Integrated Research on African Way of Rural Development Based on Area Studies

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This study aimed to establish a framework and methodology for examining “ African way of rural development" from the perspective of environmental conservation and utilization. This framework and methodology were designed to promote understanding of the realities in rural areas through interdisciplinary fieldwork and participatory approaches that would underpin attempts to develop solutions based on indigenous characteristics. The main results were as follows.1) The process of disseminating new technologies and/or social systems in rural societies involves introducing external factors that present opportunities for innovation and that can create new systems by virtue of their close interactions with various factors and individuals in the society. Imitative learning and emergent properties arising during this process are important contributors to the development of practices based on the potential of the indigenous characteristics of the rural areas.2) The leveling mechanisms observed in many rural societies in Africa can advance dissemination when majorities in the societies are convinced that new technologies or systems are available (endogenous maturation) as well as external conditions support the implementation. As external factors are disseminated, they become internalized within the social system and become accessible to all inhabitants.3) A practical model for rural development, based on the current situations in African rural areas, was designed on the basis of data obtained through fieldwork and participatory action. In this model, the “focal feature" of the rural area is first identified through fieldwork and discussions with the inhabitants. A solution is designed and implemented through trials conducted in the area; these trials develop the “practical sense" of the researcher and activate the potential for endogenous development. The availability of a model for endogenous development was demonstrated by this interdisciplinary study.