Rural development is still an important policy goal in most developing countries where a high proportion of the population lives and works in rural areas. This book provides in-depth empirical discussions of contemporary development issues of rural development in northern Ghana with wider applicability in terms of the processes, needs, strategies, and recommendations for policy for most of the savannah ecological zone of Africa. Although the rest of Ghana is developing much faster than northern Ghana, its people perceive substantial positive changes in their conditions of life as prosperity trickles, albeit slowly down and out to them. Environmental change and economic globalization is rendering ineffective the adaptive strategies of poor farmers in northern Ghana. This book is an important resource for students, researchers, policy makers and NGOs with interest in rural development, dry land areas, marginalized areas and general development. The descriptions and discussions of contemporary challenges of rural development issues using vivid case studies are of relevance for comparison to different and similar country situations.