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The Design of Rural Development: Lessons from Africa |
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 The African Rural Development Study (ARDS) was conducted to investigate
the reasons for the limited impact of past rural development programs
on low-income populations in Africa and to generate a theoretical
framework and operational guidelines for the design of future rural
development programs. Specific topicsanalyzed include labor flow,
migration, mechanization in smallholder agriculture, regional equity,
livestock development, incentives, the role of women, and
Africanization of management. Rural development programs must be viewed
as part of a continiuous, dynamic process. Analysis revealed that the
lack of long-term improvement of living standards among low-income
subsistance farmers could be attributed to limited objectives; lack of
knowledge about the impacts of policy on performance, the suitability
of technological applications, and the effects of sociopolitical
influence; and the scarcity of trained local manpower.A planned,
sequential approach is recommended as the means of maximizing scarce
resources and serving the greatest number of farmers in the lowest
income sector of the agricultural economy. A glossary, project reviews,
a bibliography, and maps and tables are provided.
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