Résumé
The Rural Development Forum (MDRs) were created in Uruguay in 2011 with the process of decentralization of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP). Based on a territorial and participatory rural development approach, this public policy seeks to consolidate and favor the permanence of family farming in the rural territories of the country. The objective of this paper is to characterize the operation and the territorial contribution of the MDRs in three departments: Río Negro, Rivera and Salto. The methodology consisted of applying an analysis guide in the MDRs of the three departments through individual and collective interviews, supplemented by documental and bibliography review.