contributor of rural growth up to the present time, and it continues to serve a
significant role in poverty reduction.
3.7 Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development
(SARD)
In 1992, the United Nations during its Conference on Environment and Development which was held at Rio de Janeiro takes on certain measure to serve as action in
three important areas, namely, sustainable agriculture and rural development
(SARD), combating desertification and drought, and integrated planning and management of land resources. Since then, these three sectors have been considered as
the major areas of concern for rural and agricultural and rural development. They
equally serve as the basis for planning and implementing agricultural and rural
development programmes during the 1990s decade and beyond. The United Nation
Commission on Sustainable Development (UN-CSD) later merged the three key
areas into a single cluster termed “land and agriculture”. The main target of the
SARD is to ensure sustainable development of agriculture and allied economic
subsector planned and established alongside with broader investment determination
in rural areas and to continue enhancement of rural livelihoods, ensuring food
security and a more coherent and rightful utilisation and conservation of the limited
land resources for present and future generations. SARD emphasised for all member
countries to take the opportunity and establish functional development plans and
policies to ensure sustainable steady food production and security. In particular,
governments of African countries consider the SARD initiatives as a privilege to
promote agriculture and rural developments and functionalise the New Partnership
for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) which they have created which subsequently
gave the chance to prioritise agricultural development programmes. Afterwards, the
African governments established the AU NEPAD/CAADP initiative that portrays
the commitment of AU member countries towards solving issues affecting implementation of rural development programmes, agricultural growth, and food security.
3.8 Challenges and Opportunities of Rural Development in
Africa
Developing the rural areas involves series of actions in various sectors which may
take the form of volatile changes; thus rural development generally is a slow and
complex process (Kelles-Viitanen 2005). The developmental process depends on
both internal and external factors such as privatisation and globalisation. Whereas
climate change, population growth, and HIV and other related killer diseases are
some of the major challenges of rural development in Africa, climate change has
40
A. N. Zadawa and A. Omran
significant role in poverty reduction.
3.7 Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development
(SARD)
In 1992, the United Nations during its Conference on Environment and Development which was held at Rio de Janeiro takes on certain measure to serve as action in
three important areas, namely, sustainable agriculture and rural development
(SARD), combating desertification and drought, and integrated planning and management of land resources. Since then, these three sectors have been considered as
the major areas of concern for rural and agricultural and rural development. They
equally serve as the basis for planning and implementing agricultural and rural
development programmes during the 1990s decade and beyond. The United Nation
Commission on Sustainable Development (UN-CSD) later merged the three key
areas into a single cluster termed “land and agriculture”. The main target of the
SARD is to ensure sustainable development of agriculture and allied economic
subsector planned and established alongside with broader investment determination
in rural areas and to continue enhancement of rural livelihoods, ensuring food
security and a more coherent and rightful utilisation and conservation of the limited
land resources for present and future generations. SARD emphasised for all member
countries to take the opportunity and establish functional development plans and
policies to ensure sustainable steady food production and security. In particular,
governments of African countries consider the SARD initiatives as a privilege to
promote agriculture and rural developments and functionalise the New Partnership
for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) which they have created which subsequently
gave the chance to prioritise agricultural development programmes. Afterwards, the
African governments established the AU NEPAD/CAADP initiative that portrays
the commitment of AU member countries towards solving issues affecting implementation of rural development programmes, agricultural growth, and food security.
3.8 Challenges and Opportunities of Rural Development in
Africa
Developing the rural areas involves series of actions in various sectors which may
take the form of volatile changes; thus rural development generally is a slow and
complex process (Kelles-Viitanen 2005). The developmental process depends on
both internal and external factors such as privatisation and globalisation. Whereas
climate change, population growth, and HIV and other related killer diseases are
some of the major challenges of rural development in Africa, climate change has
40
A. N. Zadawa and A. Omran