The strategy of focusing policies of education for rural development on the expansion of agricultural education at the secondary and higher levels is now viewed as largely obsolete. To meet the challenges facing the rural world today, an integrated view of education is required, centred on access to quality basic education for all. The goals of food security, poverty reduction and meeting the needs of the rural labour market require that rural development policies give priority to basic education and strategies that fully recognize the special nature of the rural environment.
With a view to advancing this line of thought and drawing operational lessons from it to guide countries in the reform of their education, training and rural development policies, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has joined forces with UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) to conduct an international study on education and rural development. Resulting from this joint initiative, the first aim of the book is to review the status of the topic from the standpoint of public policies and the conceptual frameworks on which they are based. It will also attempt to shed light on what may be called ‘good practice’.