For instance, the selected Asian countries are already engaged in a demographic transition that has translated into lower fertility and dependency rates and a shrinking rural population, while in the sub-Saharan African case study countries, the rural population will continue to grow in the coming decades. Another important difference is the capacity for public policy delivery across these two regions. In all the Asian case studies there have been significant improvements in the provision of basic public services in rural areas such as piped water, electricity, and sanitation facilities, while for the sub-Saharan case studies improvements in the provision of basic services in rural areas have been veiy modest. Rather than pointing to the relative success or failure of rural policy across these two regions, however, we aim to illustrate their vaiying challenges and possible paths for rural development (for an example, see Box 8.1).