|
|
|
|
|

|
|
|
|

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF |
|
RURAL
DEVELOPMENT |
|
Abstracting Service |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Asia- Pacific
Journal of Rural Development ( APJORD)
Vol.1, July 1991,
No. 1
|
|
|
|
Agriculture and
Rural Development in the Asia-Pacific Region:
Present Scenario and Future Outlook
By
AZM Obaidullah
Khan
Abstract:
The paper very succinctly describes the
positive aspects of agricultural development
in the Asia-Pacific region, urges not to be
complacent with the better performance
achieved in the 1980s, particularly with
respect to record production of cereal
harvest, high production of livestock and
building of a reasonably good food stocks, and
finally proposes a set of actions for
maintaining the prosperity in the 1990s and
distributions of its benefit to the poor and
the disadvantaged.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
South Asian: Those
who are Left Behind-Issues and Perspectives
By
Nurul Islam
Abstract:
South-Asia contains 46.4 percent of the poor
of the developing world and the large majority
of them live in rural areas. The rural poor
are predominantly small and landless farmers,
the extreme poor amongst often them do mot
have access to food providing minimum
nutritional requirements. The mainstream
thinking, regarding appropriate development
strategy for alleviating poverty in these
areas, seems to be veering around to the
position that both economic growth and
increasing social expenditures to deal
directly with certain aspects of poverty are
needed. This present paper concerns not so
much with reducing inequality as with
alleviating poverty. The paper with this end
in view examines the income distribution in
South-Asian countries. It suggests three
inter-related sets of measures to alleviate
poverty in South Asia: (1) necessity to
stimulate the economic growth and at the same
time to ensure that the poor participate in
the benefits from the process of growth; (2)
necessity to expand the social expenditure of
the government on the broad-based improvement
of the health, education, sanitation and
nutrition of the entire-population; and (3)
necessity to ensure direct measures either to
transfer income or food (the most basic of the
minimum human needs) or to undertake
employment programmes, designed for the very
poor to provide them access to minimum income.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Gender and Rural
Poverty in Asia: Implications for Agricultural
Project Design and Implementation
By
Constantina
Safilios-Rothschild
Abstract:
In Asia, gender and rural poverty are
inter-linked in different ways. Gender appears
to be a principal criterion for the allocation
of scarce resources in communities and
households. The effects of intra-household and
societal gender inequities leading to women’s
lesser access to food, health care, education
and skills for productive employment are
significant with regard to poverty creation
and its perpetuation. Gender inequities are
also exhibited in the process of development
thinking.
In Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, the trends
in respect of continuing intra-household
gender inequities are reflected in the
allocation of scarce resources. Women are less
endowed in respect productive assets that
could enhance the returns to their labour.
Women constitute the central agents to the
success of poverty alleviation efforts since
their income meets the basic domestic needs.
There is a lack of data regarding women’s
contribution in agriculture. The government
and donor organizations are not mainstreaming
women in agricultural and other rural
development programme. In most countries,
women farmers are bypassed by agricultural
extension.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Poverty and Gender
Issues
By
Alexandra Stephens
Abstract:
Rural women have often been the victims of
development processes and outcomes, as evident
from the increasing duration of their
work-day, the widening gap between male and
female incomes and gradual trend towards their
greater responsibility in the management of
household affairs. In Asia and the South
Pacific, they hardly get recognition as
farmers or are paid as such, although half of
their working hours is involved in food
production. Their health is affected by
working longer than men. Lack of medical care,
food and social services results in higher
mortality rates for women.
Women become the principal victims to
environmental degradation. Women farmers
seldom get the opportunity of farm management
training. In South Asia, schooling for girls
is very limited. They are highly constrained
in upward mobility due to their low education
and access to information. Hence, their
contribution in decision-making is vitally
hampered.
Women get very negligible access to the
economic means, when compared to men. Their
participation in rural organization is poor.
In the developing world, women farmers are
almost outside the ambit of high-tech
agricultural scenario.
A women farmer is, generally, in darkness
about land-use planning. Women are not
adequately involved in the recent efforts
towards post-harvest loss reduction at the
farm and village levels. The concepts of food
standards and quality control are beyond the
reach of rural women.
FAO’s Action Plan centres round four spheres
of life, namely, civil status, economic,
social and decision-making. Each sphere
contains its individual strategy for enhancing
women’s status at each level of the society.
The author concludes that women-themselves
should rise to the occasion and take necessary
steps to redress the problem of gender
imbalance.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Food Policy and Rural Poverty Alleviation in
India
By
R. Thamarajakshi
Abstract:
Food policies determine the ‘exchange
entitlement mappings’ of rural labour, the
most deprived categories of the population,
and thus the state of nutrition and poverty in
an economy. The effectiveness of food policies
can be traced through the nature of their
implications for the rural labour market. This
paper attempts to examine the effect of food
policies in India on the rural poor with
special reference to agricultural labour in
the post-seventy period when technological
change got established in two important
cereals viz., wheat and paddy. India has a
long experience of Government intervention in
foodgrain market and has been supporting
farmers and providing food security to the
poor. She has also been successfully
implementing wage employment programmes for
rural labour besides income generation
programmes for the poor. It is observed that
totality of factors, such as the introduction
of high yielding varieties, expansion of
irrigation, investments in infrastructure,
delivery of credit and critical inputs on easy
terms and a good extension service, along with
a supportive price policy have made possible a
sustained growth in the production and
productivity of agriculture in general and of
wheat and paddy in particular with
consequential decline in cereal barter terms
of trade in the last two decades. Growth in
agricultural production has been accompanied
by growth in employment in agriculture
although employment elasticity in that sector
has been less than unity and is declining.
Further, the rural employment programmes of
the Government have not only been generating
substantial quantum of additional employment
but also improving the bargaining power of the
rural labour. As a result, real wages have
risen, The Public Food Distribution System has
been making special efforts to cover remote
and for-flung areas and distributing
foodgrains to tribal population and the target
groups of rural wage employment programmes at
subsidised rates Cereal prices have been
moderately stable. The dally status
unemployment rate in rural areas has shown a
decline in this period. Government’s
agricultural production and price policies,
rural employment policies, public distribution
policies and most importantly the overall
growth of the economy have all combined to
bring down rural poverty in a significant
measure.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Monitoring and
Evaluation Mechanism of Agrarian Reform and
Rural Development in Selected Asian Countries
By
Durga Prasad
Paudyal
Abstract:
Agrarian Reform and Rural Development
programmes play a key role in the countries of
Asia-Pacific region. The present sectoral
approach to assess the impact of these
programmes, give inadequate and often partial
pictures, because a number of
ministries/departments and their field level
agencies are involved in the implementation.
Therefore, there is a need to design a
comprehensive M&E mechanism at the national
level with proper linkages with the concerned
agencies at national, sub-national and project
levels. This article explains the existing M&E
mechanism of four Asian countries and argues
that the M&E mechanism development by CIRDAP,
may generate a better data-base.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Asia- Pacific
Journal of Rural Development ( APJORD)
Vol.II, July 1992,
No. 1
|
|
|
|
How Poor are Women
in Rural India?
By
A.K.Rajuladevi
Abstract:
Women constitute and increasing percentage of
the poor and households headed by women suffer
severe deprivation, and lack access to
resources necessary to improve their lot. The
process of proletarianisation and
pauperization, caste structure etc, play
important roles in determining female
participation in work; female work
participation rate is highest not only amongst
the poorest households but also among the
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
This paper, through review of relevant
literature shows how poverty focused
strategies mostly provide channels through
which new ties of dependence and exploitation
are established. It discusses further, that as
the economic status of poor women’s households
decreases, they combine domestic work with
wage work. It analyses those regional factors
which act as powerful determinants o rural
household strategies for the deployment of
female labour other than caste and household
economic status. This paper also examines
whether the increase in rural women’s labour
force participation is a sign of deepening
poverty which has forced them into the labour
market for survival or an indication of new
economic opportunities which are forcing
households to move against the cultural milieu
and send them out to work. Finally, the paper
focuses on gender based inequalities in access
to employment opportunities and explores the
intra-household gender discriminatory
practices in the distribution of food, health
care and education within poor households.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Participatory
Planning for Rural Development and Disaster
Management in Bangladesh
By
Hiroyuki Nishimura
Abstract:
Based on empirical studies conducted in
several villages in Bangladesh, the paper
attempts to identify the types of disasters
that occurred in the past and the effects of
such disasters, especially floods on
agricultural activities, It them goes on to
examine how disaster management could be
incorporated into rural planning focusing on
the need to adopt a participatory approach to
make such planning effective.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Managing
Development Through Institution Building
By
Salehuddin Ahmed
Abstract:
Impact of various efforts for improving the
socio-economic conditions of the poor in the
developing countries can be maximized through
proper management and implementation of
development programmes/projects. Effective
project management and implementation are also
crucial for sustainable development.
Institutions, which encompass entities at the
local level, community level, regional level,
national level and in parastatals, project
management units and so on are integral parts
of project management and implementation.
However, despite strong statements about the
essential role of institutional development,
and the realization of its potential
contribution to development efforts, the issue
of institutional development has received
relatively little attention by policy makers,
planners and implementators of programme.
This paper presents some issues on
institutional development which are currently
being focused on. In the context of developing
countries, institutional development should
not be looked at merely from a technical point
of view and should not be taken merely with a
distinct project entity. An interdisciplinary
approach to institutional development, not a
partial and iterative approach, is required
for efficient management of development
programmes/projects.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Mining
Resettlement and rural Development in Malaysia
By
Hassan Naziri
Khalid
Abstract:
This article focuses on the formation of
mining resettlements in tin-rich Kinta Valley
Malaysia, comparing this type of resettlement
with other types of resettlement schemes under
the rural development programmes in that
country. Mining resettlements are set up as
compensation from mining companies to
villagers whose lands are acquired for mining
of tin. As these mining resettlements are
under taken by private ventures, they are set
up in an adhoc manner with little
consideration for humanitarian needs, in
contrast to the government sponsored
resettlement schemes. Mining resettlement
could be improved by coordinating the efforts
of the mining companies and government
agencies carrying out rural development
programmes.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Farmers’ Use of
Communication Media in Adopting Agricultural
Technologies-a farm level study in Bangladesh
By
M.A.Kashem, A.
Halim and M. Qulfikar Rahman
Abstract:
The present study was designed to analyze the
relative contribution of various communication
media in the transfer of modern agricultural
technologies to farmer. Data were collected
from a sample of 150 farmers from two villages
under Sadar upazila of Mymensingh district
from 23 April to 25 May 1991. A weighed score
was used in order to compute the relative use
of different communication media. The
frequently used media were Block Supervisors,
neighbour, veterinary hospital, on-farm trial,
radio etc. in adopting different agricultural
technologies. However, individual contact
media were also used. Agricultural knowledge,
competence as farmer and age were
significantly related to the adoption of rice
technologies; innovativeness and behaviour
intent were significantly related to livestock
production; behaviour intent was significantly
related to fish culture; and agricultural
knowledge, competence as farmer and age were
significantly related to overall agricultural
technology adoption.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Asia- Pacific
Journal of Rural Development ( APJORD)
Vol.II, December
1992, No. 2
|
|
|
|
Can and Should
Social Science Disaster Research Knowledge and
Findings from Developed Societies be Applied
in Developing Societies?
By
E.L.Quarantelli
Abstract:
The paper considers the extent to which social
science research findings about disasters
primarily derived from developed countries can
and should be applied in developing societies.
It is first noted that the conceptual
distinction made between developed and
developing social systems may lead to an
underestimation of the existing capabilities
for preparing for and responding to disasters
in developing nations. The general differences
between organizational structures in developed
and developing societies are then noted
because organizations everywhere are the prime
actors in disaster preparedness and response.
However, most of the paper discusses six major
observations with respect to the extent to
which empirically based research findings
about the behaviour of organizations in highly
urbanized and industrialized societies can be
extrapolated to or applied in developing
social systems. The paper concludes that it is
not a matter of either/or, and that there are
certain social features in developing
societies which might lessen the necessity of
importing disaster social technology from
developed countries.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Community-Based
Resource Management as a Strategy for
Sustainable Development
By
Francisco P.
Fellizar, JR
Abstract:
Community-Based Resource Management (CBRM), a
strategy aimed at achieving sustainable
development, has been conceived as a process
by which the people are given the opportunity
and/or responsibility to manage and utilize
resources with a concern for future needs.
CBRM is practiced in many countries including
the Philippines. Through a presentation of
CBRM undertakings in the Philippines, the
paper attempts to identify the features of
CBRM, focusing on the experience of such
projects. The paper concludes by identifying
the elements of CBMB and factors critical to
its adoption and implementation.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Subsistence
farming in Asia: Income and Resource
Allocation
By
Salehuddin Ahmed
and Shafiqur Rahman
Abstract:
Most of the households in the rural area of
the Asia-Pacific region operate at a
subsistence level. In as much as the basic
decision making unit in the rural sectors of
these countries is the household, an
understanding of its resource and income
allocation pattern is a necessary prerequisite
for the formulation of policies and strategies
of rural development. The policies and
programmes of agricultural development pursued
so far not have been directed towards the
receiving and delivery mechanisms of the
agricultural sector as well as the small and
marginal farmers. Empirical evidence has
indicated that the subsistence farmers have
derived less benefits from agricultural
development programmes compared to the medium
and the large farmers. The study of rural
subsistence farm households therefore becomes
necessary to ensure that government programmes
for agricultural transformation, including
programmes for the creation of non-farm
employment are based on empirical evidence.
This has been attempted in this paper through
the analysis of income and expenditure
behaviour of farm households and a discussion
of the allocative efficiency of production
inputs.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Asia- Pacific
Journal of Rural Development ( APJORD)
Vol.III, July
1993, No. 1
|
|
|
|
Development of
Rural Industries and Transformation of China’s
Rural Economy
By
Momtaz Uddin Ahmed
Abstract:
The paper examines the contributions of rural
industries in the process of modernizing
transformation of the Chinese rural economy.
Rural industries in China experienced
phenomenal growth, ranging between 20-25
percent in the post-reform period and played a
crucially important role in absorbing surplus
rural labour, raising employment and income
status of rural households and in facilitating
the development of a modern industrial base in
rural townships. The economic dynamism
displayed by rural industries in China has
been a consequence of the encouragement
provided by the government to the development
of market economy and private enterprise
systems in the post-reform years. The Chinese
experience of rural industrial development
seems instructive for the agriculture
dominated developing Asian countries which are
grappling with problems of surplus labour
absorption, raising income and living
standards of the rural poor, and keeping
rural-urban migration within reasonable
limits.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
A Framework for
Analysis of Macro-Micro Transmission
Mechanisms in Bangladesh: some preliminary
considerations
By
Mustafa K. Mujeri,
Quazi Shahabuddin, Salehuddin Ahmed
Abstract:
Since independence, Bangladesh has been
subjected to policy interventions and shocks
that profoundly influenced its macro-economy
and future growth prospects. During recent
years, the pursuit of structural adjustments
(SA) as an integral component of
macro-economic policy has raised a number of
issues relating particularly to consideration
of equity and alleviation of poverty. The
assessment and analysis of the impact of SA on
poverty requires the establishment of links
between such policies and the welfare of
households involving analytical framework of
macro-micro transmission mechanisms. This
article examines the major conduits of
macro-economic transmissions in Bangladesh
and presents the preliminary outline of a
general equilibrium model to analyze the
issues and indicates the data and information
requirements for its empirical implementation.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Questions of
Gender in Development Planning: Women’s
Experiences in a New Settlement of the
Mahaweli Project in Sri Lanka
By
Joke Schrijvers
Abstract:
Women settlers in a new settlement of the
prestigious Mahaweli River Development Scheme
in Sri Lanka felt that they were living “like
wild animals in a jungle.” Deprived of the
support of their relatives and without direct
access to the means of production, they became
dependent upon their husbands. Violence in the
scheme increased considerably. Yet these
women should not be seen as helpless victims
of a development planning based on biased
gender conceptions. The thoughts and actions
of female settlers, however restricted and
invisible from the outside, to some degree
co-determined the actual outcome of the
planning. What was their impact, and what were
the limitations of their activities behind the
screens? How to support women as active
participants in their own right, from the very
start of a development intervention? In order
to answer such questions new research
methodologies are needed, which combine
gender-awareness with a bottom-up, dynamic,
actor-oriented perspective.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Asia- Pacific
Journal of Rural Development ( APJORD)
Vol. III, December
1993, No. 2
|
|
|
|
People’s
Participation: Some Methods for Measuring
Intensities Across the Development sectors
By
Lokendra Prasad
Poudyal, Karl E. Weber
Abstract:
Participation encompasses assorted features of
work. Some of these ate intensive, while
others are moderate or peripheral in terms of
their conduciveness to the achievement of set
goals. They pertain to specific stages of the
planning process, namely, decision making,
implementation benefit sharing, or evaluation.
These distinct features of work influence
participation differently. Some works are
induced by family pressure, while others are
backed by community needs. Works also differ
according to their occurrence; some relate to
singular activities, while others are related
to recurrent activities. Examining the
intensity of participation under these diverse
conditions is methodically difficult. As great
as the difficulties are, as strong is the
necessity of measuring intensity as it could
provide a basis for planning participatory
development.
This paper discusses a few methods of
measuring participation. These methods are
empirically appraised to see their
applicability across different sectors of
development. The results obtained from such
appraisal are verified with qualitative
conditions that prevailed at the field. Those
verifications revealed that for participation
to become more operational, specific
approaches commensurate with the nature of
work are required. In this vein, adoption of a
sectoral approach to participation appears
sensible.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Integrated Rural
Development-Problems in Methodology and
Institutional Environment
By
Dirk Van
Dusseldorp
Abstract:
The concept of Integrated Rural Development (IRD)
has remained on the stage of development
fashions for a long period of time. Its
success is difficult to measure due to the
ambiguous way in which IRD is defined, the
numerous and often conflicting objectives it
has to realize and the lack of conceptual
clarity in its preparation and implementation.
The main purpose of this paper is to highlight
some of the basic problems encountered in IRD
and draw some lessons from past experiences.
The paper begins with an overview of the
historical background of IRD. Then the
intellectual basis on which every planned
development effort has to be based, namely the
dynamic and integrated analysis of the
situation that has to be changed purposefully
and directionally is discussed. As this
analysis has to give an insight into the
causalities (the processes) that led to the
present situ | | | |