View article

It is now widely recognized that the livelihoods of significant proportions of both rural and urban households rely on combinations of rural and urban activities, including non-farm employment for rural residents and peri-urban farming for urban dwellers. However, the administrative distinction between «rural» and «urban» obscures the importance of exchanges between rural and urban households, enterprises and economies. It is essential that policies and programmes reflect the importance of the «urban» part of rural development and the «rural» part of urban development. Since successful development policies need to be grounded in the local context–because needs and possibilities vary greatly between locations–local government and local civil society should have key roles in the identification of local needs, opportunities and constraints, and be able to act on them.