Achieving multi-million-hectare commitments from countries around the world to restore degraded lands in resilient and sustainable ways requires, among other things, huge volumes of tree planting material. Seed systems encompassing all forest reproductive material (e.g., seeds, cuttings, stakes, and wildings), are key to ensuring that sufficient planting material with a diverse range of suitable species, adapted to local conditions and capable of persisting under a changing climate, is available for restoration projects. The ideal structure of a seed system integrates five components: seed selection and innovation, seed harvesting and production, market access, supply and demand, quality control, and an enabling environment. We propose 15 indicators to evaluate these key components and trial them by assessing national seed systems in 7 Latin American countries. We conclude that the indicators enable a straightforward assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of national seed systems, thus assisting governments to identify key areas for improvement and opportunities for horizontal learning.

Countries with different levels of state capacity have access to different sets of policies. In particular, countries with strong state capabilities are able to draw from a broader menu of policies, and pick and successfully implement those policies that best suit the nature of their challenges. In the case of exposure to trade related risk, the literature has usually considered that only one type of policies -those increasing government size-can help to overcome the challenge. However, there are a number of policies that can mitigate trade-induced risks, many of which do not have the necessary implication of increasing public spending. Yet, many such policies require governmental capabilities not available to any country. For that reason, the relationship between openness and the size of government might be mediated by the capabilities of states. The empirical analysis in this paper shows exactly that.

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Inter-American Development Bank, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent. Terms of use: Documents inThe unauthorized commercial use of Bank documents is prohibited and may be punishable under the Bank's policies and/or applicable laws.Copyright © Inter-American Development Bank. This working paper may be reproduced for any non-commercial purpose. It may also be reproduced in any academic journal indexed by the American Economic Association's EconLit, with previous consent by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), provided that the IDB is credited and that the author(s) receive no income from the publication. The literature has identified that countries with higher levels of openness tend to present a larger government sector as a way to reduce the risks to the economy that openness entails. This paper argues that there are a number of policies that can mitigate trade-induced risks, many of which do not have the necessary implication of increasing public spending. Yet, many such policies require governmental capabilities not available to any country. For that reason, the relationship between openness and the size of government might be mediated by the quality of its public sector. While countries with weak government capabilities will tend to rely on spending expansions to deal with trade-induced volatility, countries with stronger governmental capabilities might address such challenges by more efficient and less costly means. The empirical analysis in this paper shows that the effect of openness on government consumption is mediated by the quality of government institutions. Cataloging-in-PublicationJEL classifications: D73, F19, H11, O16, O19, P16

Land restoration is an effective nature-based solution for combating rural poverty and climate change across Latin America. But without well-designed public incentives that reward farmers and forest managers for protecting and growing trees, it will be difficult to achieve the region's food security, climate, forest conservation, and biodiversity goals. This issue brief evaluates the public incentives of six Latin American countries and calculates how much they pay farmers and other landholders that restore land.

Highlights▪ Landscape restoration as a nature-based solution can improve rural livelihoods by increasing food and water security, biodiversity, and soil quality and developing sustainable value chains. Improve monitoring and transparencyFor adaptive management, it is essential to establish a baseline for tracking the progress and impacts of public incentive programs. Diversify tree-based restoration activities with native speciesMost public incentive programs supporting restoration were designed to encourage only tree planting, with little attention to multispecies reforestation and species selection. Including more natives and silviculturual methods is important to increase diversity in restoration practices. Create value for long-term sustainabilityPublic incentives must be conceived as an investment to create value, not a cost. Public incentives can help to reduce the up-front cost of impact investments in restoration, thus reducing the risk in investments. Attach programs to laws and robust institutionsAttaching incentives to laws can ensure long-term application, but to make environmental and agricultural laws effective, institutions with strong management and operational capabilities must lead the implementation of the programs.