Rural development is a political topic in which debate has been more focussed on externally identified needs than on demands or aspirations of the rural population and polarised between the attractions of urban income earning opportunities and the importance of rural farming communities for national food provision. The heterogeneity of local aspirations and their implications for development have barely been considered. We explore the aspirations of residents of three contrasting regions in Kenya that vary in their agricultural and off-farm potential. We argue that opportunities are a major framing influence on aspirations but there is important, and routinely overlooked, diversity within the communities which could inform future options for effective development. We outline how development initiatives could be redesigned to align more closely with aspirations. However, aspirations are a complex concept and, while our approach offered novel insights, these would be enriched when combined with household survey data.

农村发展是一个政治主题，其辩论更多地集中在外部确定的需求上，而不是农村人口的需求或抱负，并在城市创收机会的吸引力与农村农业社区对国家粮食供应的重要性之间两极分化。几乎没有考虑过地方愿望的异质性及其对发展的影响。我们探索了肯尼亚三个截然不同的地区的居民的愿望，这些居民的农业和非农业潜力各不相同。我们认为，机遇是对愿望的主要框架影响，但社区内部存在重要的，通常被忽视的多样性，可以为有效发展的未来选择提供依据。我们概述了如何重新设计发展计划，使其更符合理想。然而，愿望是一个复杂的概念，尽管我们的方法提供了新颖的见解，但与住户调查数据相结合，这些愿望将得到充实。