Nerica – New Rice for Africa is the name of the great biotechnological success in rice breeding. What scientists created in the lab using modern methods, namely hybrids of African rice and Asian rice, had already come into being decades ago by chance in West African ?elds.

Lessons learnt from India prove that people empowerment through self-help groups and target group orientation still matters for sustainable rural development. However, this is only true if economic, socio-cultural, political and environmental empowerment interlock. This article makes an argument for a grassroot-level and participative approach of people empowerment in regional rural development.

In many Asian, African, and South American nations, indigenous people are being driven from their homes: Government authorities are leasing hundreds of thousands of hectares of land belonging to indigenous people who only in the rarest of cases possess deeds to the land that are recognised by the authorities. Although in many cases their ancestors have lived on the land for centuries, these rights were never recorded in the land registries. The way of life and the livelihood of many indigenous peoples are severely threatened by their land being sold off.