Rapid residential growth in rural areas or on the fringes of urban areas brings both costs and benefits. Seven factors determine whether new homes and subdivisions generate more revenues than expenditures. Local governments can substantially influence four of these seven factors in order to reduce the public costs of residential growth. Less…

Rural Africa includes some 80% of the African population; its people are poverty stricken, illiterate, ill-sheltered, and ill-nourished. These circumstances make rural development absolutely vital. However, past rural development policies have failed to take into consideration the structure and division of labor in the farm family, the traditional…