Abstract
This chapter summarizes the main theoretical and empirical contributions of policy transfer and diffusion studies in the rural sector. Drawing on recent studies developed in European, Latin American and African countries, this work provides an outlook of transfer agents, mechanisms, and processes with regard to their effects on food security, territorial development, agricultural and land policies. The analysis follows a cross-cutting approach as it explains the dynamics of North–South, South–South, and South–North policy transfers. It builds on both bibliographic and primary data and it engages with the literature concerning international governance, regionalism, and political sociology. Accordingly, its focus is on four main issues: (i) the role of civil society organizations and development cooperation in the transfer of family farming policy instruments and paradigms in Africa and Latin America; (ii) the process of knowledge framing and diffusion through international organizations and multilateral forums; (iii) the particularities of North–South and South–South transfers of rural policy instruments in Africa and Latin America; and (iv) examples of South–North transfers and future research agendas in the field.Our objective is not only to contribute to the overall debate on the old and emerging ‘directions of policy transfer’ (Porto de Oliveira and Pal, 2018), but also to highlight the particularities of the literature in the field from a regional point of view, namely the power of domestic actors in Africa (‘African agency’) and the processes of regional integration from a policy perspective in Latin America. The first section of this chapter presents recent approaches to an old debate regarding Europeanization and North–South transfers. The second section provides an overview of a flourishing body of literature of policy-sharing among countries from the Global South. This includes transregional transfers between Brazil or China and African countries as well as regional convergences within both Latin American and African continents. The third section delves into the dynamics of multilateral arenas and forums, including global international organizations and regional and transregional communities. Finally, the last section highlights some of the persisting questions and new issues for further developing research in the field.