This book discusses migration and space-spanning social network relationships as normal realities of life in African societies. It offers an overview of the research landscape and introduces an agency-centered theoretical model that provides a conceptual framework for translocality. The authors Malte Steinbrink and Hannah Niedenführ plead for a translocal approach to social transformation, showing how the translocality of livelihoods is shaping the lives of half a billion people on the continent and impacting local conditions. Using an action-oriented approach, the book analyzes the effects of translocal livelihoods on diverse aspects of economic, environmental and social change in rural Sub-Saharan Africa. The study thus makes an innovative contribution not only to migration research and development studies but also to the discussion around the policy and practice of development cooperation and planning. It is time to rethink development in light of translocal realities. The book appeals to scholars and researchers in geography, sociology, policy-making and planning, development studies, migration research and rural development.

Published in 1998, this book reviews two of the World Bank's agricultural development projects in southeast Nigeria, and concludes that the objectives of these projects - which include reducing rural poverty and developing indigenous capacity for rural development - have not been fully realized. This book concludes that what these projects have achieved in the past, was the increasing integration of the peasant's political economy into the world's capitalist market with negative consequences. For example, the projects emphasis on export crop production, as opposed to food production, simply led to a diminishing capability among peasant farmers especially in the project areas, to produce food for themselves - while at the same time, reporting increased productivity in export-related production. The end result is widespread poverty amongst the poorest strata of peasant farmers participating in the program. In addition, the book looks at the Bank's structural adjustment programme, which in fact has the potential to reduce whatever benefits its agricultural programs might bring about for peasant producers.

The constantly changing circumstances of rural life in sub-Saharan Africa have brought with them both successes and failures. The essays in this volume examine the various pressures and inducements to changing resource-use patterns faced by rural households, and explore the two-way causal relationship between technology and technological change on the one hand and other key elements of rural change - demographic, environmental, economic, social, and political - on the other. Contemporary approaches to the introduction of technical innovations are examined, and new approaches are proposed. Through case studies of particular communities, the wide-ranging impacts of past experiences are assessed, and the causes and consequences of indigenous initiatives are explored.

The links between agricultural growth and the rural nonfarm economy, known to be strong in Asia, are weaker in Africa but still important to the rural poor. Crucial for strengthening these links are policies and investments that (1) promote smallholders, (2) improve rural infrastructure, (3) encourage commerce and services, (4) foster the development of rural towns, and (5) explicitly recognize women as key actors in rural development.

Changes in the global environment have led some to question whether the conventional wisdom on the role of agriculture in economic development is still relevant to Africa today. This report critically examines the literature on this issue, taking both the conventional and skeptical views into account. It complements this review with case studies of five African countries. The findings indicate that agricultural growth will play an essential role in promoting overall economic growth and reducing poverty in most of Africa's agrarian-based economies. This holds true even for countries that have the potential for industrial growth driven by natural resources. The results also show that only smallholder food-staple and livestock production can generate broadbased agricultural growth. By demonstrating that Africa's agricultural and food subsector cannot be bypassed, this report contributes to an important ongoing debate in development studies.

The prospects for equitable growth in African agriculture are good as long as governments monitor land rights, upgrade rural infrastructure, foster farm-nonfarm linkages, and focus agricultural research on crops and technologies important to smallholders.

"This book provides research, analytical methods, techniques, and development policies in ICT adoption and diffusion in Africa and around the globe, highlighting the major trends in ICT applications and rural development"--Provided by publisher.

Energy supply is a key factor in economic and social development, but lack of modern energy in rural areas limits efforts to alleviate poverty and improve living standards. This book identifies the options for providing modern and improved renewables-based energy to low-income rural areas, with special emphasis on the productive uses. In the five countries represented - Botswana, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Zambia and Zimbabwe - the contributors focus on the advantages of a decentralized approach to energy delivery, the role of income-generating activities in attracting modern energy services to rural areas, and the barriers as well as opportunities that exist in the promotion of renewable energy technologies. The African Energy Policy Research Network (Afrepren) has built up an enviable reputation as the Continent‘s foremost platform for the development African energy professionals producing policy relevant work. This latest volume in their series of publications is a further contribution to addressing the practical energy needs of Sub-Saharan Africa.