2013/11/28 by Uchendu Eugene Chigbu · 1 citation
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Social Sciences · #Rural development and sustainability #Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development #Rurality #Modernization theory #Economic growth #Rural development #Rural area #Rural management #Rural sociology #Geography #Regional science #Political science #Economics #Agriculture
paper · doi:10.1080/0376835x.2013.859067
openalex publication_date 2013/11/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Rural development practices in sub-Saharan Africa are still based on modernisation approaches. This has led to distortion in rural identity in most sub-Saharan communities. This article embeds this issue in the development discourse. It calls for developing rural areas rurally – rather than urbanely. The paper argues that improvements in rural conditions should aim to make rural lives and the environment sustainable, while preserving rural identities. Drawing from literature, it presents a conceptual framework for understanding rurality and shows how planning can serve as a tool for achieving rurality focused development. It provides six suggestions that could lead to integrating rurality-as-a-choice in development policies and practices. The suggested measures include the heritagisation of rural areas, introduction of rurality-focused vision in planning, and organisation of campaigns for the protection of rural heritages, among others. It contributes to emerging literatures on identifying problem-generating issues in rural development in sub-Saharan Africa.