This article provides a brief overview of the major switches in rural development thinking that have occurred over the past halfcentury or so. Dominant and subsidiary themes are identified, as well as the co-existence of different narratives running in parallel. The continuing success of the long-running small-farm efficiency paradigm is highlighted. The article concludes by asking whether sustainable livelihoods approaches can be interpreted as provided a new or different way forward for rural development in the future. The answer is a cautious yes since these approaches potentially permit the cross-sectoral and multi-occupational character of contemporary rural livelihoods in low-income countries to be placed in centre-stage in efforts to reduce rural poverty.