Relevant concepts of Territorial Development in rural areas and Rural Development

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1 Relevant concepts of Territorial Development in rural areas and Rural Development Dr. Rainer Neidhardt, GTZ, Germany Introduction To understand the idea and different concepts of Territorial Development of today, it is necessary to look back for some decades to see the changes of previous concepts and their motivation. During the last four decades, the concept of rural development and its importance in development cooperation has changed considerably. In the 1970ties, rural development projects used to be huge donor driven projects with a strong agricultural production focus and a technological approach of North South technology transfer. Partners were government institutions, mostly ministries. Famers and local administrations were considered beneficiaries without much influence on planning and execution of the project. Sustainability was in the head of some think tanks and few NGOs, but not really in the mind of development administrators or project staff. Today we find sometimes still some trails of these projects like a dairy plant, some health posts or school buildings, but generally the rural population is as poor as before and frequently has to destroy the resource base for tomorrow to survive today. In the eighties, participation of the target population and appropriate technologies were introduced in regional rural development projects. Regional and local government and administration became involved and PRA (participatory rapid appraisal) methods were widely used to find out what farmers and women, youth and minorities considered their felt needs. Market orientation got more consideration and sustainability was at least considered as a criteria. Excessive planning and little impact in benefit of the target groups have been criticized in several cases. However, ex post evaluations of some of the big German regional development projects have shown that some of the services and planning mechanism are still in use and the projects contributed to the improvement of living conditions for large segments of the poorer rural population. The discussion on development aid and especially on technical assistance in the nineties together with the prevalence of neoliberal thinking had mainly two consequences: Rural development was considered backward oriented and inefficient. Investment in rural development and agriculture was reduced from more than 40 % of ODA in the early eighties to less than 10 % at the beginning of the new century 1

2 The governments of the partner countries, following neoliberal thinking of IMF and World Bank, privatized most of extension services and other rural services and cut subsidies in a very short time, leaving especially small farmers without a chance to adapt to the new conditions. This has led to increasing rural poverty and food insecurity. In 2002, the agriculture based developing countries spend only about 4 % of the GDP on agricultural development, compared to the 29 % share of agriculture in the GDP of these countries (WDR2008, p.7) Projects in this decade focused on decentralization, off farm income opportunities and the protection of natural resources considered important to slow down climate change and genetic erosion, topics entering the political discussion in this period. Farmers and related services were not really targeted by most of the international cooperation projects or by the partner countries, even in those countries depending heavily on agriculture for economic development. Rural poverty and hunger increased. The Sustainable Livelihood Approach, developed by DIFID and ODI, took into consideration that many families in rural areas were not able to survive by small holder agriculture alone, but depend on multiple incomes such as pensions, remittances and off farm income from employment, including migration to cities or foreign countries. Integrated rural development or territorial development in rural areas nearly disappeared from discussion, not only in German development cooperation. Prospective areas of intervention After the formulation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in the year 2000, Governments of the G8 countries observed that poverty and hunger are closely linked to state of rural development and agricultural production and productivity. This seems especially true for Sub Saharan Africa, but applies more or less for most of the poorer, agriculture based countries in Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean States with a high proportion of rural population as well. Last year s food crisis made it again very clear, that without major investments in rural development and in agriculture, the MDGs definitely cannot be met. Considering this situation, it is possible to deduce relevant fields of intervention for international cooperation. Which fields require external cooperation has to be defined on a case to case analysis with partner organizations and representatives of the different stakeholders of the territory. Criteria for external cooperation vs. internal effort of each country are linked to the expected increase of impact and the need to build up capacities in the region and within the different stakeholder organizations. Another criterion for selection of appropriate interventions is the sustainability as impact of intervention. An institution formed, a service offered, a good produced has to be 2

3 ecologically, economically and financially sustainable. The cost for running such an institution or offer a service has to be covered by income generated or by public money allocated by the political institutions for as long as such institution, service or good is needed. Those institutions and services should help to improve the competitiveness of the territory and to assure the proper use of the resources to guarantee that the resource base remains intact for future generations. The proven steps for any mayor intervention are: Identification of the territory and the development objectives Participatory stakeholder analysis and need assessment for the different stakeholder groups Participatory formulation of development goals and the main pathways and development areas to achieve them Selection of instruments and tools according to the approach defined Selection of the mayor cross sector development subjects like gender, minority rights, transparent governance and other Implementation of support measures and Monitoring of implementation and evaluation of impact. There are numerous areas of intervention possible from fostering democratic structures and control, to qualification of the rural population for successful migration. Decentralization, economic development including agriculture and livestock production, improved infrastructure and services like health care, basic and vocational as well as further education and financial services are the most common areas of intervention. Natural resource management and conservation of biodiversity are basic for ecological sustainability. The appropriate mix and the selection of appropriate instruments of intervention have to be agreed upon with the partner institutions and the stakeholder representatives. It is the objective of external intervention to open new options inside and outside the region. Migration in this context can be a valuable development path for a number of habitants of a region and can help to stabilize the territory from the economic and the ecological viewpoint. New challenges In the last decade and up to now, some important framework conditions for Territorial Development in Rural Areas have changed and we have to look for new approaches and instruments to assure chances for all habitants and perspectives for further development as well. 3

4 Climate Change is reality already and affects the potential for development for many regions in different ways. There is not one solution but for each territory, the right mix between mitigation and adaptation has to be found out and considered in the framework of a development strategy for the territory in question. Biodiversity is threatened by commercial agriculture on one hand and by poverty and insufficient knowledge of smallholders on the other. But biodiversity gains importance to cope with climate change and other challenges related to these phenomena. Territorial Development will have to assure the conservation of biodiversity and agro biodiversity, especially in High Conservation Value areas and in areas with marginal conditions for a species, because here forms adapted to adverse conditions can already be found. Globalization has very important effects on Territorial Development. A territory now has to compete with others all over the world, as products and people move regardless of boarders. The best brains go to where they are paid best and products are bought where they are cheapest while fulfilling international standards. Territorial Development has to work out changes allowing enterprising persons to develop a living in the rural area and to open markets respecting international trade standards. As long term price trends for agricultural commodities are expected to rise, competition for land for cultivation is increasing. Large international or foreign investors compete with small holders for land in many parts of the world. As commercial farming with modern methods mechanization, fertilizers, improved seeds, pesticides promises much higher productivity compared to traditional small scale farming, small farming will have to modernize or will disappear in many parts. Territorial Development has an important role to assure that structural changes give also chances to the disadvantaged and that the new commercial agriculture respects the requirements of sustainability. New concepts In this decade, redesign of development of rural areas in developing countries started, involving interested partner countries and using lessons learnt in the past as well as new ideas. This process is ongoing in Germany as well as in other countries. First a new term was coined: Territorial Development in rural areas (RTD). According to the present state of discussion, Rural Territorial Development means the sustainable improvement of social well being of the population in rural territories, by linking the support to development of different policy areas, integration of corresponding efforts into existing governmental and nongovernmental structures at 4

5 different levels and fostering the participation of all parts of the population in the different steps of the development process. Core elements of Territorial Development in rural areas are: Process management Systemic and multi sector approach Inclusive approach Organization of the civil society Relationship between territories Process management: The Development in a given territory is always based on negotiation and communication processes involving all stakeholders interested in the territory. Development goals, agreeable to these stakeholders and compatible with the principles of sustainability, have to be agreed upon. As stakeholders have different interests, a consensus or a real compromise have to be worked out. The core task of Territorial Development in rural areas is normally the guidance of communication processes and the mediation between stakeholders to achieve a common vision and practical agreements how to achieve the objectives deduced from the vision. These agreements have to give participation and influence to those groups living in the territory who are politically weak and socially underprivileged as women, youth, ethnic or religious minorities or people from low casts. Their objectives and their contributions have to be taken into account as well as their wishes to share the benefits of economic and social development. An important challenge of Territorial Development is the task to make the requirements on the use of resources of the different user groups compatible with the requirements of sustainable development. Systemic and multi sector approach: Territorial development pursues the idea of social well being of the habitants in a defined territory. The satisfaction of the basic needs for them is as important as to go easy on the resources, to develop markets for the regional products and enable the population to access these markets on their own risk and benefit as well to participate in decision making processes and access to justice. To achieve these multiple objectives requires coordinated and collective action of the different levels and sectors of government and the organizations of civil society. Systemic planning and networking in the implementation by partner institutions has to be developed and fostered, to achieve coherent acting and avoid uncoordinated activities with high costs and little benefit. For example the construction of whole sale markets for agricultural produce has very limited benefits if the connecting infrastructure is weak or the region does not produce enough marketable products to attract wholesalers to buy there. 5

6 Territorial Development has an inclusive approach: Who is living in a territory permanently or periodically will be invited to participate in the development of this territory. This includes e.g. pastoralists herding their animals during part of the year in the territory or mining companies with activities in the region. It also includes women, youth, ethnic and religious minorities and other disadvantaged groups living in the territory and making a living from the resources of this piece of land. Their active participation in planning, working and directing as well as in benefit sharing is part of Territorial Development in rural areas. Principals of the do not harm approach have to be respected very carefully. In order to achieve a balance between the interests of the different stakeholder groups it is important to foster the organization of these diverse groups. Those groups can be organized along certain lines: Producers organizations and cooperatives; trade unions and employers associations, religious or ethnic groups. Important is their stability in time and their regional organizational (sub)structure. Governmental institutions in many countries require formal structures and registration of these organizations to keep control but also to channel funds and to have partners in the civil society for dialog and planning. Negotiation processes as a basis for change and development have to take place between these groups and between those and the administrative and political bodies. The necessity to define the role and interests of the different groups of actors has to be considered in the stakeholder analysis. All territories are linked to others as neighbors, trade partners, providers of services and goods or sender or receiver of people in the course of migration. For a balanced development, these relationships have to be cultivated and fostered. Conflicts between the territories inside a state or between states may have many, sometimes historical reasons. To improve the relationship between territories, peaceful negotiations on equal footing is necessary. Rural territories have to make very clear their importance and significance to the representatives of other territories to make negotiations successful and obtain results allowing a sustainable development. Otherwise they may be in danger to be exploited by urban driven interests without a chance to offer their population sustainable improvement of their social well being, It is obvious that the new concept uses old and proven elements. New is packing together of core elements and flexible use of instruments and areas of intervention according to the territory and the development priorities of the stakeholders. The task of the project Our sector development project, commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), has the task of developing appropriate strategies of German Development Cooperation to tackle the problems related to territorial development in rural areas. Obviously, this 6

7 has to be approached in cooperation with other German development organizations, partner countries and projects working on the ground as well as in collaboration with researchers and educational institutions. We are therefore happy that this conference jionts distinguished persons from science, development organizations and practitioners of rural development to discuss the aspect of migration, not as a problem of the developed countries but as a potential and a challenge for the sending territories and the receiving urban areas in the developing as well as in the industrialized countries. 7