This book is a bird's eye view of the livelihood and geographical conditions of backward rural areas in the central and northern Andes in Peru and in Argentina. There, people live in scattered settlements dedicated to subsistence agriculture and are also marginal to markets. NGOs are playing increasing roles in the development of peripheral rural regions, such as in Peru; while the State addresses the production at the commercial agricultural levels, the subsistence dwellers speak of the difficulties they continue to encounter to manage the marketing of their crops. In rural development, we found the need for interdisciplinary approaches to tackle the poor conditions of education, health protection, increased agricultural output, infrastructure, improved living (including sanitary) conditions and social development. In conclusion, we argue that rural development should be confronted within a systems approach that relies heavily on education. In fact the poor education of the peasantry is a hindrance to a better livelihood. All these thoughts are applied to Frias, Peru and Quebrada Lules in Argentina. The book is arranged in 15 chapters that discuss conceptual terms such as "livelihood "and continues to present the study area and its possibilities to development. This gives way to expand on a discussion on participatory research, programmes supporting livelihoods in developing countries, natural resources, and productive activity. The environmental characteristics of the district of Frias and its agriculture are examined, as well as the factors limiting the development of Frias, its threats, social vulnerability and dwellers' ways of life. The authors of this book also discuss the social ties and the role of local authorities in development taking, for example, the Quebrada de Lules in Argentina.