Abstract
Developing countries face the challenge of improving living standards of rural people for their sustainable livelihoods. Majority of developing nations are agrarian economies characterized by low productivity operating on smallholdings with inadequate and poor infrastructure. There are several interventions for development and one such potential instrument is the “application of science and technology in rural areas (ASTRA)” which intends to transform rural areas towards development for sustainable and profitable livelihood. It is evident that science and technology has to be adopted to increase efficiency in production, productivity and marketing phases of rural sector. What obstructs science and technology to transform rural areas? The authors of the paper have analyzed taking Ethiopian context to derive the status and other relevant issues on ASTRA in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world struggling to transform its rural areas. The country has a well-articulated science and technology policy however; much progress has not been witnessed due to the slow social and economic development process. In generic sense the paper also focuses on the different aspects of the application of science and technology in rural areas. A base document for development workers on ASTRA was the felt need for this publication. This paper will be a pedestal for professionals working on teaching, research and extension on different aspects of ASTRA. Key words: Application of science and technology in rural areas (ASTRA), economic development, Ethiopia.
Highlights
There is a need for taking advantage of the recent developments in science and technology in rural areas which is the need of the hour to increase the socioeconomic status of the rural population
Many developing countries face the challenge of increasing incomes of rural sector through different approaches and to minimse the gap between the urban and rural
The question before us is that what hinders science and technology to be applied in rural sectors - rural areas
Summary
There is a need for taking advantage of the recent developments in science and technology in rural areas which is the need of the hour to increase the socioeconomic status of the rural population. A Chinese promoter of ASTRA explains that governments have to work out the strategy of modernizing traditional agriculture under the principles of “high quality, high yield, high efficiency, ecofriendliness and safety” and building a new socialist countryside according to the overall standards of “growing production, relative prosperity, high ethical standards, clean and orderly villages and democratic management” In this context, the rural science and technology endeavor should focus on agricultural production, such as increase of food grain output, but more on promoting urbanization, protecting rural ecosystem, improving farmers’ living conditions and building a long term mechanism for raising farmers’. Achieving the poverty and hunger goals in Ethiopia it requires a focus on rural development including environmental conservation and rehabilitation, increasing agricultural productivity; and, improving income generation opportunities. Are some examples of appropriate technologies from different fields using different resources, ranging from individual human to community needs
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