Rural diversification in the Baltic countryside: a local perspective

Today “rural diversification” is high on the agenda in rural development. This article analyses rural diversification under conditions of post-socialist economic transition using case areas in Latvia and Estonia. The study shows that transition from centrally planned economy to market economy has had an enormous impact in the rural areas. Agricultural production and employment has decreased dramatically and rural unemployment is high. The conditions for rural diversification the first years after independence depended a lot on the local presence of non-farm activities before the split up of collective farming, in both production facilities but also in the skills and relations people had. Since independence, markets for traditional rural services and products have decreased. The extent to which local businesses find markets outside the local area and people have been able to integrate into the new labour market of service and construction jobs often in urban areas are essential for the diversification of the rural economy. Most rural inhabitants only have skills in large-scale agriculture and limited contacts to outside the local area which makes exploiting new opportunities difficult. The local capacity for withholding, developing and inducing new activities is weak. The challenge for rural development policy is to extend the possibilities of the rural inhabitants to exploit new opportunities.     

The declining importance of agricultural employment in East Germany

Agriculture has ceased to be the major employer in the rural areas of East Germany. Far-reaching structural change has resulted in a sharp decrease in employment and the mono-structural character of villages has been lost. Unemployment is now a major problem and women are worst affected. New jobs have been created in construction and elsewhere in the tertiary sector but most people who have found new jobs have to commute to the towns or migrate permanently to the urban areas. A north-south contrast has developed because the more developed network of towns in the latter, combined with a relatively good infrastructure, has enabled many villages to survive as viable communities. An example is Fuchshain near Leipzig where employment with the farming company (the former cooperative with 4200 ha of land) has declined but the population has grown through new housing built for commuters. In the north there has been much depopulation and many houses are used as second homes. Either way there is more conflict occurring now within rural communities because of tensions between the employed and the unemployed and between old and new residents. It is therefore important that land use planning should take into account the changed economic and social profiles and measures should be adopted to ensure that the countryside remains visually attractive and socially cohesive. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Coping strategies in rural areas of the Buzau Sub–Carpathians

This paper focuses on the Sub–Carpathian region which has traditionally maintained a large rural population and is today suffering acute economic and social stress. During the present transition phase the rural population is struggling to survive by combining elements of the modern and traditional economies and research has been undertaken to clarify a range of household strategies. After profiling the communes of the Buzau Carpathians the problem is tackled at two levels on the basis of questionnaire work carried out during 1998–1999. First there is a general overview to outline conditions in Patarlagele commune, including some local contrasts between settlements on main transport axis along the Buzau valley and those in the hills and side valleys. Second there is a consideration of in-depth profiles of specific households in villages in the wider area including Panatau as well as Patarlagele commune. It remains to be seen to what extent the district will be able to safeguard its social capital when growth resumes in large towns especially Brasov and Buzau with which Patarlagele has the best contacts. It is also an open question how far the remoter settlements will retain a viable population, assuming that the services remain relatively poor while disadvantage persists with regard to both employment opportunities and physical security. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A rural development strategy for the Apuseni Mountains, Romania

The Apuseni Mountains, part of the Western Carpathians, are distinctive in cultural terms because of the highly dispersed settlement patterns that have developed on the high erosion surfaces where the Moti people cleared the forests to allow for an expansion of family farming in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These small ‘crang’ settlements remain, but the population is declining in the face of limited employment opportunities and poor services. The question arises as to the most appropriate rural development strategy for the region, following the communist period which encouraged centralisation through the provision of housing and industry in key villages and new towns. The emphasis on private farming and the expansion of tourism could protect the inherited cultural landscape but money must be found to improve rural services. There is also a strong conservation movement which supports the establishment of a national park, but this could constrain development through controls on grazing and woodcutting. Hence the dialogue continues to find the best compromise and the concept of a ‘natural park’ is being discussed with such a reconciliation in mind. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Environmental Constraints and Part-time Farming in Southeastern Nigeria

In southeastern Nigeria where population pressure is a problem of accelerating importance the agricultural land is in short supply thereby necessitating off-farm jobs to supplement farm income. There is therefore, a high incidence of part-time farming in the region. Analysis of the operational characteristics of thirty-six villages confirms that the intensity of part-time farming varies spatially according to the severity of environmental degradation resulting from population pressure. In addition, villages around urban/industrial centres participate actively in part-time farming since opportunities for off-farm employment are relatively higher. The situation in southeastern Nigeria is used to illustrate the prospects and problems of part-time farming in a developing economy. The implications of part-time farming on the agricultural economy and on rural development generally are examined. Policy measures are suggested that will direct the co-existence of part-time farming with work in the off-farm sector in order to achieve a beneficial and integrated rural development.     

The Hungarian diversification strategy: Constraints and opportunities

Although agricultural work is declining in Hungary, farming remains an important source of employment. However, the agrarian population should not be regarded as homogenous because many small farms are worked only for subsistence and family income supplement. This is because of prolonged economic crisis which makes for a shortage of job opportunities in other sectors of the economy. Until economic growth accelerates there is a need for transitional solutions to the problem of unemployment. It is argued that the present farming system could be diversified through labour-intensive programmes to provide piped water and drainage in small towns and villages and simultaneously engage many of the long-term unemployed who are no longer entitled to benefit and lack the qualifications for jobs that require special skills. The environment could also be protected by the afforestation of 300–400 000 ha of arable land or its conversion to grassland. Light industry could also generate employment while stimulating the growth of local farm production and the improvement of the infrastructure. Training for unemployed young people should also be a priority if the erosion of rural labour resources is not to become irreversible. A much more proactive approach is needed from government to safeguard rural labour resources and achieve greater integration between forestry, farming and processing. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Policies for rural Eastern Europe in transition: The case of Slovakia

After losing much of their demographic vitality under communism, rural areas of Eastern Europe are now handicapped by greatly reduced commuting opportunities and by a lack of foreign investment in the countryside. Although restitution and privatisation has placed much of the land under the control of private farmers, there is a need to modernise agriculture and rural infrastructure generally and also to increase the scope for pluriactivity. At the same time, functional links with the towns must be restored through a growth of employment linked with the central place system. Despite the importance of private enterprise under the conditions of a market economy, the government must take a lead and this paper deals with initiatives taken in rural Slovakia to mobilise the human resources of the countryside. The paper is heavily oriented towards research by the geographers at Nitra who have been much involved with the transformation of their local area. It is evident that while there has been no shortage of ideas, progress has been limited on account of low investment and the tensions associated with a series of three Meciar governments which have dominated Slovak politics through the 1990s. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

[Without Title]

The paper examines the factors that influence the utilisation of health services by women in the rural and urban areas in Ghana. The systematic sampling procedure was used to draw the sample from women aged 18 and above with diverse backgrounds from Ahafo-Ano South district, representing the rural districts and Kumasi metropolis, representing the urban districts. The research instruments used for data collection were the questionnaire and formal interviews. Multiple regression was the main tool for analysis. The research reveals that the key factors that impact significantly on the utilisation of health services by women in the Ahafo-Ano South district are, distance, income and family size (number of children) while for Kumasi metropolis they are education, distance and marital status. Whereas it is clear that distance is a common problem facing women in both rural and urban areas in Ghana in the utilisation of health services, marital status and number of children have emerged as contrasting factors influencing utilisation of health services by women in rural and urban Ghana. Recommendations to improve utilisation include the location of maternal and child health services within easy reach in the rural areas, intensification of family planning education in the rural areas, the empowerment of women through access to formal education and vocational training for income generation activities and the full implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). A model of utilisation of health services by women in the rural and urban areas has emerged.     

Determinants of utilisation of health services by women in rural and urban areas in Ghana

The paper examines the factors that influence the utilisation of health services by women in the rural and urban areas in Ghana. The systematic sampling procedure was used to draw the sample from women aged 18 and above with diverse backgrounds from Ahafo-Ano South district, representing the rural districts and Kumasi metropolis, representing the urban districts. The research instruments used for data collection were the questionnaire and formal interviews. Multiple regression was the main tool for analysis. The research reveals that the key factors that impact significantly on the utilisation of health services by women in the Ahafo-Ano South district are, distance, income and family size (number of children) while for Kumasi metropolis they are education, distance and marital status. Whereas it is clear that distance is a common problem facing women in both rural and urban areas in Ghana in the utilisation of health services, marital status and number of children have emerged as contrasting factors influencing utilisation of health services by women in rural and urban Ghana. Recommendations to improve utilisation include the location of maternal and child health services within easy reach in the rural areas, intensification of family planning education in the rural areas, the empowerment of women through access to formal education and vocational training for income generation activities and the full implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). A model of utilisation of health services by women in the rural and urban areas has emerged.     

农村居民点整理中传统村落保护问题探析

农村居民点整理不仅要在改善农村生产生活条件、促进新农村建设和城乡一体化发展等方面发挥重要作用,还应在乡土建筑文化保护与传承做出贡献。该文探讨现代村落与传统村落的内涵,并将传统村落区分为一般传统村落和特殊传统村落;分析了传统村落保护状况;提出了农村居民点整理中传统村落保护内容;根据不同的村落类型提出了相应的整理模式与整理方向。     

Rural settlements,mission settlements and rehabilitation in Transkei

During the 19th century the predominant form of rural settlement in Transkei was that of dispersed homesteads. The form of the homesteads tended to differ from tribe to tribe, while the homesteads of various tribal groups were separated from each other by uninhabitated areas, or buffer zones. During the 19th century mission settlements were introduced to Transkei, some of which developed into towns.In the 20th century, mainly as a result of government action, homesteads have been nucleated into rural settlements and villages and much of the land has been fenced. A few peri-urban and industrial villages also exist in Transkei. Over 95% of the population of Transkei in 1980 were still rural dwellers.     

Potable water strategies in southern Mudug, Somalia, with special reference to the local economics of motorised borehole systems for watering nomadic livestock

The southern Mudug region of Somalia has been without coherent national government and an international non-governmental organisation (NGO)/UN presence in recent years. Despite this, a functioning water economy can be found, with supply elements based on rainwater harvesting (berkads), shallow wells, motorised deep borehole systems and water tankering. The author argues that this is partly because groundwater has a clear economic value to villages (they can sell it to nomads) and to nomads (without it they will lose the capital that is their livestock), and because there is a revenue collection structure at motorised borehole systems. The ability to understand the economic value of water from the perspective of the user community is a key ingredient in a successful water-supply project in impoverished rural areas.     

枣庄市山亭区节约集约用地的主要做法与思考

通过舆论宣传、典型示范、政策引导、分步实施等措施,对枣庄市山亭区＂空心村＂的专项治理,村庄布局得到进一步优化,村民居住环境得到了进一步改善,农村有效耕地面积进一步增加。     

Trends and characteristics of part-time farming in post-war Japan

Part-time farming is a wide-spread phenomenon in contemporary rural Japan. Characterized by an extremely small-scale rice farming and by a unimodal equitable rural development, most Japanese farm households have combined farming with off-farm employment. In this article, after an examination of the definition of part-time farming (farm household as the unit), the trend of and factors for part-time farming are described and analyzed. Growth and expansion of off-farm employment opportunities, continued small-sized farming, rapid increase in farmland prices and development and diffusion of labor-saving technology are among the major forces which encouraged part-time farming in Japan. Although the overall performance of part-time farms appears less efficient in the use of non-labor resources (e.g., land and machinery), part-time farms still occupy a significant share in the aggregate agricultural production and in the total farmland cropped. Various on-farm and off-farm adjustments are pointed out which have enabled dual employment patterns to be adopted by these people. In essence, due to the limited opportunities for farm-size expansion, part-time farming is considered a necessity, rather than a choise, for most Japanese farm families. But this has also caused some serious agricultural problems, especially with respect to its impact on farmsize structure and inefficient land use. At least for the purpose of maintaining a high income level and for equitable access to opportunities, part-time farming has seemingly contributed beneficially to the farming population of Japan.     

Making the countryside more like the countryside? Rural planning and metropolitan visions in post-quake Chengdu

In 2008, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake struck southwest China less than 100 km north of Chengdu, the booming capital of Sichuan Province. The city government undertook a massive reconstruction project in its rural hinterlands that was guided by existing policies to develop rural areas through coordinated urban and rural planning. Planners sought to avoid replicating urban settlements in rural areas by developing recognizably “pastoral” villages, an approach that is being widely echoed in the relatively new discipline of rural spatial planning in China. This paper argues that such design concessions evade the key feature of the new villages: the concentration of rural residents. The Chengdu government, though this symbolic and actual de-peopling of rural landscapes, has recast rural space as an environmental amenity and an abstract stock of arable land. Drawing on interviews, site visits, and policy and media documents, the paper analyzes the metropolitan plans that provided the framework for rural reconstruction in post-quake Chengdu, and connects these to a model village site in Chengdu’s rural periphery. The case illustrates the need to understand site-level village planning in the context of regional political economies of land, and highlights the new role that metropolitan governments are playing in rural development strategies.     

Critical determinant factors (CDFs) for developing concentrated rural settlement in post-disaster reconstruction: a China study

Housing reconstruction is always the top priority issue in post-disaster reconstruction of rural areas in developing countries. However, the traditional reconstruction approaches, including reconstruction in situ, and resettlement are not sustainable enough for post-disaster reconstruction. Against the dispersion pattern of settlement, this study argues that developing concentrated rural settlement is able to increase the resilience of rural villages and to provide a basis for sustainable development post-disaster. Little study has reported developing concentrated rural settlement in post-disaster reconstruction until the reconstruction post 5.12 Sichuan Earthquake. Yet, there is still an unclear understanding of the factors taken into account when developing concentrated rural settlement in post-disaster reconstruction. This study aims to explore the critical determinant factors to be considered for developing concentrated rural settlement in post-disaster reconstruction with particular reference to the reconstruction post of 5.12 Sichuan Earthquake in China. Through content analysis, a preliminary list of determinant factors was firstly identified. Interviews with the local government officers, planners, and rural victims were conducted to collect opinions on the critical factors. It was found that governmental guidance, victims’ willingness, and economic development condition are three critical dimensions. The findings from this research can help understand the preconditions for developing concentrated rural settlement in post-disaster reconstruction and promote this approach in future.     

Variations in technical infrastructure and private economic activity in the rural areas of Southern Poland

Restructuring the Polish countryside is a complex and urgent task. Adapting agriculture for EU entry will mean a considerable reduction in employment and rural diversification is needed because other sectors of the national economy will not be able to absorb all the displaced people if they arrive in the towns. However, providing non-agricultural employment in rural areas depends to a large extent on the technical infrastructure available: running water, sewerage systems, gas supply and telecommunications. The paper deals with voivodeships in southern and southwestern Poland (formerly Galicia) and shows that while much progress has been made since the end of the communist period, the inherited inequalities are being perpetuated and in some cases increased. However, even where the infrastructure is satisfactory, private business does not develop at a uniform rate and action is needed to stimulate communities in remoter rural areas, particularly in the eastern part of the study region. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Welfare reform and the intra-regional migration of beneficiaries in New Zealand

This paper investigates the net effect of major cuts in welfare benefits and associated changes in the delivery of housing assistance on the relocation behavior of beneficiaries. It does so against an international literature which has documented the tendency of welfare recipients to adjust their costs of living by moving from urban to rural settlements. The paper reviews the literature on welfare and migration, introduces a theoretical framework based on a metropolitan labour market and then tests several hypotheses about the possible effects of benefits cuts on spatial adjustment. The research design uses quinquennial census data to compare core beneficiary relocation patterns with those of non-beneficiaries before and after the cuts to welfare benefits in the Wellington region of New Zealand in 1991. The period following the benefit cuts in New Zealand was characterised by increasing job opportunities which helped to mitigate their adverse effect and made it difficult to identify a more general down-market residential adjustment. While a downward adjustment in housing consumption by core beneficiaries was identified, residential movement from urban to the cheaper settlements in adjacent rural areas was only observed from former State house areas where the income effects of benefit cuts were compounded by increases in rents on former State houses. Thus, while this paper supports the findings of independent sample survey work, our census based analysis underscores the highly contingent nature of that response. Evidence of urban-rural migration is placed in the context of the government's `remote area policy' which attempts to dissuade beneficiaries (who are receiving a social security benefit related to their employment status) from moving without good reason to `remote' locations where job prospects are weak. The paper raises the more general policy issue where benefit cuts, designed to stimulate more active job searching among the unemployed, actually prompt some beneficiaries to relocate to the urban fringe and in some cases to remote parts of the country where job prospects are weak. The theoretical and policy implication of this paper is that there are geographical correlates to the reservation wage which need to be integrated into thinking about the participation consequences of setting benefit levels.     

Migration from the city to the countryside in Hungary and Poland

After the changes of 1989, urban-to-rural migration in Poland and Hungary remained stable compared to rural-to-urban migration. This was connected to a growing importance of suburbanisation around major Hungarian and Polish cities. Suburban areas around these cities are attracting increasing numbers of migrants from the major cities. Pollution and higher crime rates, as well as rising living costs and increasing uncertainties make many people to decide to leave the city for the surrounding countryside. Not only upper middle-class people move to the suburbs, but also lower status people, for whom life in the big city became too difficult. Long-distance migration from the cities to the rural areas is declining. Economic problems together with low employment opportunities prevent people from making such a move. Though the overall level of urban-to-rural migration did not change too much, this article shows the rapidly increasing importance of suburbanisation. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Migration: Causes and effects —

Drought, desertification and lack of development have been the main causes of migration in the rural areas of Western Sudan. The author tackles the different migration patterns followed in the area of Omodiat Burush and the factors influencing these migrations. It is found that high preference is given to rural-rural migration either on a seasonal basis or a permanent one. The latter is directed towards Burush village which attracts the inhabitants of the surrounding villages by the relative availability of educational, health and marketing services. Seasonal migration, on the other hand, is an important coping strategy against crop failure and famine risks.