Poverty Reduction Strategies and the Rural Productive Sectors: What have we learnt, what else do we need to ask?

Despite the fact that more that 75% of the world's poor live and work in rural areas, five years of experience with Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSs) show that they have generally not dealt well with rural poverty and the rural economy. This paper argues that significant challenges remain in exploring the potential contribution of the rural productive sectors to growth and poverty reduction.