For over 30 years, the Aga Khan Development Network’s (AKDN) model of rural development – aimed at effectively reducing poverty and improving the local economies of targeted geographies – has been adapted and replicated widely. Its main pillars are: participatory governance, which allows people to direct their own development; agricultural assistance, which works with farmers to improve yields; non-farm enterprise and employment, which supplements villagers’ farm-based incomes; natural resource management, which includes equitable water use and restoration of degraded land; access to finance, which helps smooth erratic incomes; and the creation of infrastructure that improves the quality of life, such as bridges, drinking water systems and irrigation canals. As the rural development programmes move into their fourth decade, they are also addressing the emerging challenges of rapidly changing demography, climate change and unpredictable geo-political circumstances.