Rural development from a territorial perspective: Lessons and potential in sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

The paper analyzes the lessons and potential poverty impacts involved in the application of approaches for building socially inclusive, decentralized and spatially accented approaches to rural (and rural-urban) economic development in South Africa, and of territorial approaches and experiences in other countries (including Mozambique, Benin and Ghana), to make a preliminary assessment of the transferability of LED / RTD (local economic development / rural territorial development) approaches across Sub-Saharan Africa. In each case the role of the drivers of change, the rural-urban linkages and the livelihood strategies of rural households are emphasized and the kind of social networks and alliances are also considered