Sector Project
Rural Development
Challenges
Despite progress in recent decades, 80% of people affected food systems. This is leading to conflicts over natural re-
by extreme poverty worldwide live in rural regions. Espe- sources and land and increasing rural poverty.
cially the growing young population in rural areas lacks pro-
Sustainable rural development therefore remains central to
spects: Shortage of jobs, lack of access to land, capital and
combating poverty and preventing crises and conflicts. Co-
education, inadequate opportunities for political and societal
herent policies and programmes, cross-sectoral action and
participation, weak institutional structures and poor infra-
transformative approaches are needed so that people in rural
structure are major constraints for a sustainable develop-
areas can have viable prospects, generate income and obtain
ment.
a healthy diet – without exceeding planetary boundaries.
On top of the social challenges, the overexploitation of nat- This is how the great potential of rural areas can be utilised
ural resources such as soil, water and biodiversity and the and the Sustainable Development Goals of
impacts of climate change are further exacerbating the pre- the 2030 Agenda can be achieved.
carious situation in rural areas and entire agricultural and Our objective
Concepts for a sustainable
transformation of rural
areas are mainstreamed
into international and na-
tional policy processes and
Our key topics programmes.
➔ Rural regional development promotes cross-sectoral, ➔ Good rural governance and
territorial approaches with the aim of overcoming spatial access to land addresses responsible
disparities in a context-specific manner. Coherent re- land policy that creates improved access to land and se-
gional and land-use planning that incorporate the con- cure land tenure rights for the rural population. Im-
nection between rural and urban areas increase resilience proved legal frameworks, measures to fight corruption
to external shocks. Local institutions are strengthened, and the promotion of transparency, for example, may
and societal participation improved. New income-gener- play a key role in this. An emphasis is placed on partic-
ating opportunities can be provided for people in rural ularly disadvantaged groups, indigenous people, women
areas. The alternative development approach helps small and youth.
farmers in drug crop cultivation areas to overcome their
dependence on illegal economic activities. ➔ Protection and sustainable use of natural resources
revolves around protecting biodiversity and ecosystem
➔ Agroecological transformation focuses on sustainable services in agricultural landscapes, using them sustaina-
agricultural and food systems, placing a particular empha- bly and restoring them. This can strengthen the resili-
sis on integrated territorial development approaches that ence of the rural population to the negative impacts of
preserve or restore natural resources. Further goals com- climate change and simultaneously promote low-emis-
prise increasing diversity in agricultural production, re- sion land use. Different interests in land are to be bal-
ducing damaging external inputs, promoting recycling anced and the path towards sustainable food systems
management and supporting local and regional circular paved. Further topics are integrated water resource
economy. Essential principles here include context-spe- management, bio-based economies and food losses.
cific implementation, local knowledge, co-creation and
responsible governance.
Budget and term:
EUR 13 million/August 2021 – July 2024
Commissioned by:
German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and
Development (BMZ)
Combined financing:
Organizzazione internationale italo-latino americana
(IILA) on the topic of ‘Alternative development in drug
crop cultivation areas’ as part of the EU-funded ‘Cooper-
ation Programme between Latin America, the Caribbean
and the European Union on Drugs Policies’ (COPOLAD
III)
Our Approach
The Sector Project Rural Development advises the German innovative methods and concepts, and actively contributes
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Develop- to design relevant knowledge platforms and networks. It de-
ment (BMZ) on issues of rural development, thus promoting velops knowledge products and uses them to mainstream
the dissemination of systemic, transformative and cross-sec- relevant thematic content into the German development
toral approaches. It supports BMZ in mainstreaming con- portfolio.
cepts for a sustainable transformation of rural areas in policy
Learning, networking and knowledge management: Via learning and
processes and programmes. To this end, it cooperates with
exchange formats, the project supports international devel-
regional and global initiatives as well as organisations in part-
opment organisations and their partner institutions to build
ner countries. Co-financing from the partner organisation
capacities. It promotes the elaboration of new approaches
IILA supports the projects engagement in the topic ‘Alter-
and helps disseminating proven ones.
native development in drug crop cultivation areas’ along the
implementation of the EU-funded COPOLAD III project.
Our topics
The sector project works along three fields of action, with
→ Rural regional development
gender-transformative and digital approaches playing a key
role throughout: → Alternative development in drug crop cultivation areas
Policy and strategy advice: The project advises BMZ along the → Good rural governance and access to land
formulation of policies and strategies, development of its
→ Agroecological transformation
thematic portfolio and for positioning as a relevant stake-
holder. It continuously observes the international policy de- → Management of natural resources and biodiversity
bate, analyses and comments on academic and policy pro-
→ Climate change and rural development
cesses and provides evidence-based findings from interna-
tional research. → Integrated water resources management
Strategy development, evidence and innovation: In addition, it anal- → Food losses
yses practical implementation experiences, develops
→ Bioeconomy and bioenergy
Further information: [Link]
Published by: Contact: GIZ is responsible for the content of this
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Andreas Lange ([Link]@[Link]) and publication.
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Boris Büchler ([Link]@[Link])
Photo credits/sources:
© GIZ / Ranak Martin / Florian Kopp /
Registered Offices: Bonn und Eschborn, Germany I [Link] Thomas Imo, [Link] / Binh Dang
Rural Development and October 2023
Agriculture Division (G500)
Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 32+36
53113 Bonn
Germany