsibility. Among its critical provisions were the formal devolution of waste management to local levels, the forced closure of illegal dumpsites and investment on facilities; and the reduction and proper treatment of solid wastes. This study looked into the implementation of the law in both national and subnational levels through desk review and the conduct of case studies in selected areas, and the processing of available quantitative data. Results showed varying implementation templates across study sites, reflecting different enabling mechanisms and replicable initiatives. Documented best practices include the legal waste facility transition of the Payatas dumpsite in Quezon City and the organization of its informal economy; the clustering of waste management service of Teresa, Rizal and its province-wide incentive mechanism and partnership with construction companies; and the market linkages for revenue generation; and the strong LGU-CSO partnership in San Fernando, Pampanga. The overly simplistic transfer of responsibility to LGUs have largely resulted to two decades of mediocre policy grounding. Common avenues for improvement were also identified including the need to fast-track transition timelines; augment national and local government complementation; invest on appropriate technologies and facilities; and sustain public and private sector engagements.

This publication summarizes the current status of urban sanitation in Papua New Guinea, highlighting conditions in informal settlements in Port Moresby and peri-urban communities in selected provincial towns. It discusses opportunities to make sanitation more inclusive through the introduction of an operational fecal sludge management framework and offers lessons and practical recommendations for the government and sector stakeholders.

The Government of Uzbekistan (GoU) has recently adopted a policy to mechanize the cotton harvest as part of its drive to modernize the agricultural sector. Under Uzbekistan's state-order system it is compulsory for many farmers to grow cotton. They are contractually obligated to produce stipulated quantities that are annually set by the government, and must sell these to the GoU at a price fixed by the government. Almost all cotton in Uzbekistan is harvested by hand, even though mechanization existed during the Soviet period. An estimated 2.2–3 millio

Rwanda's growth rates during the past few years exceeded the growth rates of developing countries, except for in 2013 when Rwanda's growth decelerated to 4.7 percent. Among the 181 economies where 2014 gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate data is available, Rwanda's growth rate of 7.0 percent is more than twice as high as the average of the 181 economies (3.2 percent), and is ranked 20th globally. Going forward, Rwanda's growth rates are projected to exceed global growth rates in 2015-2017. This edition focuses on jobs in particular the employment dynamics of the past decade.

How do global supply chain linkages modify countries' incentives to impose import protection? Are these linkages empirically important determinants of trade policy? To address these questions, this paper introduces supply chain linkages into a workhorse terms-of-trade model of trade policy with political economy. Theory predicts that discretionary final goods tariffs will be decreasing in the domestic content of foreign-produced final goods. Provided foreign political interests are not too strong, final goods tariffs will also be decreasing in the foreign content of domestically-produced final goods. The paper tests these predictions using newly assembled data on bilateral applied tariffs, temporary trade barriers, and value-added contents for 14 major economies over the 1995-2009 period. There is strong support for the empirical predictions of the model. The results imply that global supply chains matter for trade policy, both in principle and in practice.

Ethiopia is a highly decentralized country. Presently, sub-national government taxes and revenues account for about 28 percent of general taxes and revenues, and sub-national expenditures amount to 51 percent of general government expenditures. The ensuing vertical mismatch is bridged by grants from the Federal government to the regions. Presently, these grants account for 57 percent of sub-national expenditures1. For many years, these grants consisted mostly of a block grant (the Federal General Purpose Grant) given without any strings attached, which means the regions could use it as they wished. The rest of the report is organized as follows. Section two provides the policy context that is the information, data, evolutions, etc. specific to Ethiopia, which are necessary to understand and interpret the MDGs grant policy. Section three present and discusses the policy content that is the components of the policy previously identified. Section four is a policy assessment, which utilizes the evaluation framework proposed above to analyze the relationships between the various components of the policy, and discuss its efficiency, its effectiveness and its success. Section five is a conclusion that summarizes the analysis, and attempts, prudently and modestly, to outline some potential avenues for future action.

The major role tropical forests play in biodiversity and climate change has led the world to search for effective ways to slow down deforestation. Community forest management (CFM) is an example of the broader concept of community-based natural resources management (CBNRM). As part of the decentralization policy in many countries, mainly in Africa and Asia, CFM was expected to promote: (i) a more effective stewardship of the resources by involving the local communities in the management of the resources, and (ii) a more locally-driven development with them tapping most of the derived benefits. The precursors of CBNRM and CFM in Madagascar are the centrally-led compensation-based mechanisms to conservation. Madagascar is one of the first countries in the southern hemisphere to have put in place a legal framework for CBNRM and CFM. The CBNRM implementation process starts with the creation of a local natural resources management group. The government has identified the protection of natural capital and the harnessing of its value as a key pillar in its national development plan for 2015-2019. The plan identifies poor governance as a major constraint to achieving the country's development objectives. It puts strong emphasis on the roles of both natural capital and the necessity for a more inclusive economy to achieve sustainable development. This report will help the Bank take stock of the nearly two-decades of implementation of the national environmental action plan and provide nation-wide facts that will inform future investment in renewable natural resources management, biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction, and local development in the future. The present work is targeted to decision makers and stakeholders involved in CFM policy with the objective of taking stock of almost 20 years of implementation and advise on future directions in policy formulation. The report is organized as follows: section one presents community forest management (CFM) in Madagascar. Section two provides the result of an impact evaluation analysis conducted on the application of CFM policy. Section three provides an analysis of the legal and institutional aspects of the application of CFM policy in Madagascar. Section four presents recommendations for the short, medium, and longer term. Section five concludes.

Wage inequality decreased significantly in the Russian Federation over the 2000s. The economic expansion experienced throughout the decade led to an improvement in social indicators, with a large reduction in poverty rates and an increase in higher education. In this context, wage inequality showed a sharp decline, with the Gini index on labor income decreasing by 18 percent between 2002 and 2012. Using data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, this paper documents the reduction in wage inequality and explores potential factors behind the trend. The analysis uses a decomposition technique proposed by Fortin, Lemieux, and Firpo (2011) to disentangle the main drivers behind changes in the wage distribution. The results suggest that wage structure effects are more important than composition effects for explaining changes in wage inequality. Institutional factors, such as minimum wage policies and changes in the returns to employment in different sectors and types of firms as well as the reduction of the skill premium, emerge as the most relevant factors for explaining changes in the wage structure.

This paper uses a combination of survey questions to instructors and data collected from course syllabi and examinations to examine how the subject of development economics is taught at the undergraduate and masters levels in developing countries, and benchmark this against undergraduate classes in the United States. The study finds that there is considerable heterogeneity in what is considered development economics: there is a narrow core of only a small set of topics such as growth theory, poverty and inequality, human capital, and institutions taught in at least half the classes, with substantial variation in other topics covered. In developing countries, development economics is taught largely as a theoretical subject coupled with case studies, with few courses emphasizing data or empirical methods and findings. This approach contrasts with the approach taken in leading U.S. economics departments and with the evolution of development economics research. The analysis finds that country income per capita, the role of the state in the economy, the education level in the country, and the involvement of the instructor in research are associated with how close a course is to the frontier. The results suggest there are important gaps in how development economics is taught.

The lessons learned from the implications of the global crisis for the Armenian economy led the Government of Armenia to refine its approach to economic development policy. The business environment, the market structure, and the incentive pattern had not fostered reallocation of resources into more productive areas or the emergence of internationally competitive products and services. Despite numerous initiatives and multiple efforts, there was no holistic approach or actionable roadmap for supporting private sector development. The pressing need to restore economic growth despite a small domestic market led the Armenian government to search for new sources of growth in export-oriented industries. At the end of 2011, the Government of Armenia adopted its export-led industrial development strategy. The strategy set as targets improving the general business environment and sector-specific initiatives to address market failures and expand exports. The strategy builds on both a general (crosscutting) and an industry-customized toolset.

Horizontal inequalities (HIs) within a country, or inequalities among groups, have been shown to be an important source of violent conflict. Relevant group categorizations include religion, ethnicity, and region. HIs can also be measured in different ways. Ethnicity, language, religion, race, and region are examples of potentially relevant and salient group categorizations. In this paper the authors will review the prevailing HIs and their management in four West African countries - Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, and Nigeria. The report provides some basic facts about these four countries, which vary greatly in area, per capita income, poverty, child mortality rates, and other features. In terms of ethnoreligious demography, it is important to note that all four countries have a highly diverse ethnic population, and three of the four (Ghana, Nigeria, and Cote d'Ivoire) have substantial Christian and Muslim populations. Each of the case study countries has had a relatively turbulent and complex political history in recent decades. The four case study countries present instructive examples of the possible (mis)management of HIs. In this paper the authors analyze the evolution and management of the prevailing HIs in each of the four cases. Section one gives introduction. Section two presents evidence on the evolution and current state of HIs in each country. Section three analyzes the main causes of the prevailing HIs, while section four focuses on the governments' attitudes, policies, and measures toward HIs. Section five discusses the links between the HIs observed and the political outcomes. Section six draws some conclusions and makes policy recommendations for improved management of HIs in multiethnic developing countries generally, and specifically in four case study countries.

South Sudan is a fragile country beset by conflicts. The oil shutdown accompanied by a border closure in 2012 was resolved, but ongoing military clashes between factions of the ruling party have affected livelihoods since December 2013. Before the onset of these conflicts, large parts of the population were food insecure (2 out of 3 people) and lived in poverty (1 out of 2 people). This note estimates and juxtaposes the impact of the oil shutdown and the ongoing military conflict on livelihoods based on food price changes, predicted harvest losses and displacement. The resulting poverty estimates help to understand the structural implications of these conflicts. But to validate these numbers, test the underlying modeling assumptions and inform a policy response, new data needs to be collected urgently.

There is a growing consensus that what you export matters for growth (see for instance, Haussman and al. 2007 and Krishna and Maloney (2011)). This paper examines whether and to what extent Jordan and Tunisia, the two most globally integrated countries of the Middle East and North Africa region, are moving up the technological ladder. To that effect, we use two highly disaggregated panel export database (products captured at the 11-digit level) and a 'product-based' methodology that allows a mapping of products classified by technological content and their sector of origin. We find that Jordan and Tunisia have experienced contrasting dynamics over the last decade. Thanks to its large exports of pharmaceutical products, Jordan enjoys a much higher share of high tech products in its export basket (11.5 percent versus 5.4 percent respectively) but this share has been declining over time due to the rapid rise of exports of textiles products. In contrast, from a very low basis, Tunisia has been catching up thanks to a slow but steady rise in medium-high tech products (electronics and mechanical components) and a corresponding decline in the preeminence of exports of textile products. Interestingly, success stories identified in both countries are all associated with the establishment of an 'enclave' where transparent 'rules of the game' are credibly enforced with the help of an external policy anchor either through international agreements (e.g. Jordan's free trade agreement with the US and the signature of and compliance with WTO's Intellectual Property Rights) or the establishment of a 'special zone/regime' such as Tunisia's 'offshore' regime and Jordan's Qualifying Industrial Zone. This finding underscores the importance of overcoming institutional weaknesses and establishing transparent and rules-based Government-business relationships as a pre-requisite for successful global integration in developing countries countries.