Book excerpt: This book is designed to provide an overview of the theory and practice of community development, including an historical review, an examination of contemporary issues, debates and challenges faced by communities in Nigeria and other countries, particularly those in rural areas. It considers how community development has been interpreted differently throughout the history of development. A review of the factors that academics, development practitioners and third world peoples have pinpointed as causes of failed development initiatives. Key concepts to be explored are the important definitions of communities, community development, the characteristics of rural, and urban communities, community development theories and policies: principles, processes and programmes of community development, the issues confronting communities, such as insecurity, poverty, conflict, to name but a few. The book explores various approaches of community development in relation to their goals, processes and outcomes and the challenges of community development in the context of the current socio-economic realities in Nigeria. It has explored community development practices to discover critique and improve upon theoretical perspectives on community development. The objectives of this book are to offer the knowledge and skills you will need to: Understand and think critically about the core elements of substantive issues in community development; Understand and apply the basic elements of a community development process to encourage participation and decision-making informed by multiple perspectives and sources of information; Identify and evaluate available resources related to community development practice and the wide range of topics that may be addressed by those working in areas linking community, environment, and development. This book has been specially designed with didactic twenty chapters. All the chapters have been tailored to capture the interest of general readership as they are written in simple but alluring language. The practical nature of the book makes it novel, couched in practical issues rather abstract concepts and theories. It contains: Chapter 1: Conceptual Explanations of Community and Rural Development Chapter 2: Principles of Community and Rural Development Chapter 3: The History of Rural and Community Development: A Global View-Point and the Evolution of Rural-Community Development Activities in Nigeria Chapter 4: Dynamics of Rural and Community Development Chapter 5: Theories and Approaches of Rural and Community Development Chapter 6: The Processes of Rural and Community Development Chapter 7: Traditional Social Institutions and Mobilization in Rural and Community Development in Nigeria Chapter 8: Development Planning Chapter 9: Community Development Resources Chapter 10: Funding of Rural and Community Development Chapter 11: Leadership in Rural and Community Development Chapter 12: Agents and Agencies in Rural and Community Development 1: The Role of Cooperative Societies in Rural and Community Development Chapter 13: Agents and Agencies in Rural and Community Development 11: The Role of Youths and Women in Rural and Community Development Chapter 14: Agents and Agencies in Rural and Community Development 111: The Role of Traditional Rulers in Rural and Community Development Chapter 15: Conflict and Conflict Resolution at Rural and Community Level Chapter 16: Poverty and Rural Development Chapter 17: Policies/Programmes of Rural and Community Development in Nigeria Chapter 18: Monitoring and Evaluation Chapter 19: Case Studies Chapter 20: Problems and Prospects of Rural and Community Development in Nigeria