Economics & Development

Ratings for the Resilient Landscapes and Livelihoods Project (RLLP) for Ethiopia were as follows: outcome and Bank performance were satisfactory, and monitoring and evaluation (M and E) quality was substantial. Some lessons learned included: a strategic lesson from Sustainable Land Management Project Phase 1 (SLMP-I) and SLMP-II reflected in the design and implementation of RLLP is the need to provide reasonable time to achieve the stabilization of degraded areas, complemented by mechanisms and supporting elements to allow watershed communities to evolve from project-based assistance and adopt and consolidate sustainable management of restored landscapes through government programs. In the design of any NRM project, security of land ownership or user rights represents a key factor for strengthening community incentives for investment in and maintenance of SLM interventions. Highly decentralized SLM implementation is a major factor of project success. Fiduciary lessons regarding the overall support to the SLM Program highlight the importance of: (a) aligning project budgeting systems with the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) budget calendar; (b) including the costs of environmental mitigation measures in subproject designs; and (c) providing adequate resources to upgrade planning, budgeting, and monitoring of inputs and outputs that are essential for decentralized operations.

This study examines the impact of temperature uncertainty on firm fixed capital growth using a unique dataset that merges extensive firm-level financial data with detailed grid-level weather data. The analysis reveals a strong negative relationship between temperature uncertainty and fixed capital growth. Furthermore, the impact varies significantly across industries with differing levels of investment irreversibility and among countries with varying income levels. Firms in industries characterized by high investment irreversibility and those operating in higher-income countries experience more pronounced declines in fixed asset growth due to temperature uncertainty.