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Rethinking Rural Development

Briefing/policy papers

Written by Simon Maxwell

Rural development should be central to poverty reduction. Three quarters of the 1.2 billion people surviving on less than one dollar a day live and work in rural areas. Rural people are twice as likely to be poor as urban counterparts. However, rural development faces a loss of confidence: funding has been falling, and governments and donors are scrambling to rethink policy. What new directions should rural development policy take?

Caroline Ashley and Simon Maxwell