This book examines the major rural developments and the issues that policy makers have been dealing with across the OECD over the last two decades. The OECD Conference, held in Siena, Italy, in July 2002, on the Future of Rural Policy, identified the need for rural policies to look beyond...

Low incomes and high unemployment in rural areas are issues of concern to policy makers in all countries. With the ongoing structural adjustment in primary agriculture employment opportunities are diminishing, while off-farm employment in rural areas is growing, albeit gradually