New Rural Development Paradigm for the 21st Century

The situation in developing countries has only mildly improved with the international efforts to implement the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). With the new development framework of Agenda2030, this publication, published in April 2016 by OECD, calls for a new paradigm for rural development that is better adapted to face the challenges of the 21st century.

Based on experiences made with the MDGs, the authors have identified a number of developing countries and emerging economies, where rural development was addressed successfully, namely South Korea, Thailand, Viet Nam, China, Cote d’Ivoire and Tanzania. The best practice examples from these countries are compared in an effort to develop the best strategy for closing the urban-rural gap when it comes to development. In addition to the experiences made in the six countries, the New Rural Development Paradigm set out in this publication draws on previous approaches and theories from developed countries regarding rural development. It is conceptualised to be multi-sectoral, multi-agent and multi-level. It focuses on eight components that include governance, multiple sector, infrastructure, urban-rural linkages, inclusiveness, gender, demography and sustainability.