Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Rural conditions'

The village of Villagrande Strisaili, situated in central highlands of the island of Sardinia, Italy, is the subject of this ethnographic study of economic and cultural change. In Part I, a brief historical overview reveals that the pre-war society was largely subsistence based, with shepherding providing milk and cheese to sell on the market for cash. A strict division of labour and responsibilities by sex required mutual dependency of the male and female heads of a household, and supported local notions of gender equality. Part II examines the economic basis of and the restructuring of occupational opportunities in Villagrande today. Although shepherding and subsistence production continue to be important local activities, they are no longer the dominant forms of economic production and secure positions in government offices and institutions are now the preferred occupations. The profound cultural changes of recent decades is the focus of Part III. The notion of local culture, and of a distinctive local identity, is disappearing as cosmopolitan culture becomes localized through local acceptance. Contemporary villagers now create their sense of identity in terms of a wider reality, as defined by the powerful messages of the cosmopolitan system which are efficiently disseminated to villagers through the state educational system and the ubiquitous mass media. These cultural changes have unexpected consequences on the local culture and its reproduction to future generations.

Du développement local à la mutation du système productif : se retrouve le même enjeu dialectique entre les logiques binaires de type programmatiques et les logiques ternaires de type constructiviste et complexe. Les signaux faibles de changement à la périphérie du système dominant. Dans l'agriculture dès les années 1975 une nouvelle dialectique s'instaure entre une logique binaire de type programmatique (les modelés) et une logique ternaire de type complexe de "pratiques innovantes d'agriculture diversifiée" intégrée davantage au territoire de proximité qu'aux filières par produit. Ces nouvelles pratiques à l'écoute attentive des nouvelles aspirations et demandes sociales de la société anticipent-elles un nouveau contrat social agriculture -société? À l'échelle des territoires nommes "pays", "basin de vie" marginalisés par la croissance économique, se développe dès les années 1970 un nouveau discours dit du "développement local" qui oppose aux logiques dominante descendantes (topdown) de type binaires et programmatiques des logiques ternaires complexes, ascendantes, (updown) à la fois constructivistes et participatives. Face à une quadruple expression de crise : crise du contenu du travail, du lien social, du sens et de la durée, les réponses locales aux crises du global appellent aussi des réponses globales aux crises du local. Le réinvestissement dans la sphère du non monétaire : les systèmes d'échange de don et de réciprocité indirecte ( cf. Marcel mauss), par l'expérience du chèque du temps choisi et des SEL (systèmes d'échange locaux) peut-il être considéré comme un fait émergeant porteur d'avenir? Tout se passerait-il comme si chacun des trois systèmes d'échange (marché, état, don) violents pris séparément, ne pouvaient donner le meilleur d'eux-mêmes que régulé par les deux autres?

Cette recherche retrace l'experience de developpement rural au niger de l'independance a nos jours. Cet etat de la region du sahel a ete l'un des premiers a orienter prioritairement son developpement vers la poursuite de l'autosuffisance alimentaire. L'etude realisee s'est propose d'en montrer les difficultes, les reussites et les limites, qui ont ete analysees en trois parties, dont les deux premieres portent sur les composantes de la problematique abordee : "les hommes" et "la terre", tandis que la troisieme a ete surtout consacree a la prospective. On a ainsi cherche a comprendre la situation du developpement rural dans ses ressources et ses potentialites, les regions ou il s'exerce et, chaque fois que cela aura ete possible, a en connaitre l'evolution et les resultats acquis. Ces derniers sont dans l'ensemble positifs dans la mesure ou l'autosuffisance, qui reste toujours l'objectif prioritaire du gouvernement est theoriquement atteinte sauf en periode de secheresse. En outre, les structures de developpement mises en place dans le cadre specifique de la "societe de developpement" ont permis une conscientisation et une integration plus volontaire des populations rurales aux actions de developpement. Enfin, l'effort de la communaute internationale a ete decisif pour la realisation et la reussite de certains projets
The present research shows an experiment of rural development in niger from independance to this day. This state of the sahel region was one of the first to direct its development in priority towards the achievement of alimentary self-reliance. The object of this survey was to point out the difficulties, successes and limits of this development. These were analysed in three parts, the first two concerning the various components of the problems approached, "the men" and "the land", while the third was mainly devoted to propective. One has thus tried to understand the situation of rural development in its resources and potentialities, the regions where it is applied and, when possible, to know its evolution and the results achieved. The latter are on the whole positive, when considering that alimentary self-reliance, which still remains the government's main objective, is theoretically achieved, except during period of drought. Furthermore, the development structures set up within the specific frame of "the development society" allowed a more volontary consciousness and integration of the rural populations towards development actions. Finally, help from the international community was decisive in the fulfilment and success of certain projects

L'etude suivante interroge le developpement en analysant les relations entre des femmes rurales saheliennes et des intervenants, a partir d'observation et de recits de pratiques. Le jeu de la participation des villageoises au developpement eclaire la question de l'endogeneite. Pour saisir les logiques en contact, l'etude se penche, dans un premier temps, sur les dynamiques endogenes revelees par les strategies des femmes. Il existe un decalage entre leur position sociale et leur role economique : la minimisation de ce dernier les sert dans leurs strategies d'agro-pasteurs. Elle leur permet d'occuper des espaces masculins dans la continuite des representations de leur position dans la societe locale. Les villageoises jouent des representations qui les renvoient a l'alimentaire pour conduire des strategies d'accumulation. Cette etude insiste sur l'ecart entre les regles et les pratiques. L'implication croissante des femmes dans le systeme de production agro-pastoral s'accompagne d'une tendance a l'homogeneisation des pratiques des differents groupes. Dans ce contexte de dynamiques endogenes, on assiste a une redefinition des rapports de genre. Dans un deuxieme temps, l'etude s'attache aux troubles de la rencontre entre l'endogene des societes locales et l'exogene des projets de developpement en utilisant trois entrees : les ambiguites du rapport d'intervention, les enjeux de la participation et les effets de genre
This study investigates development through an analysis of the relations between the women of the rural areas of the sahel and the outsiders, based on observation and the narration of practices. The effects of female participation in development casts some light on endogenous questions. In order to grasp the interplay of the forces involved the study concerns itself, in an initial phase, with endogenous factors highlighted by female strategies. There is in fact a gap between the social position of these women and their economic role the minimisation of the latter is useful to them in their agricultural and pastoral strategies. It enables them to occupy male preserves while maintaining continuity in their ostensible position in local society. Village women adopt the roles which, linking them to a food supplier function, enable them to carry out accumulation strategies. This study underlines the discrepancy between rules and practice. The growing involvement of women in agricultural and pastoral production goes hand in hand with a tendency towards the homogenisation of the practices of different groups. In this context of endogenous forces, we are witness to a redefinition of the relations between the sexes. The second phase of the study concerns the difficulties created by the confrontation of the local endogenous population and the exogenous development personnal using three main avenues of approach ambiguities in relations with the outsider, what is to be gained or lost by participating in a development project and the effects of relations between the sexes

The encouragement of rural non-farm activities (RNA), as part of a general development programme, is an alternative strategy for progress in Less Developed Countries (LDCs). A shift of labour from low productive agricultural employment to non-agricultural employment in the rural areas of LDCs could enhance incomes in those countries. This thesis focuses on Sri Lanka as an example of a Less Developed Country and analyses the growth pattern of RNA from Sri Lanka's independence in 1948 to the present day. The thesis poses several questions. Why were employment changes slow during the last four decades? Why were there variations in the regional growth of RNA? What factors contributed to the patterns of spatial distribution and regional growth in RNA? This thesis proposes a conceptual scheme of RNA growth and tests several hypotheses to answer these questions. Data used in this thesis were derived from three levels of magnitude: macro (national), meso (regional), and micro (village). The macro and meso level information were obtained from secondary sources. The micro level (information came from a field survey conducted in Sri Lanka during 1986 and 1987. The data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS:X) at the University of British Columbia. The thesis finds that the growth of RNA varies regionally and is concentrated in two contrasting occupational categories. The first category is characterized by low levels of productivity, skills and income. The second category is often government-related and employs persons with higher status and education. Regionally significant growth in both types was seen in fringe areas of the city of Colombo and in areas of state investment for agricultural development. RNA growth was largely due to the changes in the age structure of the population. Population grew rapidly in 1950s and 1960s which led to rapid labour force growth in 1970s. Slow structural change and poor performance of the economy retarded the expansion of employment opportunities leading to open unemployment, under-employment and landlessness. Household employment strategies varied in the rural areas. The increased labour force among the low income households encouraged part-time, seasonal and low paying RNA. The middle and upper income groups using educational facilities provided by the state in the rural areas qualified for government related occupations. By providing social and economic welfare benefits for the rural people, by expanding the state sector employment opportunities and by encouraging migration of labour to agricultural development areas, the post-independence Sri Lankan governments influenced the employment situation and the growth of RNA. Direct government intervention for the creation of RNA has not always had the desired effect because RNA expansion is also influenced by social, ethnic and political considerations which often lead to unexpected consequences. Therefore, conclusions derived from the analysis of Sri Lanka's RNA growth alone may not be adequate to develop policy prescriptions for the implementation in other LDCs.
Arts, Faculty of
Geography, Department of
Graduate

Dans la prefecture de ruhengeri, la tres forte densite de population se traduit dans le paysage par l'omnipresence des fermes et de l'habitat rural de service. Le peuplement s'organise en fermes isolees, en rugo polynucleaires, en hameaux familiaux et en villages agricoles. L'habitat rural de service comprend les batiments isoles, les groupements elementaires, les centres de service, les centres ruraux et les bourgs. L'habitation traditionnelle vegetale ronde cede la place a la maison rectangulaire en torchis, couverte de toles ou de tuiles cette modernisation aboutit a une differenciation de l'habitat mais laisse subsister les problemes d'exiguite, de proprete, etc. . . Les constructions de l'habitat rural ont des murs en briques et sont toujours couvertes de toles ou de tuiles. Les materiaux bruts sont disponibles sur les lieux. Les materiaux metalliques et synthetiques, fabriques a kigali, sont achemines a ruhengeri d'ou ils sont diffuses dans toute la campagne. L'artisanat de construction ne s'eleve pas encore au niveau de metier. La prochaine evolution portera sur la generalisaiton des hameaux familiaux, la restructuration du rugo, la durcification des constructions et l'afflux de la population dans les centres ruraux et les villages centres
The consequence of the high density of population is the omnipresence of farms and rural settlement of service. The farms are organized in scattered farms, polynuclear farms, family hamlets and agricultural village. The rural settlement of service includes scattered buildings, elementary grouping, centers of service, rural centers and villagescenters. Traditional dwelling house is replaced by a rectangular house in cob and covered of tiles or steel sheets. Till now problems of property, exiguity --- are not resolved. The buildings of rural settlement of service are in bricks and always covered of tiles or sheet teels. Some untreated materials are suffisant in ruhengeri. The metallic and synthetic material produice in kigali, arrive in ruhengeri by merchants the buildings cottage industry is considered as a secondary activity. The next evolution will be turned towards the generalization of family hamlets, the restructuration of the rugo, more use bricks and the arrival of the population in rural centers and villages centers

This thesis is a study of rural entrepreneurship which attempts to understand what it is that rural entrepreneurs do within the rural context. Our understanding of entrepreneurship is fragmentary, often narrowly focused and discipline bound. Entrepreneurial theory lacks even a limiting definition of the phenomenon. As Bartlett 1988 claims, it is an intellectual onion; if you keep peeling off the layers you are left with nothing and come away in tears. This seems to suggest that entrepreneurship is a process rather than an entity. Furthermore, a major focus of entrepreneurial research has been the entrepreneur as an individual, yet paradoxically, entrepreneurship is essentially a social act. Accordingly the central argument of this thesis is that in order to understand the entrepreneur we must place entrepreneurial action in its social context, we must study the process of entrepreneurship. This study therefore endeavours to investigate the actions of the entrepreneur in one context, rurality. Consequently this study is a detailed examination of a rural environment and the interrelationships of this environment and entrepreneurs. Its purpose is to try to establish the nature of the relationships between rurality and to specify the conditions of the entrepreneurial process.

This study focuses on rural livelihood diversification and improvement in dry districts of Zimbabwe during the period from 2000 to 2010. It establishes and documents livelihood activities and interventions in three semi-arid districts in Zimbabwe, analyses evidence for rural livelihood diversification and improvement and related challenges, and analyses institutional and policy issues that determine rural livelihood development in the politically charged period from 2000 to 2010. Rural livelihood diversification and improvement is not a recent phenomenon. For years, rural people have diversified their livelihoods for different economic reasons. Despite several studies on rural livelihoods in Zimbabwe, no similar studies have been done to determine the types of livelihood diversification that occur in a politically charged environment and whether they improve people‟s livelihoods. The study was guided by both the sustainable livelihoods framework and the actor oriented approach. Qualitative methodology was used for the overall data collection. Firstly data was collected „from the top‟ through in-depth interviews with officials from government institutions, non-governmental organisations and community leadership structures. Secondly data was collected „from the bottom up‟ through selected participatory methods in study areas. The overall study findings show that despite having increased livelihood interventions in all semi-arid areas, the politically fraught atmosphere constrained livelihood improvement and poverty remained. Although evidence for livelihood diversification is undisputed in the study, the extent to which it contributed to livelihood improvement was limited. The extended period of political constraint reversed some of the livelihood improvement gains recorded by external interventions. As most of the support was targeted at addressing the immediate food needs of the poor in semi-arid districts, this affected the number of long-term interventions targeted at sustainable livelihood development. The study found that the changing policies and institutional arrangements constrained and limited the potential of some of the livelihood strategies adopted during the period under study and as a result most livelihood activities were limited to survival strategies. The study shows that despite a decline in agricultural production during the period under study, it remained the major livelihood activity. Agricultural activities such as cotton and maize production and livestock rearing experienced a decline, but were partially revived through external support from both the government and nongovernmental organisations. Agriculture as a livelihood activity largely benefited from external interventions that rehabilitated irrigation infrastructure and the provision of agricultural inputs during the period. However, despite the dominance of agriculture as a livelihood activity in semi-arid areas non-farm livelihood activities, both locally initiated and externally fostered, played a significant role in supporting rural livelihoods. Poaching and wild fruit harvesting provided food for immediate consumption, whilst gold and diamond panning, wood carving and the commercialisation of non-timber forest products generated cash income for rural livelihoods. Non-farm external livelihood interventions identified resulted in a number of rural livelihood development models important for future rural development. These models were developed around the commercialisation of non-timber forest products for cash income generation, rural human capital development through vocational skills training and rural small livestock asset development. Human capital resulted in the development of rural industry in the form of community based enterprises. Indirectly it also contributed to migrant labour that sent cash and goods back home. The study shows that it is evident that in a politically charged environment livelihood diversification has a range of positive effects. The re-emergence of the barter exchange economy in rural communities contributed to livelihood diversification although sustainability was limited. It is also possible for both barter exchange and the cash market to co-exist in a politically charged environment. The study also shows that traditional leadership and local authorities in study areas became more politicised and militarised and this diverted them from facilitating and supporting rural development and inhibited rural livelihood development efforts by different rural players. The study found that rural livelihoods are not static, and they adapted as best they could in the face of exogenous trends and shocks. Rural areas underwent deep transformations as a result of political dynamics, local livelihood initiatives and external livelihood support. Rural livelihoods changed as rural people devised combined livelihood strategies that went beyond farming. However, in contrast to the widely accepted argument that diversification plays an important role in poverty alleviation, this was clearly not the case in Zimbabwe‟s politically charged environment. This study contributes to the development debate with a case study on the type and extent of livelihood diversification strategies possible in a politically charged environment. Methodologically the study contributes to the possible application of a dual data collection system where data is collected from the top using different methods from those used to collect data from the bottom. This enriched the data at triangulation phase during analysis. The study also contributes to the understanding of the political economy, the type of rural livelihood development possible in politically charged environments, and to how rural people in Zimbabwe react and behave in an endeavour to survive. There was an increased role played by external interventions in livelihood diversification but the extent of their contribution to positive livelihood outcomes was constrained by the politically charged environment that prompted the interventions in the first place. The normal processes of policy development and implementation changed as the role of politicians in planning and implementation became evident and policy aims shifted from rural development to political party self-preservation.

While most people would agree that economic development is an important goal, and understanding of exactly what "economic development" implies, and how to achieve it, are considerably more elusive. Specifically, this paper addresses the concern about whether very small-scale "grassroots-style" development projects for producers--especially petty artisans--really have the potential to make a positive impact on an ailing economy. A case study of a textile weavers' project in rural northern Chuquisaca, Bolivia, among the Jalq's (Quechua-speaking) ethnic group, is presented in detail. The local-level organizations, known as "workshops", which administer this project are analysed along with economic data from households, in order to determine both the advantages of such a project for rural women weavers, and the project's limitations. The implications of a form of organization in which local-level organizations share administrative duties with a larger support organization--in this case, the Sucre-based Antropologos del Surandino (ASUR)--are also discussed. The gains and potential gains made by weavers and their households as a result of this project are not overwhelming, yet they are valuable steps toward increased empowerment and an expansion of economic and social options for the Jalq'a.

Cette thèse est composée principalement de trois chapitres abordant des questions sur l’orpaillage artisanal au Burkina Faso. Avant d’exposer ces trois chapitres, dans l’introduction, nous décrivons d’abord le contexte socio-économique et le contexte legal du secteur miner du pays; ensuite nous revenons sur la revue de littérature relative à la question de l’orpaillage notamment les impacts positifs comme les possibilité d’emplois et les impacts négatifs comme les problèmes sanitaires et de sécurité ; les autres questions dont la relation entre agriculture et extraction artisanale, la durabilité de l’orpaillage et la responsabilité sociale des entreprises minières, la gouvernance locale des sites ; et enfin les différents cadres conceptuels mobilisés pour les trois thématiques à savoir le cadre d’analyse du développement institutionnel, celui des moyens d’existence durables et celui de l’«empowerment» pour étudier plus spécifiquement le rôle des femmes sur les sites d’orpaillage. Dans le premier chapitre, La gouvernance locale et l’organisation du travail sur les sites miniers du Burkina Faso, nous nous basons sur le cadre d’analyse du développement institutionnel pour discuter de la gouvernance locale et de la division du travail dans les camps d’extraction aurifère artisanale au Bukina Faso; un pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest qui, ces dernières années, exploite de plus en plus ses réserves d’or. Les données de terrain ont été recueillies sur trois sites dans les villages de Diosso, Siguinoguin et Zincko, conformément à l’échantillonnage raisonné. L’une des découvertes majeures tirées de la recherche sur site est que les formes de gouvernance varient le long d’un continuum allant de flexibles (appliqués par des puissances conjointes : syndicat des mineurs artisanaux, autorités coutumières et propriétaires fonciers) à rigides (appliqués par les propriétaires fonciers). Une autre conclusion est que le type de relation entre les communautés autochtones et les mineurs dépend de l’importance de l’autochtonie des mineurs artisanaux. En effet ils sont harmonieux à Zincko où les mineurs sont originaires du village alors qu’ils sont tendus à Siguinoguin qui est peuplée de migrants. Finalement, cet article s’appuie sur l’école française de proximité pour enrichir les définitions données aux attributs du monde physique et aux attributs de la communauté mis en évidence par la théorie d’Ostrom, la proximité géographique ne permettant pas de détailler les formes de proximité relationnelle organisées dans les camps miniers. Dans le deuxième chapitre, Interaction dynamique entre agriculture et orpaillage, nous proposons iii une compréhension de la relation dynamique entre l’agriculture de subsistance et l’exploitation minière artisanale, en s’appuyant sur des preuves provenant de communautés minières artisanales des villages de Diosso, Siguinoguin et Zincko situés au Burkina Faso. La recherche montre que les communautés rurales sont confrontées à de nombreuses vulnérabilités telles que le manque de pluie et les catastrophes naturelles et l’insecurité grandissante au Nord. Ces vulnérabilités les obligent à poursuivre l’extraction artisanale comme autre moyen d’existence. Notre étude a montré qu’en fait il existe une interaction dynamique entre ces deux activités. D’un coté l’agriculture soutient l’orpaillage en offrant aux fermiers les revenus nécéssaires pour s’engager dans l’activitité comme se payer le transport de leurs villages respectifs vers les camps miniers ; et d’autre part l’orpaillage soutient de manière considérable l’agriculture notamment soutenir les familles pendant les périodes de soudure de la saison sèche et contribuer à l’achat des intrants. Bien que cette interaction semble être bénéfique, les entrevues auprès des jeunes nous a fait découvrir un réel problème pour la succession agricole qui s’est habituée à la nouvelle vie moderne qu’il pouvait s’offir via l’orpaillage. Ainsi, elle développe des stratégies d’adaptation qui l’éloigne des activités agricoles et entraînent des moyens de subsistance non durables à long terme. Dans le troisième chapitre, Obtenir l’«empowerment» dans un monde d’hommes, nous examinons l’autonomisation économique et sociale des femmes grâce à l’exploitation minière artisanale au Burkina Faso. Nous avons mené des entretiens individuels et des groupes de discussion sur trois camps miniers. Ces entretiens ont fourni des informations sur les différents rôles joués par les femmes dans les camps d’exploitation minière, leur accès aux ressources nécessaires et le pouvoir collectif qui s’est développé entre elles tout en travaillant les unes avec les autres dans les camps miniers. En général, les femmes rapportent qu’elles s’engagent dans l’exploitation minière artisanale pour des raisons financières précaires et la pauvreté agricole. Nos résultats indiquent que l’accès aux ressources dépend des positions, des investissements initiaux et de la situation matrimoniale des femmes. Nous avons constaté que seules les propriétaires de puits et les propriétaires de hangards atteignent facilement une plus forte autonomie économique et sociale en améliorant de manière générale leur niveau de vie. En ce qui concerne les «vanneuses», même s’ils améliorent leur estime de soi, leurs revenus restent faibles pour assurer une autonomie économique durable.
This thesis aims at addressing questions on artisanal gold mining in Burkina Faso. It is mainly composed of three chapters. Before discussing these three chapters, in the introduction, we first describe the socio-economic context and legal context of the country’s mining sector; then we review the literature on the issue of gold panning including positive impacts such as job opportunities and negative impacts such as health and safety issues; other issues including the relationship between agriculture and artisanal mining, the sustainability of gold washing and the social responsibility of mining companies, local governance of sites; and finally, the different conceptual frameworks mobilized for the three themes, namely the institutional development analysis framework, the sustainable livelihoods framework and women’s empowerment. In the first chapter, Local governance and labor organizations on artisanal gold mining sites in Burkina Faso, we use the institutional development analysis framework to discuss local governance and the division of labor in the artisanal gold mining camps in Bukina Faso; a country in West Africa which, in recent years, is increasingly exploiting its gold reserves. Field data were collected from three sites in the villages of Diosso, Siguinoguin and Zincko, according to reasoned sampling. One of the major discoveries from on-site research is that forms of governance vary along a continuum ranging from flexible (applied by joint powers: artisanal miners’ union, customary authorities and landowners) to rigid (applied by landowners). Another conclusion is that the type of relationship between indigenous communities and minors depends on the importance of the autochtony of artisanal miners. Indeed they are harmonious in Zincko where the miners are from the village while they are stretched to Siguinoguin which is populated by migrants. Finally, this article is based on the French school of proximity to enrich the definitions given to the attributes of the physical world and to the attributes of the community highlighted by the Ostrom theory, the geographical proximity not allowing to detail the forms relational proximity organized in the mining camps. In the second chapter, How do artisanal gold mining and smallholder farming coexist in Burkina Faso?, we propose an understanding of the dynamic relationship between subsistence agriculture and artisanal mining, drawing on evidence from artisanal mining communities in v the villages of Diosso, Siguinoguin and Zincko located in Burkina Faso. Research shows that communities face many vulnerabilities such as lack of rain and natural disasters and increasing safety concerns-related to terrorist attacks-in the Northern part of the country. On the one hand, agriculture supports artisanal gold mining by providing farmers with the income they need to engage in the activity, such as paying for the transport from their respective villages to mining camps; on the other hand, artisanal gold mining significantly supports agriculture by supporting families during lean periods of the dry season and by contributing to the purchase of agricultural inputs. While this interaction appears to be beneficial, the youth interviews revealed a real problem for farm succession that has become accustomed to the new modern life that could be offered through gold panning. Then, farm succession develops coping strategies that move it away from farming activities and lead it towards unsustainable long-term livelihoods. In the last chapter, Obtaining empowerment in a man’s world, we examine the economic and social empowerment of women through artisanal mining in Burkina Faso. We conducted individual interviews and focus groups on three mining camps across the country. These interviews provided information on the different roles played by women in mining camps, their access to the necessary resources and the collective power that they develop while working together in the mining camps. In general, women report that they engage in artisanal mining for precarious financial reasons and agricultural poverty. Our results indicate that access to resources depends on women’s positions, initial investments and marital status. It tends to be provided by husbands for married women who need less than 50 USD in initial investments (these women usually perform winnowing tasks). We found that only pit owners and stall owners (stands where stones are crushed, washed and processed) easily achieve greater economic and social independence by improving their economic level, self-esteem and autonomy. As far as "panners" are concerned, even if they improve their self-esteem, their incomes remain low to ensure sustainable economic autonomy.

The thesis investigates, from a contextual and user perspective, the implementation processes of microfinance interventions and the effect of the implementation processes on households and businesses. The thesis’ central argument is that microfinance discourse has neglected the perspective of microfinance users and this can negatively affect microfinance interventions as development tools. The study examines two microfinance interventions, Nsoatreman Women Empowerment Programme and Sinapi Aba Trust, in Nsoatre, a rural community in Ghana. Data for the study is from secondary sources, 26 interviews and 100 questionnaires. The study was guided by the philosophical ideas underlying the Sustainable Livelihood Approach and the Interpretive Approach. Using qualitative, cross-tabulations and ordinal logistic regression, the analysis found that the microfinance institutions studied essentially employ top-down approaches and that the perception of microfinance as non-paternalistic is not supported by this study. The mode of group formation has significant ramifications on subsequent group activities and peer monitoring played a limited role in mitigating moral hazard. Service users exhibited noticeable lack of knowledge on intervention activities. Microfinance interventions contribute to household consumption more than it does to household asset accumulation. Poorer service users reported more household and business benefits. The findings suggest a reappraisal of the design of microfinance interventions, especially in rural areas.

A cross-sectional study with repeated measures was conducted in the Ecuadorian Highlands to determine whether quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) production was associated with improved nutrition among women. Agricultural production systems, income, socio-economic status, morbidity, diet and protein-energy status were compared between a group of quinoa-producers and a randomly sampled quasi-control group of non-quinoa-producers (total n = 90 households) over four study rounds (pre- and post-quinoa-harvest).
Seasonal and age-related variability in nutrient intakes as well as anthropometric status provided evidence of nutritional vulnerability in this population. Post-menopausal women (50+ years of age) consumed less energy (300 calories), less protein (11 g) and maintained a lower mean body weight (3.66 kg) compared to their younger counterparts. Seasonal changes in dietary quality and anthropometric status were apparent for women of all ages with less protein and micronutrients consumed post-harvest and mean arm circumference 6 cm smaller. Marked prevalences of inadequate intakes of many of these same nutrients (including iron, niacin, and vitamin B12) were demonstrated with the Probability Method.
Correlates of diet quantity (energy), quality (animal protein adjusted for energy) and anthropometric status were established. By means of a Principal Components analysis, socio-economic status was shown to be comprised of two unique constructs: modern lifestyle and farming wealth. Both factors were related to diet quality but neither was related to diet quantity. Diet quality, in turn, was significantly related to anthropometric status in multivariate models.
Women in quinoa-producing households consumed higher amounts of most nutrients and maintained larger arm protein-energy stores than those in non-quinoa-producing families. Trends were similar in children with no evidence of a difference in anthropometric status. However, quinoa-producers scored higher on both scales of socio-economic status, demonstrating self-selection bias. In multivariate models, quinoa production was related to increased intakes of energy, iron, zinc and folate but effects on animal protein intake and anthropometric status were confounded by the socio-economic effects. Therefore, while quinoa production was associated with positive nutritional impacts, the most impoverished households were left virtually untouched by this agricultural opportunity.

This thesis analyses the work of a large group of social investigators who were active in rural areas in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. It follows on from studies of the investigations of Charles Booth, Seebohm Rowntree, Henry Mayhew and others, and shows how the investigation of rural life proceeded on different lines from the urban social inquiry of the period. It is argued that the political and social conflicts between town and country, and within the rural community itself, shaped the activities of the investigators considered. The model of a conflict between the 'informant' approach (where trustworthy authorities were asked to comment on the condition of the agricultural labourer) and the 'respondent' approach (where the labourer was consulted at first hand) is used to illustrate the complexity of the structure or rural social inquiries of the period. It is shown that the kinds of information which could be obtained from the two approaches differed, and that the same event or condition could be reported on very differently from two conflicting points of view. This argument is taken a study further by an examination of another genre of writers on the agricultural labourer. It is argued that the social commentary, usually by resident investigators, which tended to be cultural rather than economic in character, was as much a part of the project of social investigation as was the large-scale official inquiry or social survey. Drawing on the work of the few historians who have seriously analysed this genre of writers in its urban context, the thesis applies an analysis of this form of investigation in rural areas. The perceived need to communicate with the rural poor on a deeper level was another aspect of the 'respondent' approach to investigation, and is as much a forerunner of modern sociological method as is the classic social survey. The thesis also shows how the representations of rural communities and of agricultural labourers in the texts of the period affected the practice of investigators, and argues that the notion of the countryside as a scene of social peace and a repository of racial hardihood caused them to approach the task of investigation with particular preconceptions which shaped their diagnoses of the problems of rural life.

Dans notre recherche on a essayé de découvrir quelle est la position de la Moldavie, sur le marché touristique interne et externe et dans quelle mesure sa périphéricité joue un rôle positif dans le développement touristique.On a vu que l'espace de la recherche se confronte avec une triple périphéricité, qui agit à tous les niveaux : périphérie spatiale de l'Union Européenne, périphérie économique et décisionnelle de la Roumanie, et dernièrement une périphérie figée qui agit dans l'intérieur de la région entre les centres urbains et les zones rurales. On a observé que la région présente une concentration plus dense de ressources potentielles touristiques dans sa partie occidentale, montagneuse. Les départements de Suceava, Neamţ, Bacău et Vrancea bénéficient pleinement de leur disposition dans un cadre plus attractif, le tourisme de montagne ayant un grand succès en Roumanie. De nos jours, la Moldavie présente un retard du point de vue touristique par rapport à la moyenne nationale, retard qui se traduit par le nombre de places de logements, l'indice d'occupation, les arrivées ou les nuitées. Malgré tout ça, la région a connu une évolution foudroyante des unités de logement dans les dernières décennies. Sur le fond de la popularisation du tourisme rural et de ses différentes formes, la pension rurale devient de plus en plus perceptible. La dynamique des arrivées et des nuitées touristiques de l'espace rural moldave dessine plusieurs zones distinctes en Moldavie. Le département de Suceava est le plus dynamique, sa croissance se basant sur quelques centres régionaux auxquels l'on ajoute des communes mono-destination. Le département de Neamţ enregistre une dynamique positive basée sur quelques centres locaux à spécifique diffèrent, ce qui la positionne en deuxième position comme importance touristique en Moldavie. Le département de Bacău se remarque par la chute des activités touristiques de Slănic Moldova et Târgu-Ocna, anciens centres touristiques pendant la période communiste, mais descendus de nos jours à cause de la mauvaise gestion après 1990. L'enquête appliquée auprès des touristes a identifié un profil contrastant du visiteur de la zone rurale moldave. Ces contrastes sont une conséquence de la période communiste et du manque d'implication (organisationnelle, affective, décisionnelle) du touriste dans l'organisation des voyages.

Le surpeuplement de l'agriculture chinoise a ete masque, pendant la periode collective, par un faible taux de sous-emploi agricole, grace a l'organisation quotidienne du travail aux champs collectifs d'un cote, et a uncontrole strict d'exode rural de l'autre. Le sous-emploi agricole est devenu apparent depuis la mise en oeuvre des reformes rurales a la fin des annees soixante-dix. Le transfert de population active agricole enchine a ete caracterise par un important transfert sur place, grace au developpement rapide des entreprises rurales et par un exode rural limite. Ce transfert de main-d'oeuvre agricole a reduit le sous-emploi rural en chine et a augmente les revenus des paysans. Il a aussi entraine le developpement de l'agriculture a temps partiel en chine. Mais la tache de transfert de population active agricole en chine reste encore tres lourde a l'avenir
The ouverpopulation of the chinese agriculture has been masked, during the collective period, by a weak rate of agricultural underemployment thanks to the daily work organization in the collective fields on the one hand, and to a strict control of rural exodus, on the other. The agricultural under-employment has become apparent, since the agricultural reforms have taken place at the late sixties. The transfer of agricultural active population in china has been characterized by a important transfer on the premises, thanks to the rapide development of rural entreprises and by a limited rural exodus. This transfer of agricultural manpower hazs reduced the rural under-employment in china and peasant's revenues have increased. It has throught out also the development of the pacttime farming in china. But the task of transfer of agricultural active population in china remains still very heavy in the future

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of physical isolation in rural battered women. The relationships between physical isolation, level of traumatic symptoms and social support are assessed. By definition rural women are usually geographically isolated, which may contribute to the difficulty of leaving abusive relationships. Strong rural, socio-cultural norms such as traditional gender and marital roles, combined with a lack of access to beneficial services may prevent rural victims from fleeing to safety. As a result victims may be even more vulnerable to their batterers. To more fully understand difficulties faced by battered women, archival data containing a community sample of 394 women, who had experienced violence in a current or past romantic relationship, were examined. Overall quantitative findings from this sample suggest that for battered women higher violence frequency and severity are associated with greater physical isolation. In addition, high trauma symptoms are associated with greater help-seeking. Findings obtained from qualitative and quantitative data discuss isolation, culture, frequency and severity of violence, social support, and trauma symptomatology in a battered female population. Findings may provide a deeper understanding that is sensitive to the needs of women living in rural settings.

The government of South Africa has seen many financial reforms in the finance industry since the attainment of freedom in 1994. Many microfinance institutions (MFIs) have emerged in the name of poverty reduction, however the impact of MFIs on poverty reduction in rural areas has not been significantly high. Poverty has been reduced but still the inequality gap has even widened (HSRC, 2004). The study is concerned with analysing the impact of MFIs in poverty reduction among the rural poor. Empirical evidence from many developing nations around the world has shown that microfinance is a tool that is relevant in reducing poverty within rural areas. This study investigates the impact of microfinance institutions on household income levels, education and business skills. The study followed a qualitative approach in terms of the research methodology and a survey research design. Data was collected using questionnaires, scheduled interviews, focus group discussions and key informants. Two sample techniques were used for the selection of the MFIs and the household respondents, that is purposive sampling and cluster sampling. In total, 150 households, 15 MFIs and five key informants were interviewed. Descriptive analysis methods were employed and the study showed that only 10 percent of the total households have been able to access microfinance. The number of people who gained business skills was also low (10 percent). The MFIs who provide financial services excluding the other services like business training programmes were 80 percent of the total number of MFIs interviewed. This data showed that only a few (20 percent) MFIs are willing to go an extra mile rendering business skills to their clients. Overally the major finding of the study was that although, MFIs are reaching out to the rural communities, their levels of outreach is still very low within the rural areas. However this does not mean that the impact of MFIs funding is not felt among the rural poor. The levels of income and educational benefits have been increased and felt by the 10 percent of the rural poor clients. This study advocates for an entrepreneurship development pathway to poverty reduction. Microfinance should be used as a source of finance to initiate entrepreneurial activities among the poor in order to generate income. In this study, the use of microfinance finance for consumption by the poor is discouraged because it depletes the funds that can be channeled for selfhelp projects within the rural communities. The study findings motivated the recommendations that encourage an inclusive financial system that is capable of reaching out to the rural poor.

Cette thèse est consacrée à l'étude de l'organisation de l'espace rurale antique, dans un rayon de vingt kilomètres autour de l'agglomération secondaire gallo-romaine d'argenttomagus (Saint-Marcel, Indre). Quatre composantes du paysage ont été abordées : les voies, les réseaux parcellaires, les habitats et les ateliers de réduction du minerai de fer. Très nombreux dans cette zone. Des prospections aériennes et pédestres. Ont été menées, ainsi qu'une enquête orale auprès des exploitants locaux et un examen des cliches verticaux de l'IGN. Au terme de cette enquête, 283 sites gallo-romains ont été répertoriés, dont 40% d'inédits, découverts entre 1990 et 1993. Grace à la confrontation des différents types de vestiges commus, l'organisation de ces terroirs ruraux a pu être mieux cernée, notamment en ce qui concerne les relations entre activités agricoles et métallurgiques, mêlées dans certains endroits où séparées dans d'autres. Par ailleurs, les traces de plusieurs réseaux parcellaires vraisemblablement antiques ont également été détectées. Quant au réseau des voies particulièrement dense aux abords d'argentomagus, il apparait comme un élément essentiel de l'économie rurale. De nombreux parallèles ont pu être établis à travers l'époque romaine, entre l'évolution d'argentomagus et celle des campagnes environnantes
This work deals with the arrangement of the rural ancient space. Within a radius of twenty kilometres around the small town of argentomagus (Saint-Marcel, Indre). Four elements of the landscape are studied: roads, networks of parcels, dwelling places and, iron and steel workshops, which are very numerous in this area. Several methods have been used: study of vertical aerial photographs of the national geographic institue (ign), aerial surveys, oral inquiries and ground focused and systematic surveys. 283 sites are known today, 40% of them were discovered between 1990 and 1993. Thanks to the comparison of the diverse types of settlements, the organisation of this rural area is nowadays better known; it is especially true for the links between agriculture and metallurgy, which can be mixed or not. Traces of several networks of parcels have also been found. During the whole roman period, the evolutions of argentomagus and of its surrounding area often appear linked. The local economy, especially the iron and steel industry, was certainly organised by the town, where a factory of weapons was established during the late roman empire

The primary aim of this thesis is to explore, at a psychological level, the meaning of work in a rural developing society context. Additional aims comprise: the examination of distinctions in the meaning of work between different occupational niches; and the development of an appropriate conceptual and methodological approach for understanding meaning of work issues in developing society contexts. The research was conducted in the Keiskammahoek district situated in Ciskei, a South African homeland area. Demographically, the area comprises farms, small rural villages and one small town. It has traditionally fulfilled the role of a labour reserve, and the local economy largely depends on income generated through migrant labour. The population predominantly comprises indigenous Xhosa speakers, although a few whites, individuals of mixed racial origin and other ethnic groups are represented. In order to accommodate the diversity of work experience in rural society, an approach was adopted which relied on the participants' subjective definition of work. A conscious attempt was made to avoid defining work exclusively as remunerated employment. At a metatheoretical level, the meaning of work model used is grounded in Kelly's (1955) Personal Construct Theory. It comprises three facets, namely process, context and content. A multiple case study analysis was carried design was used, through to a in which nomothetic idiographic level of understanding. The primary' research instrument comprised an interview, in which data was derived from life-history material, a repertory grid, and focused interview questions. In the development of case studies, a process of triangulation was used to link the three sources of data. The thesis explores the relationship between participants and their work in several ways. First, it looks at how work and non-work are constituted and related to one another, and at how personally valuable work is contrasted to less valuable work. Second, it explores the relationship between the individual's orientation to work and their life and occupational context. Finally, it discusses the proposal that work meanings change and evolve with the development of the individual, and with shifts in social and historical circumstance.

Bibliography: pages 73-77.
The on-going significance of the rural areas in policy formation in South Africa has its roots in the country's spatially skewed population distribution and the persistence of 'oscillating' or 'circular' migration. Thus, rural income (its level, sources and distribution) and rural welfare remain important policy considerations. This thesis, based on a microeconomic study of three Ciskeian villages, examines these issues, and attempts to use the understanding so gained, to consider the likelihood of continued circular migration. Chapter 1 places the study in context, providing necessary background to the research area. Chapter 2 looks at the spatial structure and education levels of households in the three villages studied. Chapter 3 deals with the problem of defining and measuring 'rural household income', whilst Chapter 4 examines the adequacy and distribution of this income, paying attention to how changes in various components of income affect rural income distribution and welfare. This thesis is concluded in Chapter 5 with an analysis of the factors contributing to the persistence of circular migration.

Recent research suggests that rural people develop a rich array of informal support and exchange among their kin, neighbors and friends. These informal exchanges are argued to develop in response to the weak penetration of formal state structures and capitalist market relations in peripheral regions. This case study of the survival strategies of low income rural mothers who live in Quebec village demonstrates that these mothers' avenues for economic and social integration are restricted by the formal and informal sectors which constitute and reinforce one another. First, an extensive data and document analysis of the Quebec pronatalist and welfare policies reveals that they fail to provide low income rural women access to appropriate training and education, to transportation and adequately subsidized child care, or to secure jobs. This restricts these women's integration into formal or informal systems of support and exchange. The second section draws on interviews with 20 community leaders and on two years of participant observation. Contrary to the literature which suggests that extensive informal ties promote socially and economically inclusive rural communities, this case study reveals that centralized state development policies limit local community initiative and independence. Hence, community effort to aid low income families are limited to charity which does not fundamentally alter these families' marginal position. The third section draws on semi-structured interviews with 20 low income single and married (or common-law) mothers. Comparing the single and married mothers' strategies reveals that studies of the rural informal sector have narrowly defined the sector, by excluding unpaid domestic and child care work. It is shown that the married mother's strategy to stay in the home is a viable one because she alone performs the unpaid work of the home. This results in her isolation in the domestic sphere. For the single mothers who seek paid work, the gende

This dissertation provides a quantitative analysis of cultural ecology and social structure in a rural parish in Northwest Portugal. There is greater economic inequality, and greater social stratification than most ethnographers of Iberia have described. Chapter 1 introduces some of the material indications of wealth and land inequality in the community. Some households are shown to have much more land and dairy cattle than others. Chapter 2 discusses nickname behavior as a set of socio-cultural symbols for expressing an ideal of equality, which in some sense runs counter to material differences within the community. Chapter 3 analyses contemporary farming systems; showing that having different amounts of land determines each household's choice of technology. Each household operates its farm in a unique natural and economic environment, because of different access to the factors of production, especially land, but including labor and capital. Chapter 4 shows that patterns of technical change also depend on land supply. Larger farmers are the first to adopt new innovations, especially labor-saving devices. Chapter 5 demonstrates that, counter to common assumptions, land fragmentation is more pronounced on large farms than on smaller farms, but that for no farms is land fragmentation a barrier to agricultural production. Chapter 6 is a brief history of recent changes of land use. It shows that the most common land-use types, fields and forests, are somewhat interchangeable. Fields are converted to forest, and forest to field, depending on the economic environment of the owning household, and the natural environment of the land itself. Ecologically marginal land that is owned by large farmers is the most likely to be changed from field to forest, or from forest to field.

Today ecotourism industry - one of the fastest growing and profitable sectors of the world economy. This is due to the continuing increase in demand for travel and the relatively high level of profitability. In most countries, ecotourism plays an important role in the economy. In developed countries, tourists every year more and more eager for this form of travel that would allow them to be alone with nature, breathe fresh air, change (at least temporarily) the stereotypes of urban life. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/36167

En 2002, en Iran, d'après la dernière enquête socio-démographique représentative au niveau national, le taux de fécondité totale était de 1,9 enfants par femme. Ce nombre d'enfants reflète la spectaculaire baisse de la fécondité dans les villes et les villages du pays. Si au moment de son enclenchement, à la fin des années 1950, la baisse de la fécondité n'a concerné que les villes, la poursuite de cette diminution et son accélération dans les années 1980 dépasse largement leur cadre. Depuis la fin des années 1970 la baisse de la fécondité s'est observée jusque dans les villages les plus reculés, entraînant ainsi l'ensemble du pays dans une révolution culturelle majeure. La baisse de la fécondité dans les villages iraniens résulte de profondes transformations du monde rural. Les villages qui étaient auparavant coupés du reste du pays se sont progressivement ouverts sur l'extérieur. La réforme agraire des années 1960 a été sans conteste le point de départ de ces bouleversements. Puis, la Révolution islamique a constitué un deuxième temps fort des transformations rurales. Dans leur volonté de "voler au secours des déshérités", les dirigeants de la nouvelle République ont mis en place des programmes de développement qui ont eu des retombées importantes sur les la vie des villageois. Ainsi, depuis les années 1960, les zones rurales se sont intégrées à la fois politiquement, économiquement et socialement au reste du pays. Cette intégration, qui a eu des répercussions sur l'entrée en union, le recours à la contraception et le désir d'enfants, semble être à l'origine de la forte baisse de la fécondité en milieu rural.

The problem of developing values of ‘shared citizenship’ in Fiji has long been made difficult by ethnic difference and conflict. Existing literature on political and social relations in Fiji has failed to address the significance of the education system as a factor in bridging the ethnic divide. This study concerns the social capital of a rural town community and how trust, as a bonding agent, can be shaped and strengthened through education.

This study explores the normative frameworks through which selected parents, students, teachers, and education activists in three villages in rural Pakistan understand and articulate the value of girls' schooling. It argues that within the dominant analytical paradigms of human capital theory and neoliberalism, researchers and policymakers have tended to conceptualise 'demand' for schooling in terms that are narrowly focused upon measuring and boosting enrolment, and thus have failed to capture whether and how shifting enrolments correspond to shifting norms and to the broader imaginative regimes through which differently located actors experience and produce the gendered value of schooling. Typical analyses of 'demand' for girls' schooling have mostly focused upon what factors of schooling provision are most likely to increase parents' willingness to send their daughters to school, and thus inadvertently conflate 'demand' with 'supply' and reveal very little about whether or how such factors influence normative evaluations of girls' schooling by parents, children, teachers, and others across various contexts where enrolment is on the rise. This oversight hinders efforts at comparison that are critical for planning and interpreting transnational initiatives for achieving gender equality in and through schooling. To improve upon this trend, this study illustrates a) the normative evaluations that underpin selected instances of 'demand' for girls' schooling in three villages in rural Pakistan, and b) how these normative evaluations have changed over time and in relation to particular interventions. Using data from seventeen weeks of fieldwork spanning two villages in the southern Punjab and one in Gilgit-Baltistan, the study explores perspectives about the value of girls' schooling in relation to the key themes of marriage, employment, and purdah. By bringing this data into comparison with mainstream discouses about 'demand,' the study highlights the limitations of those discourses and charts a path for further comparative inquiry. Findings illustrate how normative perspectives about girls' schooling are differentially contested and transformed over time even as enrolment trends converge across contexts, and suggest that researchers and practitioners concerned with promoting gender equality in and through schooling should lend greater attention to the social interactions through which 'norm-making' occurs. This sort of attention to 'norm-making' can reveal new opportunities for intervention, but also, and perhaps more importantly, it inspires humility by demonstrating that all normative evaluations of schooling - whether emerging from education 'experts' or from farmers in rural villages - reflect socially and historically situated notions of personhood, none of which is more 'natural' than any other.

La sologne qui s'est construite une excellente reputation des le seizieme siecle aupres de la cour de france a toujours suscite l'attention des "amenageurs". L'histoire de cette region desheritee est une succession de periodes de prosperite et de graves crises qui ont donne lieu jusqu'a la fin du dix-neuvieme siecle a une multitude d'initiatives et d'experiences. La sologne qui connait du milieu du dix-neuvieme siecle aux annees mille neuf cent dix une periode de redressement economique, apparait au milieu du vingtieme siecle comme une region totalement destabilisee. Convoitee par la civilisation des loisirs et particulierement la chasse, son traditionnel equilibre economique base sur la trilogie agro-sylvo-cynegetique est pertube. Au cours des quinze dernieres annees, l'amenagement rural a fait l'objet de nombreuses interventions qui ont conduit a une vaste panoplie de procedures. Elles ont change de caractere parallelement a l'evolution qui s'est effectuee a l'echelle nationale en matiere d'amenagement. Mais elles se sont rapidement revelees inadequates parce que trop limitees dans leurs moyens et leurs objectifs. Aussi des les annees soixante dix, la sologne se lance-telle dans une nouvelle politique d'amenagement rural. Elle elabore un plan interdepartemental repondant a un besoin urgent de concertation et de coordination qui definit les objectifs et les propositions d'actions necessaires a son developpement. Pour suivre la realisation du plan et beneficier des nouvelles competences accordees aux communes par la loi de decentralisation, ce plan cree un syndicat mixte d'amenagement et de developpement de la sologne. . .

Rural development is a serious problem in Bangladesh, and so is the situation of women. This thesis assesses the programmes offered by a particular non-governmental organization, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), which simultaneously promote rural development and improve the status of women. This assessment is achieved by examining the functioning and impact of these programmes in a single village. The study is exploratory and uses qualitative methods, employing principally unstructured but in-depth interviews. Results indicate that most village women were aware of the need for improvement in the position of women, but interest, and thus active participation, was greater among those who were widowed or divorced. For these women, the programmes did succeed in raising their income through better technical knowledge, and in some ways improved their position in the family and society. They did not, however, succeed in raising their administrative knowledge, confining them to "women's only" projects, and did little to increase political empowerment.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze an ongoing project centered on satisfying basic clinical information needs of rural clinicians who work in hospitals without libraries or librarians by providing personal digital assistants (PDAs) equipped with clinical information databases augmented with full-text Loansome Doc delivery. Three projects have been instituted since 2006, in which 330 PDAs were distributed with training. Methods: This was a qualitative study that primarily involved individual interviews of participants in one of the three projects. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and themes were analyzed. The process continued until data saturation was achieved. Results: Much information has been discovered about the value of the services provided and what can be done to better address clinician information needs. Data collection is ongoing. Conclusions: Medical librarians, particularly those in academic centers, must reach out and find new ways to enable rural clinicians to stay current with the explosion of new biomedical information.

La guadeloupe est un archipel de 1780 km 2, compose de 2 iles principales (basse-terre et grande-terre) et de 5 dependances plus ou moins eloignees. Une grande diversite des paysages eux-memes soumis a des micro-climats de type tropical, implique une occupation du sol plus ou moins variee et des regions differenciees. Depuis 1946, la politique sociale a represente une priorite gouvernementale pour le developpement rural - autre - autre priorite, celle de l'amenagement de toute une infrastructure economique d'echanges (port, aeroport. . . ) afin de satisfaire aux besoins croissants d'une population de plus en plus integree dans une societe de consommation avec un circuit d'importation qui, bien structure, laisse peu de place a la production locale - comment dans ce cas, promouvoir en guadeloupe le developpement rural ? l'option economique du developpement des d. O. M. Est recente. Les premieres mesures de developpement rural ont cherche a remanier la structure fonciere et la quasi-elimination du systeme juge archaique represente par le colonage, ancien vestige de la colonisation des plans de developpement des productions agricoles tres ponctuels ont dans certains cas permis une relance des activites concernees mais, souvent, ils se sont adresses a des professions non-structurees, non-representatives et leurs objectifs n'ont pas ete atteints - aucune politique regionale de developpement rural planifie n'existe en guadeloupe et la polarite urbaine contribue a accentuer le desequilibre des forces internes ville-campagne et des regions entre elles. Cet ouvrage a mis en evidence les ressources agricoles et agro- industrielles des regions guadeloupeennes assorties des moyens a mettre en oeuvre pour optimiser leur mise en valeur dans un processus de developpement rural - tous les d. O. M. Sont a ce titre concernees -
Guadeloupe is an archipelago of 1780 square kilometres, it consists of two main islands (basse-terre and grande-terre) and 5 dependant islands more or less remote - a large variety of landscapes, themselves under the influence of microclimates, implies different kinds of farming and different regions. Since 1946, social policy has been regarded as a priority by the government for rural development - another priority is the sitting up of a complete network of economic exchanges (harbour, airport. . . ) in order to meet the increasing needs of a population belonging more and more to the consumer society with a well structured import channel wich gives a small place at local production - how is it, in this case, possible to have rural development in guadeloupe ? the development of the d. O. M. Has only recent set its goals on economy. First mesures of rural development have changed land structure and the virtually full elimination of the system regarded as archaic and known as share - cropping, a remmant of civilisation. Pinpoint plans of development for productions have sometimes permitted a relance of these activities but, professions were not structured not representative and their objectives were not satisfied - no local rural development policy has been defined in guadeloupe and the attraction for the town is growing unbalance between town and country and regions one with others. The purpose of this work was to point out the agricultural and agro- industrial ressources of the different areas of guadeloupe and suggest how to optimize their reclaiming as part of a process of rural development - in this respect, all d. O. M. Are involved

This study explores how land and natural resources in rural communities are accessed, used, and managed in livelihoods. In particular it examines first, crop field tenure, and livelihoods in natural resources. Second it explores factors that mediate access, use and control of land and natural resources within village communities. Empirical data are explored from two rural village communities of Kamena and St. Joseph located in the Northern and Copperbelt provinces of Zambia respectively. The study argues first that land and natural resource rights underpin land based livelihood activities of rural people, the most important of which are subsistence and cash crop farming, and the gathering and processing of common property resources. Second the thesis argues that land tenure reform impacts on the rural population as a whole and not just on cash crop farmers, and should thus situate the needs of farmers for secure tenure within the wider context of diverse rural household livelihood strategies. The study concludes that social differences (along the axes of wealth, gender and descent), traditional institutions (uxorilocal or virilocal marriage, polygamy, inheritance and succession) and government policy are central in determining access, use and control of land and natural resources in rural livelihoods. It is submitted that, rather than being replaced, customary land tenure, and traditional land administration structures in rural Zambia should be adapted to current social and economic realities in which individuals and households create their multiple livelihoods. Further, it is concluded that land tenure reform is not a sufficient condition for rural livelihood sustainability. Thus complementary agrarian measures to address the vulnerability context of rural households are recommended.

This present research has investigated the perceptions of Haitians regarding social, economic and environmental impacts which tourism development might have in rural area of Haiti. Three sites were chosen as low, moderate and high regarding their increased flow of visitors annually. The researcher used the ethnographer's approach where a domain analysis was built by gathering data from local people. This domain analysis was then tested by interviewing more local people. A population of eighty vacationers (adults, students and professionals) randomly chosen was surveyed. Nonparametric tests were used to analyze collected data during the summer of 2003 in Haiti. The perceptions of locals become more positive (or negative) with the increased flow of visitors. The perceptions of vacationers about social impacts of tourism were more negative among older vacationers rather than younger vacationers. Locals and vacationers had different perceptions toward the future development of tourism in rural Haiti.
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management

Providing access to finance to the poor has been proposed as a tool for economic development and poverty reduction. Our research aims to provide a deep analysis of how to enhance access to finance on a sustainable basis, focussing on rural Vietnam. It analyzes four main areas: (i) why access to financial markets by low-income households is severely constrained; (ii) how policy makers deal with the absence of financial markets for the poor; (iii) who are actually excluded from formal financial system; and (iv) the relationship between access to finance and poverty reduction. It is demonstrated that market imperfections (such as asymmetric information and transaction costs) can explain the lack of access for the poor. However, the development of financial technologies, such as joint-liability group lending or lending through partnership with social/information intermediaries may enhance information availability and reduce transaction costs. The poverty reduction approach that many policy makers have been following has failed to generate finance for the poor on a sustainable basis. We suggest that a mixed approach which combines the poverty reduction with financial systems approach (i.e. recognises a balance between social and financial goals) may be appropriate. This proposition is supported by empirical evidence from rural Vietnam where it is shown that the poverty reduction approach that the government has followed has not enabled financial institutions to achieve financial-self-sufficiency and this has reduced the outreach capacity. Moreover, we find that under the poverty reduction approach, the better-off households, rather than the very poor households, are more likely to gain access to formal financial sector. We also find that having access to finance has a positive impact on poverty reduction; but this impact is very small, suggesting that it may not be cost-effective.

Access to markets is increasingly regarded in development circles as a critical factor in determining livelihood choices in peasant economies. In the northeastern Peruvian Amazon, a multitude of river transporters and market intermediaries based in the central city of Iquitos provide essential services and market opportunities for remote peasant producers across the region. Using a multi-scalar, multi-method approach involving extensive fieldwork in the Peruvian Amazon, this research (re)assesses the meanings and implications of "remoteness" and "connectedness" for rural peasants. At the regional scale, I examine the functional heterogeneity of river trading networks and marketing agents. Given the high-risk/high-transaction-cost environment, river trading is found to be expensive for producers and traders alike. High costs are exacerbated by the low gross returns of rural production (mainly food and natural building materials). Thin or missing markets for credit, labour, land and insurance increase the hardships associated with limited access to product markets. Regional findings are complemented with a comparative livelihoods analysis in two remote communities of the Alto Tigre River that benefit from differential access to oil-labour. My study reveals that differential access to labour has significant impacts on the livelihood strategies of working households. However, given limited access to external markets, cash-income from oil-labour is found to offer limited opportunities for growth. In sum, the research proposes insights for advancing the debate on livelihoods and poverty in the Peruvian Amazon.

This dissertation provides some explanations of the causes of poverty in rural India, by investigating poverty determinants that are too often neglected in the literature and in policy debates. It proceeds in three main chapters, each addressing a specific research question. The first chapter focuses on the process of agricultural transformation in the state of Andhra Pradesh. In the early stages of economic development, all countries undergo a process of transformation of their production and employment structure. As a result, agricultural output as a share of total GDP decreases, as does rural employment as a share of total employment. Over the last 50 years, the share of agriculture in total output has considerably declined in Andhra Pradesh. However, the agricultural sector continues to employ the great majority of the labour force. The theoretical section of this chapter shows how structural change is affected by the characteristics of food demand and by income inequality. The empirical analysis, using novel semiparametric methods, estimates food Engel curves and food elasticities, which are used to simulate the effects on changes in income distribution on the composition of demand. The second chapter analyses the stabilising effect of irrigation on household expenditure. The expansion of irrigation infrastructure, together with the introduction of hybrid seeds and chemical fertilisers, was the most important technological advancement in Indian agriculture of the last 50 years. The positive impact of irrigation on income of rural households has been extensively documented, but its stabilising effect has been largely neglected. The first part of the chapter builds a theoretical model that establishes the causal links between access to irrigation, income stability, and consumption smoothing over the seasonal cycle. The empirical analysis assesses the stabilising impact of irrigation on expenditure using modern impact evaluation techniques. The findings indicate that consumption patterns of households with access to irrigation are more stable over the seasonal cycle and over the years. The third chapter studies the effect of income uncertainty on educational choices made by the rural poor. It investigates the demand side of education in order to understand why a large number of rural children do not enrol or complete primary education. The theoretical part of the chapter presents an inter-temporal consumption model that shows how the expectation of income variability negatively affects household expenditure on education. The empirical analysis uses a duration model with time covariates in order to estimate the determinants of child progress in school, and provides evidence that income variability negatively affects investments in education.