The study was conducted in Debre Markos town and its hinterland. The main objective of the studyrnwas to assess the challenges and prospects of RUMLs in the study area. It has made use ofrnprimary and secondary data sources and 237 households were selected through systematicrnrandom sampling. The data was analyzed by making use of a blend of descriptive and inferentialrnstatistical tools. The study discloses wide differences between hinterland farmers and their urbanrncounterparts to recognize and identify pertinent challenges that hamper RUMLs. To hinterlandrnfarmers, shortage of land, subsistence agriculture, lack of market facilities, price fluctuations andrnshortage of farm inputs are the jirst jive main challenges in ascending order that affect R UML.rnThe x2 analysis reveals that both groups of farmers are equally victims of these challenges. Urbanrnhouseholds on the other hand identified, Price fluctuation, lack of market facilities, inflation, lackrnof agro-processing industries and subsistence nature of agriculture as the .first jive mainrnchallenges in order of severity that affect RUML in the study area. The study has identified weakrnand partial backward RUML while forward production marketing linkage is almost non-existent.rnThe only linkage found relatively strong is consumption linkages. The analysis using One-wayrnANOVA shows that urban households do not differ significantly based on age and duration fromrneach other on the mean cost incurred and mean amount of farm outputs purchased. Therncorrelation analysis on the other hand reveals that the amount of farm outputs purchased and costrnincurred by urban households decreases, as people get older and older. Among ten variables,rnshortage of land is the jirst problem that affects agricultural production in the hinterland.rnProduction is subsistence often used for consumption that never satisjies urban peoples ' demand.rnThe multiple regression results show that age of the household and distance are equally importantrnfactors to explain the variance on the amount of cereals sold. While the amount oj'farm inputsrnused and farm size are less significant to explain any unique variance on the amount oj' cerealsrnmarketed by farmers. PASDEP, agricultural sector policy, industrial sector policy, road sectorrnpolicy and decentralization are identified as national prospects to enhance RUMLs. Whilernexpansion of MSEs, investment activities, consumers ' associations, cooperatives and farm outputrnmarketing services are some of the local prospects that would harness RUMLs. No significantlyrncoordinated efforts have been made by local governments to harness R UMLs in the study area.rnFinaliy, it is recommended that to ameliorate the pertinent RUML challenges and promote mutualrndevelopment; a pooled effort is needed from all concerned stakeholders.