Rural Development Strategy Regional Development Strategy From Action to Impact The Africa Region’s Rural Strategy

This paper is a contribution to the draft rural development strategy for the World Bank, which is currently pending approval by the Board of Executive Directors. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions are the author's own and should not be attributed to the World Bank, its management, its Board of Executive Directors, or the countries they represent. Some of the numbers quoted are estimates or approximations, and may be revised at a later stage. This paper reflects contributions from staff of the Africa Region of the World Bank, participants in two workshops held in Africa, and many colleagues within and outside the World Bank who commented on earlier drafts. The task was managed initially by Sushma Ganguly, Rural Development Operations, and subsequently by Karen Brooks, under the overall guidance of Hans Binswanger. Other departments within the Africa region contributed ten papers from which material was abstracted. Contributions region-wide were coordinated by the Africa Regional Strategy Steering Committee and the Extended Steering Committee. Regional discussions in Nairobi in March 2001 and in Dakar in May 2001 provided the views of selected African stakeholders from the public, private, and NGO sectors. Support for regional consultations was provided by DFID and by French Cooperation. Wendy S. Ayers served as the lead writer, and she and Karen Brooks compiled the paper. Discussants and peer reviewers commented on several drafts. Karen Brooks edited the final draft.