Rural livelihoods are far more multi-locational than is often assumed with many rural people spending a part of the year outside the village working in non-farm occupations. Contrary to early theory, persistent circular or seasonal migration within countries or between neighbouring countries is emerging as the migration pattern of the poor. Nowhere is this more evident than in Asia.

The relationship between urban and rural areas has undergone great change in recent years. It is now often difficult to clearly define the borders between the two; instead we find a continuum ranging from agricultural zones to suburbs, informal settlements and urban centers. But do countries and development cooperation policies have the instruments needed to promote a dynamic and balanced development of urban and rural areas and open up opportunities for the people who live there?

For the first time in the recent history of rural development there is a possibility of creating an infrastructure that dramatically reduces the isolation of rural life. Although ICTs may seem a fragile basis on which to build far-reaching change, a meeting organized by CTA showed that they can speed up the exchange of knowledge and ideas between urban centres and rural communities. In countries struggling to maintain basic amenities, it is the towns that interface most closely with global society.

Agricultural value chains link urban consumption with rural production. Changing demand, as a consequence of urbanization, emergence of «modern» consumption patterns or new trends in international trade, impacts on rural areas along value chains and spills over to marketing and production systems.These rural urban linkages bear challenges but also mutual benefits for producers and consumers and can be promising entry points for development interventions.This is illustrated with the case of the Kenyan potato value chain.

Until 1978, the Afghan state was weak but stable. In contrast, rural regulatory structures that complemented the state have always been strong. It was only the attempt to establish a strong state on the basis of foreign ideologies and military over the heads of the rural population that ultimately led to chaos and collapse.Whereas the central state sometimes broke down, many state
institutions in the provinces demonstrated remarkable resilience, leading to a definite nation-state consciousness throughout large sections of the population.

This conference paper examines how the ideology and programmatic set of policies coined in the term ‘neoliberal modernization’ applies to agriculture and practices in the Mekong region.

This country level analysis addresses land governance in Laos in two ways. First, it summarises what the existing body of knowledge tells us about power and configurations that shape access to and exclusion from land, particularly among smallholders, the rural poor, ethnic minorities and women. Second, it draws upon existing literature and expert assessment to provide a preliminary analysis of the openings for and obstacles to land governance reform afforded by the political economic structures and dynamics in the country.

The poster presents an overview of land, livelihoods and customary practices in Man-hsat Village, Northern Shan State, Myanmar. This poster is one of a five village case studies produced by partner organizations during field-based training on how to document customary tenure systems, supported by MRLG.

The poster presents an overview of land, livelihoods and customary practices in Myan Latt Village, Magwe Divsion, Myanmar. This poster is one of a five village case studies produced by partner organizations during field-based training on how to document customary tenure systems, supported by MRLG.

The poster presents an overview of land, livelihoods and customary practices in Nan-Pan Village, Southern Shan State, Myanmar. This poster is one of a five village case studies produced by partner organizations during field-based training on how to document customary tenure systems, supported by MRLG. 

The poster presents an overview of land, livelihoods and customary practices in Daw Taw Ku village, Kayah State, Myanmar. This poster is one of a five village case studies produced by partner organizations during field-based training on how to document customary tenure systems, supported by MRLG.

Les programmes d'assurance communautaire sont très répandus à travers le monde et existent sous différentes formes. Ils sont un instrument important permettant de surmonter les lacunes occasionnées soit par un manque de confiance dans les assureurs conventionnels, soit par l'absence de couverture, soit encore par des processus ou produits inadéquats.