Scientific report: "The principle of access to rural development by region: experience from LEADER program of the European Union" pps

J. Sci. Dev. 2009, 7 (Eng.Iss.1): 104 - 111 HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
104
Principle of territorial based rural development:
Experience from LEADER program of European Union
Nguyên tắc của tiếp cận phát triển nông thôn theo vùng:
Kinh nghiệm từ chương trình LEADER của Liên minh Châu Âu
Nguyen Thi Minh Hien
Faculty of Economics and Rural Development. Hanoi University of Agriculture
TÓM TẮT
Chính sách phát triển nông thôn là một trong những thành phần quan trọng của chính sách nông
nghiệp chung (CAP) của cộng đồng châu Âu. Chính sách này khuyến khích sự phát triển bền vững
trong khu vực nông thôn nhằm giải quyết các vấn đề kinh tế, xã hội và môi trường. Chương trình
LEADER là một trong các tiếp cận phát triển nông thôn rất sáng tạo và được xem là một trong những
thử nghiệm thành công của tiếp cận phát triển nông thôn theo vùng (TBRD). Bẩy nguyên tắc chính
của tiếp cận TBRD bao gồm: i) Tiếp cận dựa trên vùng; ii) Tiếp cận từ dưới lên; iii) Hiệp hội và nhóm
hành động địa phương (LAG); iv) Khuyến khích và thúc đẩy sự sáng tạo; v) Các hành động tổng hợp
và đa lĩnh vực; vi) Mạng lưới và sự hợp tác giữa các vùng và vii) Quản lý và tài trợ địa phương.
Từ khóa: Chiến lược TBRD, LEADER, nhóm hành động địa phương, phát triển nông thôn.
SUMMARY
Rural development policy is an increasingly important component of the common agricultural
policy (CAP). It promotes sustainable development in Europe’s rural area addressing economic, social
and environment concerns. LEADER presents an innovative approach and is considered as one of the
most successful experiments of territorial based rural development approach (TBRD). The seven key
principles of TBRD include of i) the area-based approach; ii) Bottom-up approach; iii) Partnership
approach and the “local action group” (LAG); iv) Innovation facilitation; v) Integrated and multi-
sectoral actions; vi) Networking and cooperation between areas and vii) Local financing and
management.
Key words: LEADER, local action group (LAG), rural development, TBRD strategy.
1. INTRODUCTION
70% of the poor on our planet now are living
in rural areas. Policies of rural development are

the most direct way to fight against poverty and
ensure sustainable development. The different
rural development approaches have been tried
such as top-down approach, sectoral support or
subsidies for beneficiaries. However, those
approaches tend to focus on sectoral support
rather encouraging local development players or
project leaders, to acquire the necessary skills to
turn them into agents and architects of the future
of their own area.
Hence the need to reconsider the foundation
and objectives of the policies and to progress from
a rationale of growth to one of sustainable local
development, taking into account the
environmental, economic, social and cultural
dimension of rural areas. This new rural approach
concept has given rise to the emergence of
innovative approaches of which Territorial Based
Rural Development (TBRD) with their LEADER
program is one of the most successful experiments.
2. BACKGROUND OF LEADER PROGRAM
2.1. The limitations of traditional approaches
in rural development
The traditional approaches are mainly based
on average growth. They have some limitation such
Principle of territorial based rural development: Experience from LEADER program
105
as: those approaches ignore the heterogeneity of
rural societies; the multidimensional character of
rural poverty have not been taken into account;

Agriculture have been overemphasized and
centered; they do not correct market failures,
frequent in rural areas; They do not relate activities
aiming to transform production with those oriented
to reform rural institutions and fail in connecting
rural policies with macro economic policies; It is
difficult to assume that are the market and the
agents operating in the market the one mainly
influencing rural poverty; They ignore the potential
positive influence of urban economy in rural areas
and lack flexibility to adapt national policies to
specific territories.
In most cases, support policy administrators
are remote from the beneficiaries of such policies
(centralized, vertical management, decisions taken
far away from the grass roots level, etc.), which
throws up a number of obstacles when providing
support to distressed areas: standardized definition
of the needs of rural areas and beneficiaries,
“clerical” processing of applications with no direct
knowledge of the situation “in the field”, slow
decision making, procedures and approval times ill-
matched to the needs of project leaders, etc.
2.2. The new characteristics and constraints of
rural societies
Interaction with globalization process, rural
societies has new characteristics and it is also
facing constraints as follows:
- Distinctions and frontiers among local,
regional and national markets for food are blurred

- The need to compete globally is unavoidable
for rural economies
- It disappears the identification between the
agrarian sector and rurality
- Globalization and privatization processes
show the market failures
- Old rural institutions are not adequate
- Decentralization processes reach rural areas
- Rural culture changes rapidly
- Sustainability of rural activities becomes a
social demand.
LEADER - “Links between Actions for the
Development of the Rural Economy” has
endeavored to close this gap by putting program
administrators in direct contact with the “field”, by
seeking to shorten decision-making cycles and by
providing customized support and guidance for
projects notably by setting up local teams of
practitioners to coordinate the work locally. Even
though projects have not always been carried out
according to this ideal model, it has been possible
to vary the type of support to suit the individual
characteristics and conditions of each area. These
efforts demonstrate the usefulness of the approach.
3. THE “LEADER” CONCEPT
One core element included in each rural
development programme is the “LEADER
concept”. Whereas classical rural development
support policy is based on a top-down approach –
although in a number of cases a quite decentralised

one – the LEADER approach works bottom-up and
is centred on local development.
Public and private partners at the local level
form a local action group. This public-private
partnership consists in general of one or several
municipalities together with local entrepreneurs,
farmers, foresters and other people interested in the
development of their communities and the
improvement of the local environment. At least half
of the partners in a local action group have to come
from the private sector.
The local action groups prepare their local
development plans and introduce them into a
selection procedure. The best plans are then
selected by the regional or national authorities for
support. They must refer to well-identified sub-
regional rural territories and should contain an
integrated multi-sectoral approach based on the
interaction between actors and projects of different
sectors of the local economy.
The local development plans must contribute
to achieve the three core objectives of the rural
development policy. But in order to leave room for
innovative ideas and approaches, they do not have
to use the pre-defined support measures. Support
can be granted for the implementation of the local
development strategies, for the operational costs of
the local action groups, for cooperation projects
between them as well as for capacity building and
animation necessary for the preparation of local

development strategies.
When one looks at the independent
evaluation studies we have commissioned on our
rural development policy instruments, the results
for the LEADER approach are quite positive. Of
course, there have been failures. But altogether,
LEADER is judged to be efficient because it is
adaptable to very different socio - economic
contexts in rural areas, brings key actors together,
Nguyen Thi Minh Hien
106
mobilises voluntary effort and is responsive to
small scale activities and projects to promote
local development. It is judged effective because
it closes the gap between a top-down programme
and the local people, conveys responsibility to
local actors and links public authorities with the
local economy and society. It contributes to
capacity building in rural areas and there are
many examples where LEADER has contributed
to the creation of new jobs and to the
improvement of incomes in rural areas. The
LEADER approach, if well implemented, can
provide a lot of local mobilisation and
development for little money.
The local action groups under LEADER and
other actors of rural development are linked
together and assisted in their work through a
national rural network. A European network will
bring together the national networks as well as

organisations and administrations in the field of
rural development at the EU level.
According to experience, this networking is
essential to bring rural development actors together,
to exchange expertise and experience, to promote
and diffuse best practice, to generate new ideas and
to build new partnerships for cooperation projects.
It clearly has a strong mobilising and multiplying
effect and is a key to success.
The LEADER program is not only attained
successfully in EC, but also in other developed
countries like Canada and developing countries in
Latin America. In such countries programs like
LEADER have been introduced, for example:
Brazil: The national Program for
Strengthening the Household Agriculture.
Bolivia: The Low for Grassroots
Democratization.
Colombia: The Program for Household
Integral Development.
Mexico: The Law for Sustainable Rural
Development.
Canada: Canadian Rural Partnerships.
LEADER Program in EU
Chronologically, as well as methodologically,
LEADER has undergone three phases: LEADER I
initiated a new development approach; LEADER II
generalized the approach; and LEADER+ aims to
consolidate the method by means of pilot strategies
and unifying themes.

Main objectives of rural development in
LEADER:
 Bring administrative decision bodies closer
to those under administration.
 Promotion of the principle of programming:
actions will be based on programs, designed for the
development of the territory, and elaborated by the
groups themselves.
 Promotion of social vertebration by
participation in the groups of social and economic
agents, as well as local administrations.
 Dismantling of “policies based only on
subsidies”.
Other goals of the LEADER initiative:
- Recuperation of balance in economic
activities by way of diversification of activities.
- The programmes will have a local and
endogenous focus to add value to the resources of
the regions themselves.
- The promotion of any innovative solutions
through the creation of a European network.
- The merging of the different sectorial
measures to make the most of synergies.
- Avoid all polluting effects and protect the
environment.
4. CONTENT AND MAIN PRINCIPLES
OF TBRD
The TBRD or LEADER approach can be
analyzed according to seven key aspects:
- The area-based approach – This entails

defining a development policy on the basis of an
area’s own particular situation, strengths and
weaknesses.
In LEADER, this area is a fairly homogeneous
local rural unit, characterized by internal social
cohesion, a shared history and traditions, a sense of
common identity, etc. The raison d’être of the area-
based approach stems from the growing awareness
by and for the prime movers in the local area of the
role of endogenous resources in achieving
sustainable development. This approach facilitates
the recognition of local strengths and weakness,
threat and opportunities or endogenous potential for
rural development.
- Bottom-up approach: This aims to encourage
participatory decision-making at local level for all
development policy aspects. The involvement of
local players is sought, including the community as
a whole, economic and social interest groups and
representative public and private institutions. The
bottom-up approach relies on two major activities
Principle of territorial based rural development: Experience from LEADER program
107
(“animation” and training of local communities)
and comes into play at different stages of the
programme. This approach is the most distinctive
feature. Local actors participate in decision making
about the strategy and in the selection of the
priorities to be pursue in their local area.
- Partnership approach and the “local action

group” (LAG): The LAG is a body of public and
private players, united in a partnership that
identifies a joint strategy and a local action plan for
developing a LEADER area.
The LAG is one of the most original and
strategic features of the LEADER approach.
Endowed with a team of practitioners, decision-
making powers and a fairly large budget, the LAG
represents a new model of organization that can
considerably influence the institutional and political
balance of the area concerned. The LAG is
responsible for identifying and implementing a
local development strategy, making decision about
the allocation of its financial resource and
managing them. The rural actors that are most
active in local initiatives: professional organization
and union (farmers, non-farming professionals and
micro-enterprises); trade association; citizens,
residents and their local organization; local political
representatives; environmental association; cultural
and community service providers, including the
media, women’s association and young people.
- Innovation: Even though the LEADER
concept and its implementation in the field are
innovative in themselves, the LEADER Initiative
stresses that the actions must also be innovative.
They may be actions to promote local resources in
new ways, actions that are of interest to local
development but not covered by other development
policies, actions providing new answers to the

weakness and problems of rural areas, or else the
creation of a new product, new process, and new
form of organization or new market. Innovation in
rural areas may imply the transfer and adaptation if
innovations developed elsewhere, the
modernization of traditional forms of know-how, or
finding new solutions of persistent rural problems.
Innovation is also embodied in the
programme’s demonstrative and networking
components: disseminating information to other
groups of players wishing to gain inspiration from
achievement elsewhere or to carry out joint projects.
- Integration and multi-sectoral actions: The
actions and projects contained in the local action
plan are linked and coordinated as a coherent whole.
Integration may concern actions conducted in a single
sector, all programme actions or specific groups of
actions, or, most important, links between the
different economic, social, cultural, environmental
players and sectors involved in the area.
- Networking and cooperation between areas:
By facilitating the exchange and circulation of
information on rural development policies and the
dissemination and transfer of innovation, the
LEADER network aims to break the isolation of
LAGs and to establish a basis of information and
analysis on the actions. To complement existing
European and national networking, some LAGs
have spontaneously organized themselves into
informal networks. Cooperation between areas can

be transnational but may equally take place
between neighbouring areas.
- Local financing and management:
Delegating to the LAG a large proportion of the
decision-making responsibilities for funding and
management is another key element of the
LEADER approach. However, the LAGs’ degree of
autonomy varies considerably depending on the
Member State’s specific mode of organization and
institutional context.
5. TBRD STRATEGY: BASIC STEPS
From a sustainable development perspective,
the LEADER approach seeks to take into account
the internal opportunities and constraints of rural
areas as a result of the environmental, economic,
social and cultural factors of an area’s past, as well
as the external opportunities and constraints arising
from opening up local economies.
Components of an Ideal Action in Rural
Development
A rural development action in a specific
territory normally requires:
 A collective and shared view of the territory
and its future.
 Action objectives.
 General inspiring principles for the action.
 Inspiring principles for rural development.
 Diagnosis of rural reality: the territory, sectorial
aspects, transversal aspects, aspects related to other
policies, SWOT of the specific situation.

 Definition of strategies: Promoting the
environment, both general and sectorial, and strictly
speaking rural (strategies).
 Lines of action that develop the strategies
that have been formulated.
Nguyen Thi Minh Hien
108

Some main basic phases required as depicted in below diagram: Methodology phases
The choice of an area-based approach is linked
with the importance of “endogenous” (local)
resources in sustainable development. Such
endogenous resources may be physical,
environmental, cultural, human, economic and
financial, as well as institutional and administrative.
Note that it is not only “exceptional” resources that
can be developed, quite the reverse. In most cases,
it is an “ordinary” local heritage or one that seemed
“unremarkable” that is considered to be worth
reviving. This has particularly been true of ancient
skills which, when reintroduced and
professionalized, become sources of new business
and added value.
This approach converges with the definition of
sustainable development. By refining these three
dimensions, it is possible to identify the area’s
profile based on eight components, each of which
can be developed further, depending on the specific
situation or expectations:
Creation of Local Action Group
Setting up a local partnership, known in
LEADER as a “local action group (LAG)” allows
this concept to be put into practical application:
- By harnessing the differing and
complementary resources of the public sector, the

private sector and the civic and voluntary sector.
- By uniting local players around joint projects
and common, cross-sectoral actions, in order to
achieve the critical mass or threshold needed to
improve the area’s economic competitiveness.
- By envisaging development through a multi-
sectoral approach, stemming from negotiations and
consultations between the players concerned.
Initial requirements
Creation of local action
group
Participative diagnosis
Definition of vision
(fundamental core)
Strategy
Projects
Plan implementation
Execution
Looking for
needed
financial
resources
Training of
initial
technical
team
Propaganda
communication
promotion
Permanen

t technical
team
Principle of territorial based rural development: Experience from LEADER program
109
Under the LEADER approach, the
partnership is comprised of the “local action
group” (LAG). The local action group promotes
the development strategy and is responsible for
implementing it:
- The partners involved in the LAG represent
the interests of local socio-economic players and
communities and the different sectors and
associations concerned by the environment, the
heritage, social and cultural integration, etc.
- Together they establish a joint strategy and
implement the development program, based on the
widespread engagement of the entire community
and on a search for integration (involvement,
participation in the approach, “trawling” for
projects, encouraging the creation of new links,
conflict management, etc.)
- The LAG has decision-making powers and a
budget. However, decentralized funding and
management does not rule out negotiations with the
regional or national authorities responsible for
applying the program.
The local action group is neither a public
administration nor a private entity. Far from
ignoring such bodies, it plays a complementary role
in linking the two. This is one of the most original

and strategic features of the program.
The LEADER local action group generally
concerns three major categories of potential
partners: people or associations of people;
economic players and private enterprises; public
institutions. Each is comprised of a number of
groups of players:
- For people or associations of people:
associations representing an interest (trade unions,
trade associations); associations with an interest in
the area (local development associations,
environmental associations, etc.); cultural, social or
religious associations; people or groups (informal
groups, private individuals, etc.).
- For economic players and private enterprises:
organizations of entrepreneurs (business and
industrial associations, major enterprises working
in the area); cooperative farming sector
(cooperatives, cooperative union); financial sector
(banks, friendly societies, etc.); enterprises
providing community services (cultural services,
newspapers, radio, television, non-cultural services,
etc.).
- For public institutions: local authorities
(district councils, associations of districts, etc.);
public administrations (local, regional, branch
offices of national administrations); public services
(social, public health and transport services;
schools, universities, etc.).
Framework

The full importance of analyzing the area’s
capital comes to light when the local rural
development program is developed.
This involves four priority aims:
- To share the results of the analysis, which
have pointed to a number of major innovation
needs for the area - This stage follows on from
engaging the community and involving local
players.
- To give priority to an integrated approach
(which will impart overall coherence and make it
possible to identify what is a priority and what is
less so and to rank the objectives and actions). This
integrated approach helps to identify and consider
existing geographical, economic, social, cultural
imbalances and possible synergies in order to take
into account the relationships between the planned
actions and to develop solutions over time. The
integrated approach serves as a main thread running
through the entire process.
- To choose one or more unifying themes that
both responds to innovation needs and offer longer-
term prospects. The unifying theme acts as the core
structural principle of a project. The quality of a
unifying theme depends on its ability to serve as a
lever for encouraging the emergence of initiatives,
whilst at the same time matching identified needs.
- To build a shared vision of the area’s future -
Creating this shared vision on the basis of a
unifying theme calls for a certain amount of blind

faith, combined with the ability to adapt to concrete
realities. These two approaches are often adopted
by different people or even institutions, so it is a
good idea to institute a wide-ranging public debate,
which takes time.
Diagnosis of the territory
This analysis is implemented in order to
consider what we do have. It requires the fully
public participation. This needs to analyze whole
territory. The territorial resources include of
Physical Resources, Human Resources, Culture and
Identity, Know-How and Skills, External relations,
Governance, Activity and Jobs, Image.
- Physical resources and their management
(in particular natural resources, facilities and
infrastructure, historic and architectural heritage,
etc.).
Nguyen Thi Minh Hien
110
SWOT Matrix
Strength Opportunity
Weakness Threats
As defined as INTERNAL factors by territorial
resources
As defined as EXTERNAL factors not belonging to
the territory

- Human resources (the people living in the
area, who set up home there or who leave it; the
demographic characteristics and social structure of

the community).
- Activities (enterprises, their sector, position
in this sector, size, degree of geographical
concentration, etc.) and jobs (structure, stability,
employment conditions, etc.).
- Know-how and skills (implicit and explicit,
command of technology, research and development
capabilities, etc.).
- The area’s culture and identity (values shared
by local figures, their interests, outlook, attitudes,
forms of recognition, habits and customs, etc.).
- The level of “governance” (local institutions
and administrations, the political rules of the game,
collective bodies, the relationships between all of
these players, the degree of autonomy in managing
development, including financial resources) and of
democracy (forms of consultation and participation).
- The image and perception of the area (by the
inhabitants themselves and by outsiders), local
communication.
- External relations (in particular the area’s
degree of integration in the various markets, its
contacts with other areas, networks of exchanges, etc.).
SWOT analysis
Different ways can be used to see clearer
what’s going on in the territory. SWOT Matrix,
Diagram, and Problems Tree can be
interchangeable used to see the strength,
weakness, opportunity and challenge of territory.
The resumed information will help to define the

strategy for rural development in the territory and
easier in choosing appropriate strategies.
Fundamental core: Vision of the territory
From diagnosis the strategic plan will be
defined. Strategic plan as Fundamental core: It’s a
unifying theme which represents a shared vision of
the area’s future. Fudamental core can be seen as
long-term prospect, resumes the territory’s major
potential and main characteristic, that make it
different from others. It focus on the process and on
an integrated vision.
Strategic axes
Strategic plan then be formed to Strategic
Axes. Different axes must to respond to the
fundamental core of the territory. The axes are
defined around the fundamental core. All the axes
are connected one with each other and there are
synergies between them.
Projects
From strategic axes, projects will be identified
with the territory. Projects responding to the
fundamental core and there are connection among
projects.
LEADER is judged to be efficient because it is
adaptable to very different socio-economic contexts
in rural areas, brings key actors together, mobilizes
voluntary effort and is responsive to small scale
activities and projects to promote local development.
It is judged effective because it closes the gap
between a top-down program and the local people,

conveys responsibility to local actors and links
public authorities with the local economy and
society. It contributes to capacity building in rural
areas and there are many examples where LEADER
has contributed to the creation of new jobs and to the
improvement of incomes in rural areas.
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