Millennium Villages focus

The Millennium Villages focus centrally on the delivery of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the promotion of human security in impoverished rural areas through community-based investments and community-based capacity building. The Millennium Villages are a proof of concept for achieving the MDGs in hunger hotspots of rural Africa and subsistence farm communities in other parts of the world. The

guiding dimensions are: (1) holistic investments and integrated planning and implementation of key sectors such as agriculture, health, education and infrastructure; (2) complementarity of public and private sectors; (3) community-based development; (4) conversion from subsistence to commercial agriculture and development of the private sector: (5) increased donor support, matched by increased efforts of host governments and communities; (6) scalability in project design and financing; and (7) transition to sustainability through community management of local activities, gradual reduction in subsidies, economic growth and viable private sector; increasing role of government and NGOs in public sector services, and commitment of donor community to increased foreign direct assistance.

Significant, early successes in the initial Millennium Villages – e.g. in food production, malaria control, and school meal programs – indicate the readiness of local communities to contribute major efforts to MDG success. The evidence also highlights the feasibility of implementing decentralized, multi-dimensional investment programs spanning agriculture, health, education, and infrastructure in rural communities. These initial successes are leading many governments to promote national rural development strategies based explicitly on scaling up the lessons of the Millennium Villages.

Reference,

Millennium Villages Handbook:

A Practitioner's Guide to the Millennium Villages Approach

Version 1.0

June 18, 2008