As urbanization continues apace, coupled with rapid population growth and rural to urban migration, the challenges for inclusive rural transformation continue, and the importance of fostering improved rural-urban linkages for better food systems becomes increasingly important.. According to the UN, by 2050 some 66% of the world’s population of 9 billion is expected to live in urban areas. Such rapid urbanization is increasingly shaping the rural space and rural livelihoods (through markets, demand for agricultural goods and labour, migration, and through the provision of services to rural areas). It is therefore critical for the increasing emphasis on urban development to take into account the importance of rural development.
Transformations in international agricultural and rural development issues
Some major changes in international agricultural and rural development over the last 30-40 years need to be taken into account in efforts to promote sustainable development and an inclusive rural transformation (
IFAD 2016) as we approach the third decade of the millennium. This opinion piece, drawing on a longer article published in
Agriculture for Development Journal (Summer 2019 Issue), seeks to stimulate reflection and debate on how work to support agricultural and rural development can evolve to address key challenges and opportunities related to migration, sustainable urbanization and youth in a changing global policy context.
In mid-2018 the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS) that brings together key development partners and 17 multistakeholder Regional Networks and country fora across six continents, published a new book :
What Works in Rural Advisory Services: Global Good Practice Notes .