Stronger rural-urban linkages can result in better economic and social development outcomes and benefits for all participants. These serve as just a few examples that highlight the importance of rural policies for the country’s development. While once focused almost entirely on agriculture, there is an increasingly multidimensional view of rural development that encompasses support for economic diversification. In equal measure, there has been a shift from a highly centralised top-down approach to policy making towards one where a broader array of actors are involved in elaborating and implementing policy, including community-based groups. Successive decentralisation reforms have been formative in promoting local community development, however, this process of decentralisation is by no means complete and moreover, silos between agricultural and rural development policies persist. As will be discussed, more could be done to align these incentives and improve the effectiveness of rural policies based on local conditions and needs.