La politique du développement doit s'intéresser à toutes les dimensions de la fragilité des structures dans les pays en développement, lesquelles peuvent aller de carences individuelles, comme par exemple en matière de garantie de la sécurité, à l'effondrement des structures de l'État. Si le champ d'action qui s'ouvre à la politique du développement et aux autres acteurs externes est toujours restreint, il existe souvent des angles d'approche permettant d'atteindre une stabilité relative et de résoudre les problèmes liés à la faiblesse des structures de l'État.

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.

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.