War and Rural Development in Africa

Studies in autumn 1994.This addressed a key question facing rural development analysts and practitioners: does the upsurge in armed conflict in Africa, especially pronounced since the end of the Cold War, mean we need a new or additional agenda for rural development?This Bulletin explores in greater detail some of the issues raised in that seminar series.It is clear that rural development thinking can no longer claim that conflict falls outside its mandate.Conflict is too widespread and too destructive.Wars, civil conflict and banditry characterize large areas of the poorest parts of the continent, and while some conflicts (South Africa, Mozambique, perhaps Mali) are on the way to being solved, others (Sudan, the Great Lakes, perhaps Kenya) continue or are getting worse.