Rural community well-being: models and application to changes in the tobacco-belt in Ontario, Canada

In this paper we develop a model of changes in rural community well-being. The model conceptualizes four interrelated dimensions of rural community well-being: physical, psychological, social, and economic. The model recognizes that a range of external forces (political, economic, etc.) exert pressures on rural communities, of which changes in well-being are one outcome. The paper then applies the model to changes which occurred in the tobacco growing region of southern Ontario, Canada. It is argued that this region was impacted by a variety of forces, some general to farming, others specific to tobacco farming, particularly between 1979 and the early 1990s. The empirical application is based on a personally administered farm survey (n=63) conducted between July 1996 and January 1997 and agricultural census data for the years 1981, 1986, 1991, and 1996. The paper concludes by suggesting that the model provides a useful framework for analysing the forces and changing conditions of other rural communities, not only in Canada, but beyond.     

Opportunities, constraints and pluriactivity in rural Romania during the transition period; preliminary observations

This paper presents some initial implications of the changes brought about by recent economic transformations within the Romanian rural sector during the current transition period. As a case study of those trends, within the context of pluriactivity and constraints to rural development, it looks at some characteristics of agricultural production in the Subcarpathian region of the county of Valcea, an area where collectivisation, and thus its influences, had been partial and limited. The paper links micro and macro view points. At the micro level, it looks at the coping strategies, based on pluriactivity, adopted by rural households under changing economic conditions. At the macro level, the paper discusses some of the possible factors supporting as well as hindering rural welfare levels and agricultural development under current economic conditions. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

文登市宋村镇农村土地流转探索

随着我国社会的发展和经济体制改革的不断深入,农村土地流转的方式越来越多,范围越来越广。如何在保障农户土地承包经营权的前提下,推进土地承包经营权有序流转,提高农业产业化水平是深化农村改革的一个现实课题和长远目标。该文以宋村镇农村土地承包经营权流转的调查数据为例,分析了土地流转的现状和特点,指出当前存在的矛盾和问题,提出了农村土地流转机制的对策和建议。     

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.     

Planning and the rural regions of Nigeria

Conclusion Urban and rural development arek inextricably related, that regional planning can play important roles as catalyst for agriculture and rural development; and that a system of growth centres and/or agropolitan policy which can be important in achieving economic growth with social equity, will be far more influential. Again if the National Planning Authority, Regional Planning Agency and the policy of growth centre in the rural areas of the recommended regions is pursued, it will not only increase agricultural productivity or a path to agricultural transformation for deleterious effects of migration to corporate farming but also could, over time help to reduce the pressure on the urban areas by providing counter-magnets to migration and we envisage, will bring about a national regional planning budget which should be operated on yearly basis.     

Effects of common property resource utilization on wildlife conservation in Nigeria

A survey was conducted in 21 rural settlements to assess wildlife conservation under a common utilization. Wildlife was managed through traditional regulations to meet subsistence requirements for food, income, recreation and health care. However, the conditions under which common property resource utilization thrived: traditional beliefs, communal land tenure system and uncertain income streams were almost disintegrated by changes in land use and social attitudes.The resource base for rural economies, the natural vegetation, was in crisis of depletion and degradation due to modern techniques of agricultural and forestry production. A conservative strategy is suggested. Rural land use should be based on planned agroforestry practices: smallholder tree planting, protection and regeneration of indigenous plants with potential social and economic value, domestication of wild animals and ranching of game with livestock.     

甘肃省地矿局“十三五”水文与环境地质成果及“十四五”发展设想综述

水文与环境地质专业服务对象涉及自然资源、生态环境、文化旅游、林业草原、水利水务、农业农村、应急管理、交通住建等政府职能管理部门,服务范围涵盖资源能源调查监测、水土污染评价防治、国土空间生态修复、旅游规划、生态环境保护与治理、防灾减灾、重大工程建设等社会经济领域,水工环队伍是资源、环境、生态、空间等国土要素调查评价、利用及保护和监测预警的重要专业技术力量。本文在总结甘肃省地矿局“十三五”期间的水文与环境地质工作在提供资源能源保障、地质技术服务方面的主要成就和支撑生态环境保护与修复方面成果的基础上,依托行业技术优势和发展基础,结合国家及省经济社会发展和生态文明建设等战略部署,面向政府需要和社会需求,分析提出了甘肃省地矿局“十四五”期间水文与环境地质业务转型升级与高质量发展的宏观设想和思路。对地勘单位适应新发展阶段的水文与环境地质工作新要求,规划部署和构建相应的新发展格局有一定的参考意义。     

Quantitative reconstruction of climatic variations during the Bronze and early Iron ages based on pollen and lake-level data in the NW Alps, France

Vegetation and lake-level data from the archaeological site of Tresserve, on the eastern shore of Lake Le Bourget (Savoie, France), are used to provide quantitative estimates of climatic variables over the period 4000–2300 cal BP in the northern French Pre-Alps, and to examine the possible impact of climatic changes on societies of the Bronze and early Iron Ages. The results obtained indicate that phases of higher lake level at 3500–3100 and 2750–2350 cal BP coincided with major climate reversals in the North Atlantic area. In west-central Europe, they were marked by cooler and wetter conditions. These two successive events may have affected ancient agricultural communities in west-central Europe by provoking harvest failures, more particularly due to increasing precipitation during the growing season. However, archaeological data in the region of Franche-Comté (Jura Mountains, eastern France) show a general expansion of population density from the middle Bronze Age to the early Iron Age. This suggests a relative emancipation of proto-historic societies from climatic conditions, probably in relation to the spread of new modes of social and economic organisation.     

Effective livelihood adaptation to climate change disturbance: Scale dimensions of practice in Mozambique

Natural resource-dependent societies in developing countries are facing increased pressures linked to global climate change. While social-ecological systems evolve to accommodate variability, there is growing evidence that changes in drought, storm and flood extremes are increasing exposure of currently vulnerable populations. In many countries in Africa, these pressures are compounded by disruption to institutions and variability in livelihoods and income. The interactions of both rapid and slow onset livelihood disturbance contribute to enduring poverty and slow processes of rural livelihood renewal across a complex landscape. We explore cross-scale dynamics in coping and adaptation response, drawing on qualitative data from a case study in Mozambique. The research characterises the engagements across multiple institutional scales and the types of agents involved, providing insight into emergent conditions for adaptation to climate change in rural economies. The analysis explores local responses to climate shocks, food security and poverty reduction, through informal institutions, forms of livelihood diversification and collective land-use systems that allow reciprocity, flexibility and the ability to buffer shocks. However, the analysis shows that agricultural initiatives have helped to facilitate effective livelihood renewal, through the reorganisation of social institutions and opportunities for communication, innovation and micro-credit. Although there are challenges to mainstreaming adaptation at different scales, this research shows why it is critical to assess how policies can protect conditions for emergence of livelihood transformation.     

Social and environmental regulation in rural China: bringing the changing role of local government into focus

China’s rapid economic growth following the 1978 reforms has resulted in significant economic, social and environmental change. These reforms and their outcomes have been subjected to considerable scrutiny. However, relatively little research has been directed towards the relationship between the changing role of local government, which has itself been subject to substantial restructuring, and the local mediation of the social and environmental impacts of rapid economic growth. This paper investigates the local manifestation of social and environmental change in Zhejiang Province. In particular, it considers the changing role of local government in the regulatory process, and features a case study of Huzhou Municipality. A synthesis of the factual knowledge and perceptions of 48 key-informants from government and public institutions and rural industries is used as the platform for an analysis of the changing nature of local regulation with respect to the provision of key public services (health care and education) and environmental protection (water pollution control). The results reveal the ability of local government to selectively implement national and provincial policies in light of local priorities, which is taken as indicative of the emergence of local agency within local development processes. The case study suggests a need to re-evaluate conventional wisdom on the absence of autonomy at local levels of government in China, particularly as it relates to the continued devolution of administrative responsibility and the emergence of increasingly powerful economic interests.     

明清时期安徽省蝗灾时空演化、社会影响与响应*

自古以来,蝗灾与水灾、旱灾并称为中国农业社会的三大自然灾害。基于史料文献收集了明清时期安徽历史蝗灾记录,通过构建10 a尺度上的蝗灾频次序列和1 a尺度上的蝗灾县次序列,在县域尺度上绘制了蝗灾指数分布图,探讨了蝗灾演化时空动态过程。通过引入饥荒、米价以及疫灾序列分析了蝗灾对社会的影响以及古代社会对蝗灾的响应过程。结果表明: 明清时期安徽境内共发生181次蝗灾,每3.2次/10 a,累计653个受灾县次,平均3.6县/a;安徽地区发生了5次大蝗灾事件,这与同时期的干旱密切相关;安徽长江以北地区的蝗灾指数高于南部山区,地形、水旱灾害以及人类活动等因素是影响蝗灾指数分布差异的主要原因。蝗灾对社会产生了复杂深远的影响,是引发饥荒的重要因素,并间接导致瘟疫现象。蝗灾大范围出现后导致短期内米价暴涨,增加社会不稳定性。政府的捕蝗救灾的方式与能力直接影响群众的生存状况,是保障社会稳定的重要机制。综合看来,蝗灾会对农业子系统、经济子系统、社会子系统和技术子系统产生多重影响。     

The rural in dispute: Discourses of rurality in the Pyrenees

There is a widespread assumption that associates the rural with the unchanged and unchangeable. However, what constitutes ‘the rural’ is under constant transformation. In rural Europe a rapid process of social recomposition and economic restructuring is taking place causing increasing social complexity and new disputes about what is and should become the rural. This is more apparent in mountain areas, being locations that are particularly vulnerable to change. This situation is reflected in the growing diversity of discourses of rurality, which struggle to impose their particular views and interests on others. Nevertheless, little attention is paid in understanding the multiplicity of representations and interests held by rural dwellers about their own world. This paper aims to explore the diversity of perceptions and perspectives held by the inhabitants of the county of El Pallars Sobirà, in the Catalan Pyrenees. The material provided by semi-structured interviews given to local residents has been analysed through the Q methodology. As a result, four discourses of rurality have been identified, namely: the agriculturalist, entrepreneurial, conservationist and endogenous development. Finally, we argue that an underlying social structure, derived from the experiences of local dwellers of the rural population movements and the tertiarisation of local economies, exists behind the organisation of the debate on the rural. This leads us to assume that not only perceptions, but also socioeconomic reorganisations are in dispute.     

Socio-Economic Factors Affecting Agricultural Development in Al-Hassa Oasis,Saudi Arabia

The developmental schemes implemented by the Government in the Al-Hassa Oasis have influenced the social and economic behavior of Al-Hassa farming community. The impact of these socio-economic changes on agricultural practices and water use have been evaluated in this study.A detailed questionnaire was prepared considering social attitude, standard of living, family structure, and occupation, and was distributed among the farmers of the Al-Omran area. Data thus collected were statistically evaluated. The study showed that literacy and social exposure were the major factors for the acceptability of modern agricultural practices in the oasis.     

Assessing the sustainability factors of traditional olive groves on Lesvos Island,Greece (Sustainability and traditional cultivation)

In Europe the process of agricultural engagement or disengagement is attributed to the economic factor and mainly on the level of alternative employment source development. It is the relational quality of economic, social and environmental factors that determine sustainability of agricultural holdings and, hence, households. In regions of poor agricultural structures and of many employment opportunities as well as in regions suffering from agricultural depression, households exhibit stronger tendencies towards agricultural disengagement. Remarkably in southern Europe a stable agricultural engagement and not disengagement is observed, even though in recent years there are limited possibilities of alternative income sources and prevailing agricultural depression. This article highlights the factors which lead households to stable engagement with agriculture in a region of southern Europe, the island of Lesvos. The island is characterised by traditional olive grove mono-culture, poor agricultural structures and limited employment opportunities. The investigation of the economic, social and environmental farm household characteristics concluded that in regions where poor agricultural infrastructure and lack of employment prevail, all three factors of sustainability contribute to stability and/or low agricultural disengagement. Among these, the economic factor is the most sensitive and hence highly influential. The social factor is highlighted as a quality and consistent factor due to the respect for tradition. The environmental factor, finally, is characterised by mild cultivation practices, contributing to environment conservation.     

Agricultural transformation in Zimbabwe: Lessons for South Africa after apartheid

When Zimbabwe became independent in 1980, reversing historical inequalities became a primary rural development objective. Growth, it was argued, must also generate greater equity. As part of their overall plan, sophisticated agricultural institutions were made available to black farmers and a land resettlement program enacted. Due to constitutional constraints, international pressure, fears about restructuring the economy too rapidly, and a class alliance between white farmers and an emerging black bourgeoisie, limited highveld land was reallocated and large-scale commercial farmers maintained their historical privileges. The only significant change in the subsector was increased capital intensity of production. Small-scale black farmers with access to good land and productive resources have responded remarkably to new production opportunities. In only 7 years, black production of maize and cotton more than doubled and marketed contributions rose from less than 10% to approximately half of national sales. The pattern of agricultural development, however, is spatially and socially limited. New forms of uneven rural development are emerging. The majority of rural blacks still have inadequate land and off-farm income resources to insure subsistence levels of consumption on an annual basis. The rural crisis persists. In South Africa, a Zimbabwe-type small farm development strategy would help a minority of households who are already relatively privileged in terms of access of land, agricultural capital and off-farm income resources. To achieve rural growth and equity, new forms of social organization in farming must be developed concurrent with a major land redistribution program. Zimbabwe's strategy has successfully generated short-term growth but cannot fulfill longer-term rural development objectives.     

黔桂岩溶山区土地利用变化的社会经济因素分析

基于黔桂岩溶山区1990、2015年的土地利用数据和社会经济统计资料,利用典范对应分析方法对1990-2015年25年间的土地利用变化及社会经济驱动因素进行了实证分析。结论如下:（1）黔桂岩溶山区土地利用变化存在明显的时空分异现象;（2）贵州高原区以草地大幅减少和林地增加为主要特征;黔桂峰丛洼地区以水域面积增加和草地减少为主要特征;广西丘陵区的主要特征是耕地减少和建设用地增加。（3）贵州高原区土地利用类型变化以经济和人口因素为主要驱动力;广西丘陵区土地利用类型变化以经济因素和农业结构水平为主要驱动力;农业因素对黔桂峰丛洼地区的土地利用变化驱动作用明显。未来应提高贵州高原和黔桂峰丛洼地区岩溶山区草地生态功能重要性的认识,在加强森林植被恢复的同时加强草地资源保护;城镇化发展背景下黔桂岩溶山区应减少优质耕地占用,开发低丘缓坡土地,建设山地特色城市。      

Rural development: the Rehovot approach

After briefly discussing the problems involved in generating rural economic development in poor countries, the Rehovot Approach to rural planning and implementation is assessed. This approach, first developed in Israel, has subsequently been refined to apply to the myriad problems of rural areas in the diversity of countries that comprise the developing world. After discussing the basic rules in the development strategy, the need for simultaneous planning of multipurpose activities is stressed. Throughout, great emphasis is placed on integrated rural management strategies; ensuring that agricultural changes are paralleled by the development of secondary and tertiary sector activities and of appropriate social and administrative institutions. The role of ‘bottom-up’ planning systems is highlighted, as is the importance of creating organizations capable of plan implementation. This holistic approach to planning is illustrated by actual case examples.     

The need for more overt integrated rural planning: The case of Malawi

Based on the premise that planning should contain a major social component, this paper argues that Less Developed Countries do not give enough overt consideration to planning the rural environment. Planning activity is inherently urban biased. Using Malawi as a case study it can be demonstrated, employing a number of social indicators, that the rural populous is disadvantaged in both relative and absolute terms in comparison with their urban counterparts. Rural development programmes are, however, hampered by the need to co-ordinate the activities of the numerous ministries responsible for different sectoral initiatives. In particular, rural service provision cannot be dissociated from agricultural reform and investment to improve agricultural productivity and rural incomes. Further difficulties also arise from the attitudes of aid and grant agencies which will only fund particular types of project irrespective of whether these are best suited to local socio-economic conditions. By providing an integrated National Physical Development Plan it is hoped that some of these difficulties may be reduced, and more effective rural development policies pursued.     

Scenarios of land-use change in Sudano-sahelian countries of Africa to better understand driving forces

Dynamic simulation models allow an integrated representation of human and biophysical driving forces, to test their influence on land use. Dynamic models emphasise the interactions among the components of the system and take into account feedback loops and threshold effects. In this paper, the SALU model was used to generate “what-if” scenarios to explore hypotheses on the relative role of driving forces of land-use change in the Sudano-sahelian countries of Africa. The model simulations provided useful insights to better understand the processes of land-use change. Rural population growth represents a larger stimuli for land-use change than urban population growth. Demographic variables have a greater impact on land use than recurring droughts. The demographic driving forces are slow variables while rainfall is a fast variable. Recurring droughts could be viewed as trigger events, and urban population growth and consumption as mediating factors, while rural population growth defines long-term trends. Technological change defines thresholds in land use. Land-use change results from interactions between driving forces. The timing of occurrence of drought with respect to transitions in land use has a major impact on land-use change. Polices aimed at protecting pastoral land and supporting agricultural intensification both contribute to maintain pastoral activities. Simulating a conservative carrying capacity has a major impact on land use predictions. By examining environmental, social and economic implications of various land-use scenarios, the modelling approach adopted in SALU can provide support for decision-making.     

Rural development and rural to urban migration in China 1978–1990

Economic reforms since the late 1970s have brought about significant changes in rural China. A large number of surplus rural labourers have been released from the agricultural sector and there has been a massive transition of rural residents from agricultural to non-agricultural employment. These changes will be analyzed by examining the changes in the employment structure of rural residents. Rural to urban migration is another important option for many rural labourers. The size of China's urban population and the scale of rural to urban migration continue to be an ‘enigma’ due to several changes in the definition of the urban population. Several data sources will be used to provide more realistic estimates of rural to urban migrations on a set of comparable though different bases. Data on the new entries into urban employment and the urban ‘non-agricultural population’ will be used to illustrate the scale of migration by rural residents to the formal urban sector. This may only record those migrants who have changed their registration status from ‘agricultural population’ to ‘non-agricultural population’ which is tightly controlled by the government. The 1990 Census data provide some evidence on the rural to urban migration by the registered ‘agricultural population’. The 1987 1% population sampling data will be used to analyze the actual migrations among cities, towns and counties over the period 1982–1987. It is found that town and county populations tended to move to towns at the intra-provincial level, but to cities at the inter-provincial level. Out-migrants from cities tended to move to cities at both the intra- and inter-provincial levels.