Rural development is critical to sustainable economic development in Africa as majority of its population live in rural areas. Also, most African economies are still heavily reliant on their rural economies as a primary driver of growth and development. Many economic activities especially those related to agriculture and the extractives sector are largely carried out within the rural space. It is in this light that the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD, in collaboration with partners convened the 3rdAfrica Rural Development Forum, under the patronage of H.E. Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Chairperson of the African Union, in Kinshasa, on 10-12 January 2022.

Since 2013, the Africa Rural Development Forum has become a platform for consensus building, political ownership, knowledge exchange to champion rural transformation, territorial development, and planning.

In his opening speech, the Prime Minister of DRC, Mr Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, acknowledged the leadership of President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi, who has placed the issue of rural development at the center of government action. The Prime Minister stated that, “The socio-economic development of the rural world is at the heart of the country’s government action to combat both extreme poverty and social exclusion in the DRC, in particular, and in African rural areas, in general.”

Dr Ibrahim Mayaki, CEO of AUDA-NEPAD pointed out that Africa has six of the ten fastest growing economies, and at the same time it has six out of the 10 most unequal countries worldwide and this is a cause of concern as spatial marginalisation are both the cause and consequence of poverty.

“Marginalisation often results from the neglect of investment in rural infrastructure and in the choice of biased agricultural policies that favour social stability in the city by promoting low food prices and therefore result in persistent poverty in the countryside. Reducing inequality of access to opportunities and increasing capabilities is a prerequisite for sustainable transformation and growth as shown by the experience of emerging countries. But in turn, rural transformation will change the economic and social equilibria because it will give more weight to rural areas in the structural change.,” Dr Mayaki said.

The theme of the forum in Kinshasa, Decentralized Rural Transformation Planning through Experience Capitalisation, was in line with the vision of rural transformation of the African Union and AUDA-NEPAD which focuses on; i) accelerated and diversified economic growth in rural areas (encompassing small towns in rural areas) including increased employment opportunities and livelihoods, (ii) an increased pace of reduction of rural poverty and inequalities, both between rural and urban areas (cities) and between and within rural areas, and (iii) greater environmental sustainability.

As outlined in the Kinshasa Declaration on "Rural Transformation" (a key outcome of the forum), the implementation of this vision will build on the successes and lessons learned from countries and regional experiences as well as on initiatives of the African Union Development Agency AUDA-NEPAD such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and the outcomes of the previous two forums.

Mrs Estherine Lisinge-Fotabong, Director of Program Innovation and Planning, AUDA-NEPAD, gave the keynote address at the forum, in which she indicated that, “The convening of the forum shows great resolve and determination by all of us, to strive forward and change the narrative, that has been carved by COVID-19, for the past two years. Indeed, when COVID-19 struck, it seemed to spell doom and gloom for many of our Member States, but your presence in this forum today, shows a great resolve, deeper than COVID-19, to move forward and strive to take our future back in our hands and re-write the narrative. Rural transformation will be a critical component of the building blocks, as we seek to re-build what was lost in the last two years.”

DRC Country Director and Representative at the World Food Programme, Mr Peter Musoko also acknowledged that, “Investing in rural development is key to ensuring Africa’s prosperity and to guaranteeing to the continent’s youth an alternative to migration.”

Attended by hundreds of participants, including government Ministers from African Union Members States and development partners, the forum concluded that from being marginalised, rural areas will need to be converted into a driver of structural change. This shift will change the economic relationship by the rural population being not only a provider of labour for the needs of industry and urban services but creating value in the countryside and supplying goods containing higher added value to the cities and global markets. Natural resources cannot only serve the interests of oligopolies or be a source of rents whose value is not reinvested to increase wealth in rural areas. Pricing policies and taxation should not only promote access to raw materials and food at low prices without taking into account the imbalances it creates in terms of income parity and incentives to emigrate or harness the natural capital by eroding it.

An important milestone at the forum was launch of the operational strategy to implement the Blueprint for Rural Transformation across Africa. Other outcomes included identification of scalable practices on planning for rural transformation; discussions on efficient policies and decisions-making tools for transformational rural development, and sharing of lessons on south-south cooperation, multi-sectorial and intersectoral approaches towards rural transformation.