Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development

JAERD

Vol. 2(3), pp. 046-049, October, 2015. www.premierpublishers.org, ISSN: 2167-0477

Review

Rural development in transition: Global trends

*Nazeer Udin
*Centre for Rural Development Studies Bangalore University, Bangalore 56 Karnataka, India.
Email: rdnazeer@gmail.com
Although rural development has been a priority area for external donors its importance has
increased in the second half of the last 50 years as concerns about food security, the population
explosion, environment and climatic changes, as well as poverty, equality and social justice
have come to be increasingly perceived as being in the purview of global, rather than national
policy agendas. Rural development stood at the cross-cutting path of these concerns. However,
the multiplicity of the objectives which rural development was expected to achieve often
deprived it of a central focus and often contributed to its failure. It is well experimented through
various strategic interventions by both developed and developing countries and highlights the
various paradigm shifts in the rural development concepts. Rural development generally
denotes economic development and community development actions and initiatives taken to
improve the standard of living in non-urban neighborhood, remote villages.
Against this backdrop, the paper, examine the changing global trends in rural development and
further it explores the potential areas of rural sector as a growth engine towards inclusive
development.
Key words: Rural development, poverty, rural employment, government non-governmental organizations.

INTRODUCTION
The concept of rural development has changed
significantly during the last 3 decades. Until the 1970s,
rural development was synonymous with agricultural
development and, hence, focused on increasing
agricultural production. This focus seems to have been
driven primarily by the interests of industrialization to
extract surpluses from the agriculture sector to reinforce
industrialization with the focus on increasing agricultural
production, the stated objective of most countries was to
promote smallholder agriculture. Over time, this
smallholder
agriculture-centric
concept
of
rural
development underwent changes. By the early 1980s,
according to Harris, the World Bank defined it as a
strategy designed to improve the economic and social life
of a specific group of peoplethe rural poor. Four major
factors appear to have influenced the change: increased
concerns about the persistent and deepening of rural

poverty; changing views on the meaning of the concept of

development itself; emergence of a more diversified rural
economy in which rural nonfarm enterprises play an
increasingly important role; and increased recognition of
the importance of reducing the non income dimensions of
poverty to achieve sustainable improvements in the
socioeconomic well-being of the poor.
Before the 1970s, rural development was seen to be
synonymous with agricultural development. Rural
development, defined in the 1980s by the World Bank as
a strategy designed to improve the economic and social
life of the rural poor, has since been variously defined.
For instance the USDA defines it as improvement in the
overall rural community conditions, including economic
and other quality of life considerations such as
environment, health, infrastructure, and housing (USDA

Rural development in transition: Global trends

Udin N

046

2006). Apart from the changing context of rural

development, increasing incidence of poverty/extreme
poverty and recognition of its non income derivative have
contributed significantly to the evolution of new narratives
of rural development. A major non-income need of rural
people, the dearth of which contributes to their
backwardness is political participation - which was used
to define what is known as inclusive rural development when combined with the pursuance of their economic and
social needs. Another concept is that of integrated rural
development, which favours the amalgamation of
development activities in various economic sectors
(agriculture, commerce, industry, etc) in the rural
development process. It also includes the integration of
the traditionally disadvantaged groups (such as children,
the youth, women, the elderly, minorities, etc) into the
rural development process.
Todays concept of rural development is fundamentally
different from that used about 3 or 4 decades ago. The
concept now encompasses concerns that go well
beyond improvements in growth, income, and output. The
concerns include an assessment of changes in the
quality of life, broadly defined to include improvement in
health and nutrition, education, environmentally safe
living conditions, and reduction in gender and income
inequalities. Today there seems to be universal
consensus that the ultimate objective of rural
development is to improve the quality of life of rural
people. Despite the above changing contexts, the
necessity for greater and deliberate efforts targeting
development of rural areas and their inhabitants has
continued growing, especially in Africa and other
developing countries
Rural development would continue to be a frontline issue
in global development agenda, for both traditional, well
known reasons and the emerging ones. Whatever view is
held on the future of rural development, it is still difficult to
deny the immortal contribution of the rural environment
and its people to global agriculture, food security and the
perpetuation of the human race. In most developing
countries, rural communities are home to majority of the
citizens and still produce the bulk of the food and fiber.
Rural development is a crucial tool for combating global
poverty, disease, human slavery and inequality. It not
only creates a new level of self-sufficiency and
satisfaction for members of a society who may have
never experienced such development, but as a
consequence of globalization and the new associated
challenges in the developing world, rural development is
more necessary and pressing than ever before (GAPS,
2007). Rural development is also important in arresting
rural-urban migration that has become the bane of many
developing countries. It would ensure optimum utilization
of human and natural resources in rural communities and

reduce pressure on already overloaded utilities in the

urban centers. It should go without saying that rural
development is the essence of national development in
developing countries. The kind of pleasant arguments
earlier mentioned that is taking place in the West may
never be witnessed this century in Africa and other poor
regions of the world, going by predictions in available
statistics. The pace and level of rural development in
Third World countries would continue to define their
overall socioeconomic development as sovereign states.
Western countries got to where they are today as a result
of implementation of deliberate rural development
planning and programmes, among other factors. Virile
rural development processes would give rise to
development at national and regional levels and
contribute to global progress.
In the Changing global scenario, understanding of the
concept of development itself in relation to sustainability
gave rise to the concept of sustainable development.
FAO (1988) defined sustainable Development as: "the
management and conservation of the natural resources
base and the orientation of technological and institutional
change in such a manner as to ensure the attainment
and continued satisfaction of human needs for present
and future generations.
Such sustainable development in the agriculture, forestry
and fisheries sectors conserves land, water, plant and
animal genetic resources, is environmentally nondegrading, technically appropriate, economically viable
and socially acceptable." According Marcelino Avila and
Lavinia Gasperini (2005), sustainable rural development
is understood as a process of constant change and
transformation of the rural areas, encompassing a wide
scope of processes and
programmes such as:
Enhancement of governance at the local, district
and provincial levels, including
Linkages with the private sector, civil society and
government line agencies.
Development of productive sectors: agriculture,
non-agricultural industry, mining,
Tourism, natural resources, environmental
management, etc.
Development of institutions and their capacities in
key areas, i.e. education and
Training, health, research and extension,
marketing,
savings
and
credit,
environment,
transportation, etc.
Development of rural infrastructure for roads,
electricity, telecommunications, housing,
Water, sanitation, etc.
Contemporary
narratives,
definitions
or
prescriptions concerning rural development.

Rural development in transition: Global trends

J. Agric. Econ. Rural Devel.

Characteristically tend to address everything that

affects rural people and the quality of their life as entities
and as integral members of the larger society and,
indeed, the world.

047

generate a great deal of attention to inclusive growth in

general and inclusive rural development in particular.

METHODOLOGY
Recent connotation of rural development aimed at
establishment of the Millennium Development Goals has
significantly reinforced the concerns about non income
poverty. With the paradigm shifts in economic
development from
growth to broadly defined
development, the concept of rural development has
begun to be used in a broader sense.

The analysis is based mainly on secondary data and

draws substantially on earlier studies Carried out by the
Institutions and individuals and existing literature with a
specific focus on
emerging perspectives of
rural
development.
Basis of study

Theoretical Foundations of Rural Development

Research indicates that there is a constant shift of
development paradigms, which also affect the
methodologies for rural development. These paradigms
often only get to gain momentum 10 years after they
have emerged (Ellis andBiggs, 2001).Rural development
is all encompassing and it highlights the improvement of
economic and social infrastructure. This can be combined
with an agrarian transformation which helps in increasing
production, improve the sustainable use of natural
resources, establishing and strengthening rural livelihood
and food security.
Rural development objectives can only be achieved if
there is an improved land reform programmes which deal
with issues around land redistribution, land tenure reform
and land redistribution, claims.
Although rural development has been a priority area for
external donors its importance has increased in the
second half of the last 50 years as concerns about food
security, the population explosion, environment and
climatic changes, as well as poverty, equality and social
justice have come to be increasingly perceived as being
in the purview of global, rather than national policy
agendas. Rural development stood at the cross-cutting
path of these concerns. However, the multiplicity of the
objectives which rural development was expected to
achieve often deprived it of a central focus and often
contributed to its failure.
The seriousness of the rural underdevelopment problem
further increases when other dimensions of development
are taken into account.
For example, evidence indicates growing disparities
between urban and rural areas confront serious
environmental problems, increasing the vulnerability of
the poor in particular. The current status of the rural
economy and the overall quality of life of majority of the
rural population suggest that neither the overall economic
growth and development nor the growth and
development in the rural economy have been inclusive.
Increasing recognition of this situation has begun to

The study is based on the practical experience of rural

development experiments derived from Published and
grey materials
The review was prepared over through insights analyzed
from the descriptive statically data
The following steps are adopted:
Collection of documents and resource materials
summarize the lessons learned
Trends in Rural Development
It is well experimented through various strategic
interventions by both developed and developing countries
and highlights the various paradigm shifts in the rural
development concepts. Rural development generally
denotes economic development and community
development actions and initiatives taken to improve the
standard of living in non-urban neighborhood, remote
villages and the countryside typically relate to the primary
sector production and processing of food stuffs and raw
materials. The new policy for rural development seeks to
find a rationale and sustainable framework for the future
of rural areas. It will complement the reforms introduced
into the market sectors by promoting a competitive, multifunctional agricultural sector in the context of a
comprehensive, integrated strategy for rural development
(EC, 2010). In spite of rapid urbanization in most parts of
the world over the past two decades, rural development
remains a major challenge for developing countries in
Africa, Asia and Latin America (Soo-young, 2008).
According to a recent World Bank report, 75 percent of
the worlds poor live in rural areas and most are involved
in farming (World Bank, 2009).
There is also renewed urgency for addressing rural
problems generated by population Pressure on land,
water and other resources, threats to the environment,
climate change, and widening income disparity between
rural and urban areas. National governments and
international development agencies are once again
placing increased emphasis on rural and agricultural

Rural development in transition: Global trends

Udin N

048

development as critical for reducing poverty and

achieving the United Nations Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs).
These factors, among many others, tend to highlight the
importance of rural development. The policy makers in
most of the developing economies recognize this
importance and have been implementing a host of
programs and measures to achieve rural development
objectives. While some of these countries have achieved
impressive results, others have failed to make significant
dent in the problem of persistent rural underdevelopment.
Towards Global Exposure
Rural areas are highly heterogeneous, whether the scale
is agro ecological, set in terms of distance from cities, or
to do with the degree of agricultural Modernization.
However, some broad-brush classifications are possible
and useful, particularly to distinguish peri-urban, middle
and remote areas.
All rural areas are rapidly changing, in size, structure and
capability of population, in the Pattern of economic
activity, and in the degree of integration with national and
International economies. Urban populations will soon be
larger than rural, most rural people will be functionally
landless, and, in most areas, agriculture will be a
relatively small productive sector, commercial in its
orientation and incorporated into national and
international commodity chains. Most rural households
will have a diverse and geographically dispersed portfolio
of income sources: they will pursue multi-location and
multi-occupational livelihood strategies.
The first of these is about whether agriculture can be the
engine of rural growth, especially in early development.
There are many good reasons to believe it can, and the
empirical evidence is encouraging. However, natural
resources are pressured; and the long-term decline in
agricultural commodity prices weakens both the sector
and the case. Lower taxes and large-scale investment in
public goods (physical and institutional) will help, by
lowering transaction costs. Some also argue that
developing country agriculture should be protected, for
example by a food security box in the WTO.
The case for agriculture-led poverty reduction rests
heavily on the productive efficiency of small farms and on
their contribution to local economies, especially by virtue
of demand for services (including construction). However,
the future viability of small farms, and of the small-farm
model, is increasingly in question: technological
complexity, greater connectedness to markets, and the
globalization of commodity chains are all to blame. Public
goods, again, will help lower transaction costs; and social

welfare transfers can be re-designed to boost production

(for example, fertilizer\subsidies rather than food aid).
If agriculture is faltering, the non-farm rural economy may
take up the slack, though much is agriculture-dependent.
The RNFE is indeed growing fast. It takes different forms,
according to the degree of connectedness to the urban
economy: early stage on-farm enterprises benefiting from
the natural protection of poor roads may disappear as
infrastructure improves; but new enterprises will grow as
businesses try to escape congested cities. Investment in
the RNFE is important; particularly to reduce entry
barriers to the poor, but must be driven by local
comparative advantage.
There is more to rural development than production, on
or off the farm. New thinking on poverty links back to
earlier thinking on integrated rural development, and
Caroline Ashley and Simon Maxwell also points the way
forward, with a new emphasis on the risks of
liberalization, on the importance of income distribution, on
human capital, and on risk, vulnerability and social
protection. The poverty agenda dominates in international
development: rural development planners need to work
with it, not against it.
The state is seen to have an important role in both
poverty reduction and rural development, informed by the
view that liberalization and structural adjustment moved
too quickly, with insufficient attention to the need for
strong and prior institutional Under-pinning of markets. In
particular, the state needs to ensure that the poor can
access reasonably performing and stable markets for
finance, inputs and agricultural outputs in some cases
state-facilitated services will be needed to meet this
need.
Participation features prominently in poverty reduction
discourse, and also in rural development but the issue is
perhaps better understood as one of governance.
Democratic decentralization is the popular political
technology, not always yielding the immediate benefits
for rural poverty reduction that might be expected, but
amenable to improvement. New partnerships with civil
society are central.

CONCLUSION
Rural development policy has yet to catch up with these
changes. Multi-sectoral approaches are necessary, and
the state has much to do. However, past experience
reminds us that implementation constraints, whether
caused by low administrative capacity or bureaucratic
capture, are the enemy of good intentions. Plans need to
be ranked with capacity to deliver as a criterion.

Rural development in transition: Global trends

J. Agric. Econ. Rural Devel.

Furthermore, a different approach may be needed in

areas affected by chronic Conflict or political instability.

049

Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted

use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original author and source are cited.

A major challenge is to balance government interventions

in these and private sector investments in a way that the
interventions should
facilitate rather than discourage
private investment. These are not a hierarchy of priorities.
However, because development problems in rural areas
are interlocking and linked significantly to what happens
outside the rural economy, they must be addressed
together in a coherent, manner as they cold encase the
global changing development realties.

REFERENCES
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(2010). CAP Reform: A policy for the future.
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Union,
1995-2011.
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http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture.
Ellis F, Biggs S, (2001). Evolving Themes in Rural
Development 1950s-2000s in Policy Development
Review, 19(4); 437-438
Global
Aid Partnerships, (GAPS) (2007). The
Importance of Rural Development in Africa. Available
online at http://www.gaps.org.au/activities/39-rural/82rural_1importance
Avila M, Gasperini L, van Lierop P, Heney J, Ufer A
(2005). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO), Rome --Working Document 7-9
September 2005, The MDGs and Sustainable Rural
Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and
Implications for Education for Rural People (ERP)
Soo-young P (2008). Saemaul Undong for the 21st
Century, Journal of International Development
Cooperation, KOICA, 2: 61-62.
USDA (2006). Rural Development mission statements.
Available at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_development.
Access date: 9/9/2011.
World Bank, (2009). Implementing Agriculture for
Development: World Bank Group
Accepted 02 April, 2015
Citation: Udin N (2015). Rural development in transition:
Global trends. Journal of Agricultural Economics and
Rural Development, 2(3): 046-049.

Copyright: 2015 Udin N. This is an open-access

article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Rural development in transition: Global trends