Journal of Rural and Community Development
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Resource Entitlement and Welfare Among Resettlers in the Dry Forest Frontiers of Northwestern Ethiopia
Get PDFEthiopia has been resettling poor rural households both voluntarily and involuntarily from degraded and drought prone highlands to sparsely populated areas in the lowlands since the late 1950s. This study investigated resource entitlement and factors that influence perceived level of food and income security among resettlers of different origins and different length of stay in a district where resettlement has been practiced for over twenty years. The results of the study indicated the need to revisit the country's rural development strategy that puts resettlement as one of the primary methods to ensure food security of vulnerable households given the heterogeneity among settlers in terms of origin, roles of women, and the overall need for minimizing the impact of resettlement on the environment. Selection of origin of settlers, ensuring women's access to resources particularly land, diversification of livelihood activities should be promoted to improve food security. Besides, development of rural infrastructure notably roads and markets should be given due emphasis to enhance the role of non-agricultural income generating activities and thereby reduce dependence on dry forests.
Keywords: food shortage, income shortage, resettlement, 3SLS, Sur
The Unconventional Boomtown: Updating the impact model to fit new spatial and temporal scales.
Get PDFThe boomtown impact model developed by researchers in the 1970s implicitly assumes a spatially concentrated, finite resource will be extracted during a near-singular event (i.e. the "boom"), followed by a one-time "bust". This model has been criticized for its lack of a realistic longitudinal or macro-level perspective beyond the boom-and-bust, and seems unlikely to transfer successfully to the context of modern hydrocarbon exploitation. Technological innovations have unlocked massive reservoirs of natural gas in many parts of the world that challenge the notion of a geographically concentrated supply that can be quickly exploited. While as prices have plunged and natural gas is poised as an attractive fuel source for some time to come, energy prices are likely to retain their characteristic volatility. Hydrocarbon rich regions and the communities in them are likely to experience repeated waves of mini-booms and mini-busts over the course of decades, a scenario for which the classic one-time boom/bust model may not be well equipped. This development pattern holds profound implications for the types of impacts experienced by residents and the ways in which communities can prepare for them. In this article, we seek to both better define the sets of assumptions that predicate the boomtown impact model and suggest updates to incorporate more macro-level economic concerns. We review the boomtown impact model for assumptions of rurality and isolation, land ownership and wealth retention, spatial and temporal concentration, and economic drivers and industry behavior. We compare these assumptions against the new reality of unconventional natural gas development, drawing from impacted communities in the Marcellus Shale of Pennsylvania that have experienced some of the new types of impacts. We further describe ways in which the boomtown model may be updated to include a more complex energy industry and implications for research and rural community development
Diversifying Rural Economies with Natural Resources: The Difference Between Local and Regional OHV Trail Destinations
Get PDFWith an estimated forty-four million riders, Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) usage is one of the fastest growing forms of recreation in the United States. The National Survey on Recreation and the Environment suggests that this recreation and growth is largely occurring on public lands, most of which are situated in rural areas. OHV riders have been reported to have a consumer surplus ranging from US 131.58 for recreational day trips, creating a potential lucrative market for rural communities wishing to diversify their economy. However, research has also found that OHV use can negatively impact natural resources and the experience of other non-OHV visitors. Given the potential positive economic impact, as well as the potential negative environmental and social impacts, it is important to identify which factors are most important for attracting OHV users that maximize positive outcomes and reduce negative outcomes. Additionally, for destinations seeking to establish or expand OHV opportunities to attract substantial users, information is needed on the differences between trail systems that attract only local markets, versus regional or national markets. Results suggest that the primary factor distinguishing between local and regional trails systems is the number of miles of trail, with secondary considerations being trail design and management policies.
Keywords: Off Highway Vehicles (OHV), motorized recreation, rural natural resources, trail characteristic
Reducing the Digital Divide in Rural Manitoba: A Proposed Framework
Get PDFOutside of larger centres across Canada public policies and corporate investments have left 2 million rural households under-served with broadband network capacity. After nearly 20 years of activities this gap may be closing, yet front line strategists suggest our rural digital divide will persist for years to come. A supplemental to the current approach is needed to connect these rural areas, yet it may require different technologies and social capital investment. This paper brings the reader inside a Manitoba working group (Forum) to reveal how applied research, assisted in formulating an integrated action framework that proposes an approach to provide access to users and expand the uses of broadband while calling for leadership and utilizing social marketing. New partnerships are envisioned across three levels of public sector, ISPs, and local businesses, along with youth and citizens. A proposed implementation framework is offered as an approach to incrementally provide specific rural broadband services to one area before moving to the next. This framework is not a silver bullet for all rural areas, but rather offers an approach that might be a useful starting point for under-served rural areas in Canada.
Keywords: Rural broadband, under-served communities, access, availability, partnerships, integrated approach, implementatio
New Farms and Farmers in Ethno-cultural Communities: Aspirations, Barriers and Needs
Get PDFIn Ontario, and across Canada, the loss of existing farmers through attrition and the
low rate of entrance into agriculture by young people are changing the human side
of the farm system and may soon have discernable impacts on domestic food
supply—at least for that portion of total supply that has come historically from
small and medium scale enterprises. At the same time as agriculture is
experiencing a demographic shift, so too is Canadian society at large. This paper
attempts to intersect these two spheres of change. Anecdotal evidence suggests the
existence of a growing number of New Canadians from other cultural
backgrounds, many with training and experience in agriculture, who would
welcome an opportunity to engage in farming. The paper provides a demographic
context for ethno-cultural farming possibilities and frames several existing
impediments to progress. It then summarizes selected findings from a
reconnaissance-level empirical investigation of challenges and prospects for farm
incubation in ethno-cultural communities of producers and eaters in the Greater
Toronto area with particular attention to the possible role of non-government and
public sector agencies in securing the most basic of startup necessities—land.
Keywords: new farmers, ethno-cultural communities, farm succession, farm
planning, immigratio
Imagining the Spatial Future of Australian Agriculture
Get PDFIt appears likely that Australian agriculture will be transformed hugely over the
next decade driven by the same factors shaping the nation's current mining
boom. Experience tells us that fast economic development is universally
accompanied by rising per capita consumption of food and fibre, and demand
for higher quality, more diverse and year round produce. Perched on the edge of
over 40% of the world's population, living in an arc from East to South Asia,
and recording GDP growth rates averaging 7% per annum, Australia's farm
sector will be a major beneficiary. This furious pace of Asian development,
combined with (a) rapid domestic corporatisation of the countryside, (b)
substantial changes in internal policy settings affecting the farm sector, and (c)
inward investment from Asian multinationals, will wreak immense changes in
what is produced where and how. We conceptualise the processes at work and
develop a likely downstream production scenario very different to current spatial
patterns.
Keywords: Australian agriculture, mid-range forecasting, Asian demand,
corporatisation of production, foreign investmen
Estimating Willingness to Pay to Protect Acequia Irrigation and Culture Lessons from San Miguel County, New Mexico
Get PDFTraditional gravity fed irrigation systems in Hispano communities in New Mexico, USA, are referred to as acequias. Water scarcity is currently motivating negotiations between acequias and municipalities over sharing agreements. Research on willingness to pay to protect and maintain acequias is still scarce. These valuation data could be helpful to improve the quality of water resources decision making and therefore rural development strategies in this region, which is relatively poor compared to the US average. Data from an open-ended CVM survey are used to examine WTP for a program designed to strengthen and perpetuate irrigation and culture on the acequias of El Río de las Gallinas, in rural northeastern New Mexico. Results indicate that the community supports the program in general, with higher levels of support among rural residents and Anglos.
Keywords: Contingent Valuation Method, acequia irrigation, New Mexico, benefit cost analysi
Last Settler's Syndrome and Resource Use in Southern Appalachia
No full textTo better understand perspectives on resource use and economic development in a rural area, results from three independent studies have been integrated. The first project assessed whether there were differences across demographic groups as to their willingness to pay to protect the aesthetic value of the landscape or their willingness to accept some decreased level of aesthetic value. The second project involved working with a rural community that faces development pressure from outside the community to generate ideas for economic development that preserves local cultural and environmental conditions. The third project addressed public perspectives on water conservation and economic development. All three projects reveal evidence of 'last settler's syndrome'—a tendency among individuals to place a high value on what initially attracted them to a specific place and to attempt to maintain status quo. The three projects also reveal situations of potential conflict when ideas about resource use clash as well as situations ripe for cooperation as various groups share values about resource use and economic development.
Keywords: land use, rural, resource management, public attitudes, willingness-to-pa
Rural African American Women and Breast Cancer: Social Determinants of Health Shape Ability to Conceptualize Health In the Arkansas Delta
Get PDFWe know that certain components including demographics, cultural background, lifestyle choices and lack of access to health care contribute strongly to health disparities in rural regions of the United States. This paper explores perceptions of health, the environment, and the relationships between them that impact health disparities in the Arkansas Delta. The social-ecological model provides a conceptual approach to relate social determinants to health disparities. Few US rural health community-based studies have utilized this approach, or engaged ecological theory to explore rural contexts. This exploratory study blended a community-based, qualitative approach with social-ecological theory, to identify potential social determinants of health that impact rural Arkansans. Methods: Qualitative data were gathered with (n=79) women, ranging in age from 18 to 84, who were residents of 3 rural Arkansas Delta communities. Respondents poignantly described issues that affect health disparities in their communities. Conclusions: The study identified potential social determinants of health at multiple ecological levels among rural African American women. It was the social determinants of health and the legacy of segregation, that impacted their ability to conceptualize health in the resource resisted environment.
Keywords: African American women, focus groups, social determinants of health, community based participatory research, social ecological mode