Journal of Rural and Community Development
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Agroforestry-based Livelihoods in the Face Of Cultural and Socio-economic Dynamics in Rural Gedeo, Southern Ethiopia
Get PDFThis paper analyzes the vulnerability contexts of the agroforestry-based livelihoods of smallholders in rural Gedeo, Southern Ethiopia. Being extracted from a broader study that investigated the livelihood and food security situations within the Indigenous agroforestry system of the Gedeo people, the paper sheds light on the broader cultural and socio-economic contexts in which the livelihood system under consideration operates. The study employed a mixed-methods research approach (i.e., household survey, key-informant interviews, focus group discussions, field
observations, and secondary analysis). The study revealed that the agroforestry-based livelihood of smallholders in rural Gedeo is situated on identifiable vulnerability contexts: population pressure; gradual erosion of Indigenous knowledge, social values, beliefs, norms; market influences; crop diseases; the decline of productions (mainly Enset, coffee, livestock); and seasonality of
production, price and labor markets. Being under the pressure of the aforementioned factors, this livelihood system is emerging less and less rewarding for the smallholders and transitioning in a direction that endangers the sustainability of the agroforestry system. Innovative approaches need to be designed to improve the
livelihood outcomes that the smallholders derive from this agricultural system, thereby ensuring its sustainability. However, as there is a growing resource constraint in the study area (mainly farmland), the smallholders need to be enabled to diversify their livelihoods towards off-farm and non-farm activities.
Keywords: Agroforestry system, Gedeo, livelihoods, sustainability, vulnerability
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Factors That Facilitated Learning Through a Central American Community-Based Pest Management Project: An Exploration Of Non-Formal Educational Practice
Get PDFFood security is essential for human well-being. Intending to improve human and environmental health, increase agricultural productivity, and reduce poverty in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras, the Canadian International Development Agency's (CIDA) Community-based pest management in Central American
agriculture project focused on developing programmes and policies that could impact local, national and regional agricultural practices regarding the handling, storage and use of pesticides. In international development initiatives, such as this one, participatory approaches to governance provide opportunities for learning through public engagement in decision-making processes. This longitudinal qualitative case study examines what processes, activities and factors enabled, and/or constrained learning from participation in this CIDA project. Findings reveal what learning-focused, meaningful participatory approaches to governance look like in practice. Results show that learning occurred through strategic-level planning and implementation of project activities and through opportunities to experiment with newly acquired knowledge and skills. Other considerations included: (a) clearly
establishing learning goals, (b) understanding learners' characteristics, and (c) creating effective pedagogical approaches for learners. Policy and practical implications are explored.
Keywords: Central America agriculture, learning for sustainability, public participation, rural development, transformative learnin
Will the Real Rural Community Please Stand Up? Staging Rural Community-Based Tourism in Costa Rica
Get PDFRural community-based tourism is an increasingly popular way for rural communities in the developing world to preserve their cultural and natural heritage while generating needed income. For this form of tourism to attract sufficient tourist traffic, however, rural communities must attend to tourists’ desire for ‘authenticity’ by carefully staging rurality and community. This article examines how two rural community-based tourism projects in Costa Rica stage, or package their communities for tourist consumption. One project portrays the community as socially cooperative and environmentally conscious, downplaying the growing class tensions and environmental problems that have come to characterize the community. Another project acknowledges community conflicts and environmental degradation but does not fully account for the limits and challenges of rural development. We conclude by discussing the potential of rural community-based tourism to foster economic development in these communities and conversations about the limitations of such development.
Keywords: Community-based tourism, rural development, rural community, staged authenticity, Costa Rica
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La vraie communauté rurale voudra-t-elle se lever? Organiser le tourisme communautaire rural au Costa Rica.
Le tourisme communautaire rural est un moyen de plus en plus populaire pour les communautés rurales des pays en développement de préserver leur patrimoine culturel et naturel tout en générant les revenus nécessaires. Cependant, pour que cette forme de tourisme attire suffisamment de touristes, les communautés rurales doivent répondre au désir d'authenticité des touristes en organisant soigneusement la mise en scène de la ruralité et de la communauté. Cet article examine comment deux projets de tourisme communautaire rural au Costa Rica mettent en scène ou conditionnent leurs communautés pour la consommation touristique. Un projet dépeint la communauté comme coopérative et soucieuse de l'environnement, minimisant les tensions croissantes de classe et les problèmes environnementaux qui caractérisent la communauté. Un autre projet reconnaît les conflits communautaires et la dégradation de l'environnement mais ne tient pas pleinement compte des limites et des défis du développement rural. Nous concluons en discutant du potentiel du tourisme communautaire rural pour favoriser le développement économique de ces communautés et en discutant des limites d'un tel développement.
Mots-clés: Tourisme communautaire, développement rural, communauté rurale, authenticité mise en scène, Costa Rica
Inter-organizational Ties, Community, And the Emergence of an Oyster Industry In New Hampshire
Get PDFThrough in-depth interviews with New Hampshire oyster farmers, this study examines how inter-organizational relations—in community form—can help emergent industries address challenges and collectively thrive. By examining the four main sources of uncertainty identified by the farmers, we are able to understand the way in which the farmers utilize their community to reduce those uncertainties. Their community functions as an inter-organizational network, where member participation is based on long-term, intangible benefits that complicate a simple instrumental exchange model. These benefits include open access to a pool of knowledge, sociopolitical legitimacy that enables regulatory influence, the existence of strong, community-wide norms that help to ensure high standards of quality and safety, and a buffering of opportunistic behavior in the event of a market fluctuation.
Keywords: communities of practice, inter-organizational networks, uncertainty, risk management, aquaculture, oyster aquacultur
Young, Educated, and Choosing Rural: An Exploration of the Factors Related to Young Adults Choosing to Move to Rural Communities
No full textWith many rural communities facing uncertain futures due to aging and dwindling populations, it is of interest to explore what these communities have to offer young adults. The current case study was designed to explore the experiences of educated young adults moving to remote rural communities in Montana. While the young adults noted challenges such as a lack of amenities and geographic and social isolation, participants highlighted the quality of life they experience in their rural communities including the family-centered environment, low cost of living, the unconditional support provided by community members, intergenerational friendships, increased sociability, and the unique opportunities for personal and professional growth available for young adults in rural communities. Furthermore, participants shared suggestions for enticing young adults to move to rural communities, including ways they could increase occupational opportunities, market to young adults, and change the message about living in rural areas.
Keywords: young adults, rural communities, opportunities
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Jeunes, instruits et choix rural: une exploration des facteurs liés au choix des jeunes adultes de s'installer dans des collectivités rurales éloignées
Avec de nombreuses communautés rurales confrontées à un avenir incertain en raison du vieillissement et de la diminution des populations, il est intéressant d'explorer ce que ces communautés ont à offrir aux jeunes adultes. Cette étude de cas a été conçue pour explorer les expériences de jeunes adultes instruits qui déménagent dans des communautés rurales éloignées du Montana. Alors que les jeunes adultes ont noté des défis tels que le manque d'équipements et l'isolement géographique et social, les participants ont souligné la qualité de vie qu'ils ont dans leurs communautés rurales, y compris l'environnement axé sur la famille, le faible coût de la vie, le soutien inconditionnel fourni par les membres de la communauté, les amitiés intergénérationnelles, la sociabilité accrue et les opportunités uniques de croissance personnelle et professionnelle offertes aux jeunes adultes dans les communautés rurales. En outre, les participants ont partagé des suggestions pour inciter les jeunes adultes à s'installer dans les communautés rurales, y compris des moyens d'augmenter les opportunités professionnelles, de les vendre aux jeunes adultes et de changer le message sur la vie dans les zones rurales.
Mots-clés: Jeunes adultes, communautés rurales, opportunité
Examining Rural Environmental Injustice: An Analysis of Ruralness, Class, Race, and Gender On the Presence of Landfills Across the United States
Get PDFLandfills are linked to major forms of environmental harms, such as water contamination, production of greenhouse gases, and accumulation of toxins in human and natural systems. The presence of hazardous waste landfills has been shown to be co-located in rural communities, particularly in poor communities of color. This analysis examines the key relationships between the presence of 93% of all landfills other than hazardous—construction and demolotion (C&D), industrial, and municipal—and social inequality, a question as yet unexamined in the academic literature. Analyzing secondary data compiled into a unique dataset, the author examines associations among ruralness, race, class, gender, disaster occurrences, and the presence of a non-hazardous waste landfill across the 48 contiguous United States. Findings suggest that similar to research on hazardous waste landfills, nonhazardous waste landfills are more likely to occur in counties with higher percentages of poverty and people of color. Furthermore, using the USDA RuralUrban Continuum, more urban areas have a ten times greater likelihood of hosting a hazardous waste landfill compared to the most rural areas. Results further indicate that counties with a greater percentage of single female-headed households in poverty have greater odds that a landfill will be present. Findings indicate the importance of investigating multiple landfill types.
Keywords: amenity migration, community making, rural community developmen
Youth Migration in the Context Of Rural Brain Drain: Longitudinal Evidence From Canada
Get PDFPopulation growth in many major cities is partly driven by migration from rural areas, which constrains these communities’ development. Despite this concern, research that longitudinally examines the patterns and predictors of youth outmigration to urban areas, as well as return migration to rural areas, is very limited in Canada. To address this void, we longitudinally link Canada’s Youth in Transition Survey, Cohort A, and the Programme for International Student Assessment reading scores, measured at age 15, to individuals’ tax filer information through age 30 via
the T1 Family File to examine the characteristics and extent of rural Canada’s youth out- and return migration. Our analysis points to two important findings: (a) the ‘leavers’ are more educated with higher levels of employability and income than the ‘stayers’ and (b) the ‘returners’ tend to come back to rural areas as a result of
economic constraints in urban areas. Based on these findings, we provide several recommendations for policymakers and future research.
Keywords: Brain drain, out-migration, Programme for International Student Assessment, return migration, T1 Family Fil
Improving Rural Mental Health Service Quality Through Partnerships and Innovation
Get PDFIn rural areas, poverty, geographic isolation, cultural differences, limited availability of providers, and other barriers can prevent the engagement and retention of clients. As a result, individuals living in rural areas often enter care later in the course of their illness with more serious symptoms, and require more intensive services. The Big Island Substance Abuse Council (BISAC) has attempted to reduce the effects of these barriers by implementing several innovative, agency-wide quality improvement efforts within a five-year span from 2012-2017: (a) a research partnership with a local university, (b) prioritization of leveraging information technology and electronic health records for a wide array of decision-making, (c) rebranding and grass roots marketing, (d) cultural competence in service delivery, and (e) routinized training and supervision. The methods by which these initiatives have developed within a rural behavioral health setting offer both suggestions and optimism for the proliferation of similar approaches elsewhere. This paper provides an account of BISAC’s infrastructure and program improvements, and illuminates several thematic lessons learned across implementation efforts. As described here, such innovations might provide clues for utilizing data to help guide decision making, integrating cultural values, and monitoring operations within rural mental health settings.
Keywords: substance use treatment, community, program development, rural, program improvement, implementatio
Manufacturing Consent for an Extractive Regime in Rural New Brunswick, Canada
Get PDFA common narrative for rural regions, maintained by corporate news media, is that extensive resource extraction from the natural environment by large corporations is an economic necessity. This corporate discourse marginalizes voices advocating for rural and community-based social and economic development. New Brunswick is one of the smallest and most rural provinces in Canada, with almost half of its residents living in rural areas. Our study explored how news editorials discussed rural issues in the province. News editorials function to maintain a dominant discourse in society. Unique in Canada, one family in the province has extensive business interests in resource extraction while owning a company, Brunswick News, that has a near-monopoly of the news media in the province. Our study conducted a content analysis of Brunswick News editorials focused on the term ‘rural’ over a recent five-year period. Our results highlight that in a vastly rural population, only one percent of editorials included this term. Of these, 87% backed claims of diminished rural communities, and 43% supported claims that corporate development of extractive industries was necessary to provide the economic boost to rural New Brunswick and ensure their sustainability.
Keywords: news media, editorials, New Brunswick, resource extraction, diminished rural communities
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Autorisation de fabrication pour un régime d'extraction dans les régions rurales du Nouveau-Brunswick, au Canada
Résumé
Un récit commun pour les régions rurales, maintenu par les médias d'information des entreprises, est que l'extraction importante des ressources de l'environnement naturel par les grandes entreprises est une nécessité économique. Ce discours corporatif marginalise les voix qui plaident pour le développement social et économique basé sur les communautés rurales. Le Nouveau-Brunswick est l'une des provinces les plus petites et les plus rurales du Canada, avec près de la moitié de ses résidents vivant en milieu rural. Notre étude a exploré comment les éditoriaux des nouvelles discutaient des enjeux ruraux dans la province. Les éditoriaux des nouvelles ont pour fonction de maintenir un discours dominant dans la société. Unique au Canada, une famille de la province a de vastes intérêts commerciaux dans l'extraction des ressources tout en étant propriétaire d'une entreprise, Brunswick News, qui détient un quasi-monopole des médias de la province. Notre étude a mené une analyse du contenu des éditoriaux de Brunswick News axés sur le terme « rural » au cours d'une récente période de cinq ans. Nos résultats soulignent que dans une population très rurale, seulement 1% des éditoriaux incluaient ce terme. De ce nombre, 87% appuyaient les revendications de collectivités rurales en déclin et 43% soutenaient que le développement des entreprises des industries extractives était nécessaire pour stimuler l'économie des régions rurales du Nouveau-Brunswick et assurer leur durabilité.
Mots-clés: Médias d'information, éditoriaux, Nouveau-Brunswick, extraction de ressources, communautés rurales diminuée
A Demand-driven Success Factor Analysis for Agritourism in Switzerland
Get PDFThis article aims to define categories of tourists’ motivations for visiting an agritourism farm. It also analyses the difference in motivation between potential customers and actual customers who have already been on an agritourism farm. Survey data from a total of 780 respondents (647 potential customers and 133 actual customers of agritourism facilities) were collected using a standardized questionnaire. The data was factor analysed (using PCA), and seven factors were identified: (1) comfort and consumption, (2) rural life, (3) accessibility to nature, (3) fun and relaxation on the farm, (4) regional products, (5) simple accommodation, and (6) culinary offers. The factors with most importance relate to the accessibility to nature as well as the possibility to buy regional food. The means of the factors were calculated for both respondent groups and compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. This test shows that the two groups "potential customers" and "effective customers on the farm" differ significantly only in the two characteristics of consumer behavior and comfort of accommodation. All other factors were either significantly less important or showed no differences for customers of agritourism farms. The results have implications for the communication process of agritourism farms or destination marketing organizations (DMOs), namely that the focus on comfort and consumption should be increased as a customer’s decision comes closer to definitive booking.
Keywords: agritourism, success factors, factor analysis, consumer choice, accommodation facilitie