Geographic Information System for Monitoring Agricultural and Rural Development: A Human Rights-Based Approach to Post-War Reconstruction in Ukraine

Land use planning is the systematic assessment of land potential, alternatives for land use, and economic and social conditions in order to select and adopt the best land use options to achieve accelerated growth through judicious management of land and water resources. Inappropriate land management and land use practices and climatic aberrations like droughts and floods lead to degradation of soil, water, and vegetative cover, which affects the quality of land resources, land use patterns, and ecosystem functions. There is a felt need to develop detailed database on extent and nature of land resources, their potentials, and limitations for land resource-based scientific sustainable agricultural land use planning. Advance geospatial tools like remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS), and global positioning system (GPS) could be effectively used in land resource mapping and agricultural land use planning. The integration of spatial data and their combined analysis could be performed through GIS and simple database query systems to complex analysis and decision support systems for effective land resource management. The scope and potential applications of geospatial technologies in inventory, mapping and management of land resources, agricultural resources surveys, agroecological zonation, land degradation mapping and assessment, soil moisture estimation, soil fertility mapping and assessment, crop acreage estimation, crop yield forecasting, water resources planning and management, development of land resource information system, development of decision support systems, land evaluation, crop suitability evaluation, precision agriculture, characterization of land management units, development of land use options, and future perspectives for sustainable land use planning were briefly discussed in the chapter.

This article examines the concept of "rural territories" and their role in the economic development of Ukraine. It discusses the definition of rural territories, their characteristics, and significance. The analysis focuses on the role of investments in the development of rural territories, including agriculture, food security, local development, migration reduction, and environmental benefits. Utilizing data from the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, an analysis of investment inflows into agricultural and rural development is conducted. Based on the distribution of investments in various sectors of agriculture, an effective strategy is established to attract investments and stimulate the development of rural territories. The conclusions drawn from the analysis reaffirm the importance of attracting investments to achieve sustainable rural development and ensure economic growth. Furthermore, the article includes tables that provide additional information on the distribution of investments in different agricultural sectors and their impact on the socio-economic development of rural territories. These tables reinforce the obtained results and contribute to a better understanding of the researched topic. Overall, the article emphasizes the significance of investing in rural territories to stimulate economic growth, ensure food security, and foster sustainable development. The research also highlights an effective strategy for attracting investments in the development of rural territories based on an analysis of contributions to various agricultural sectors. Moreover, the article explores the challenges and opportunities faced by rural territories in Ukraine, highlighting the need for targeted investment in infrastructure, education, and technology to enhance their productivity and competitiveness. By examining the linkages between rural development and overall economic growth, the study underscores the potential of rural territories to serve as engines of economic transformation and regional development. The findings presented in this article contribute to the existing body of knowledge on rural development strategies and provide valuable insights for policymakers, investors, and stakeholders interested in promoting sustainable and inclusive economic development in Ukraine's rural areas.

The main purpose of the study is to clarify the relationship between Rural and Agricultural Development and Human Resource Development in Russian Federation since 2000s. In order to achieve our purpose, the methodologies of Data Envelopment Analysis, Stochastic Frontier Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling are used to verify our hypotheses in the paper. Analytical results from the research clarified that agricultural development in Russia has made a significant progress since 2000s, it has improved the nation’s food security and rural development, especially since 2010, a positive relationship between agricultural development and human resource development has increased. However, rural and agricultural development in Russia has been uneven across regions; some regions such as Siberian Federal District has left behind the development. It also clarified that structural changes in the agricultural sector have impacts not only on agriculture but also on rural development. Although, agricultural enterprises remain important role in the agricultural performance among others, and its impact on human capital couldn’t be clarified. Policy implications drawn from the research both for the central and regional governments indicated that rural and agricultural development in Russia should pay more attention to Human Resource Development and Rural Development when considering food security in a long-term perspective. Especially the impact of structural changes in agriculture sector on the human capital in rural areas needs careful analysis.

To achieve the goals of balanced development of the agricultural sector to ensure food security, there is a need to improve management processes in the sphere of agricultural land use. The aim of the article is to provide a rationale for the ecological-economic management of land resources based on agricultural zoning to improve the efficiency of agricultural enterprises. Research gaps include the need for detailed studies on localized ecological impacts and long-term outcomes of AZ-based land redistribution on soil health and agricultural productivity. Based on the analysis of documents (sources) and an expert survey, this study proposes a framework for ecological-economic management of agricultural land resources in Kazakhstan through agricultural zoning (AZ), aiming to optimize the allocation of grasslands, pastures, arable land, and water resources. Based on document analysis and expert surveys, an optimal land ratio of approximately 30% meadows/pastures, 20% arable land, and 20% water is recommended, aligned with practices in Western Europe and North America. The study suggests measures for sustainable land use, including transferring degraded lands to pasture, preferential taxation for ecologically clean production, and financial incentives for restoring and conserving land. These strategies aim to increase agricultural productivity, meet international quality standards, and support sustainable food security through enhanced land use planning and policy. Scientific novelty of the obtained results relates to the improvement of ecological-economic management of land resources at agricultural enterprises in the conditions of zoning, considering the potential of the agricultural zones of Kazakhstan.

A human rights-based approach (HRBA) is a framework which integrates human rights standards and principles into development processes. It has been promoted since the late 1990s by the United Nations (UN), some bilateral aid agencies and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as an alternative discourse to needs-based and economy-centred discourses. The potential values and problems of a HRBA have largely been debated theoretically, with little attention to how it is understood and implemented in practice. With regard to human rights-based practices in development NGOs, the literature views local and organisational contexts as a constraint and local practitioners as lacking the knowledge and skills needed to implement a HRBA. This suggests a HRBA is viewed as a normative discourse, which should be applied by local practitioners as predetermined. Questioning this view, the thesis pays attention to changes in a HRBA influenced by the contexts and the roles of development practitioners. This research explores the particular understanding and practicing of a HRBA in ActionAid Bangladesh (AAB). AAB was selected because it belongs to the federation of ActionAid international (AAI) which adopted a HRBA in 1998, and because it operates in a country characterised as challenging due to its hostility to human rights advocacy. The research has drawn on interviews with 15 AAB staff and 13 staff of its local partner organisations. The interviews were conducted in Bangladesh in 2012. The information obtained was supplemented by documents produced by AAI and AAB. The interview transcriptions and the documents were thematically analysed. The findings of this research indicate that AAB has developed its own way of understanding and practicing a HRBA attuned to its contexts. For example, AAB’s differentiation between a HRBA and a rights-based approach (RBA) is related to the laws of Bangladesh. Combining a HRBA with a needs-based approach (NBA) is justified by AAI’s coinage of human rights and basic needs as ‘basic rights’ and by the fact that the needs of Bangladeshi residents are largely left unmet. AAB shapes its own HRBA influenced by the context of both AAI and Bangladesh This research suggests AAB’s HRBA is the product of contextualisation of a HRBA. In this thesis, the term ‘contextualisation’ means the process of shaping the HRBA to fit organisational and national contexts. This thesis argues that NGO practitioners play an important role in contextualising a HRBA, encouraged or moderated by their contexts. The research participants displayed their agency in challenging and recreating a HRBA. Exploration of the contextualisation process reveals that the exercise of agency requires some understanding of and commitment to a HRBA, which is conceptualised as ‘internalisation’ in this thesis. Noting the varied degrees of internalisation, this research provides a plausible explanation in terms of two factors: the extent of their exposure to a discourse and their involvement in field practices. Those who strongly internalised a HRBA tend to contribute toward shaping a HRBA to be relevant and applicable to their contexts. The discussion draws attention to context-related knowledge, which enables contextualisation of a HRBA. This research shows that individual workers’ knowledge about contexts is mostly implicit and informally transferred to colleagues. Organisational support is needed for amplification and legitimisation of individuals’ contextualised knowledge. Heightened understanding of the contextualisation process can contribute to both new knowledge and development practice. Building on theories about discourse and agency, the thesis adds knowledge of internalisation and contextualisation of a discourse. As a result of examination of contextual influences and the agency of local practitioners, it suggests a HRBA is an interactive process rather than a predetermined normative framework; and development practitioners are proactive discourse creators rather than passive discourse users. This study also provides development NGOs with practical insights into how to incorporate contextual consideration into a HRBA for relevant and appropriate practices. It emphasises the importance of organisational supports for the generation and circulation of context-related knowledge. In doing so, this thesis contributes to the field of development practices involving human rights principles and NGOs.

Presently, the agricultural sector has great role in supporting and accelerating economic development in the developing countries. Development of agriculture is always related to rural development since it is an integral part to rural economic development. Therefore, agricultural and rural development should be designed to increase the productivity of land, crops, and human resources in order to improve the welfare of rural village. The implementation of agricultural and rural development should be done by involving the rural institutions. Several problems have still been found in the agricultural and rural development that should be properly managed by considering various aspects. In Bali Province, the implementation of agricultural and rural development can be conducted to develop tourism, industry, environment, and other economic activities. The agro - tourism, agro - industry, integrated farming system (system of crops and livestock) and village - owned enterprises could be developed as a response of the rural development.

Land resources is an important non-renewable resource, using land resources treasuring and rational is the basic policy of our country, so monitoring the land resources utilization real-time, dynamic and managing them effective are the important routines for the land management departments. With the deep of land resources management, relying on the manual operation solely and drawing management model can not meet the needs of modernization. Therefore, the author proposes to use GIS technology to manage land resources effectively. This paper discusses the method of establishing land resources management information system, such as under the C/S mode, taking MapInfo and MapX component as the developing platform, Visual Basic6.0 as the developing language, the author also designs the system functions and database in detail, so as to achieve the integrated management of graphics and files about land resources. With the rapid development of China's economic and the deep research of land resources management and reclamation, the land management departments' business has been expanding. Thus, relying on manual operation and drawing management mode solely can not meet the needs of modernization, and then the computer management mode emerges. Land resources management at county as the most basic and forward part of the country's land management system, and how to play its role fully is very important for the policies implementation of land resource management comprehensive. Some ones think that the land resources management agencies are the cornerstone for the country's land resources management, they play a fundamental role in the management of land resources. The level of its efficiency is related to the personal interests directly, and also related to the implement and carrying out of the land resources management laws, regulations and policies. Therefore, it is necessary to take full advantage of modern information technology for management to improve their work efficiency. Geographic information system as an advanced tool has been successfully applied to many area, therefore, establishment land resources management information system based on GIS technology to manage the massive geographic data will greatly improve the work efficiency of the relevant departments.

In the context of sustainable development, climate change, and post-war recovery, this study addresses the challenges of land management for reclaimed (ameliorated) lands in Ukraine. It is substantiated that land reclamation, aligned with the concept of sustainable development, integrates economic, social, and environmental aspects over the long term for the benefit of current and future generations in agricultural land use. Effective approaches to integrated water and land resource management are examined, with an emphasis on employing modern land-monitoring technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing. Open data on the status of reclaimed lands in Ukraine, including irrigation and drainage infrastructure, as well as their registration in accordance with existing legislation, are systematized. Improvements in legal norms on land management for reclaimed lands are proposed, taking into account the need to adapt reclamation systems to climate change. The importance of specialized land management projects is highlighted, as they account for the specific characteristics of reclaimed lands. Such projects will foster the practical implementation of integrated land and water resource management, ensuring land restoration and productivity gains, and contributing to the socio-economic and environmental objectives of agricultural land use. Particular attention is given to integrated land and water resource management aimed at restoring reclaimed areas in the post-war period by engaging local communities, investors, and government agencies. Implementing the proposed measures, aimed at climate change adaptation and mitigating its adverse effects, will also help combat land degradation and desertification, thereby expanding the acreage of productive agricultural land.

The business process model of information management is also optimized, while helping the relevant departments using the system to improve their work efficiency. After research and analysis, this paper shows that the land resource information management system can be divided into four functional modules, which are basic land resource information management, land resource land use approval management, official document information management, and office business management, and these modules can effectively complete the work related to land resource management. The full and reasonable use and protection of land resources can ensure the implementation of sustainable development policies, and the development of land resource management is the basic requirement of national modernization and the inevitable trend in the country, and because land resource management covers a large amount of information involving a wide range of information, including information within the scope of work, it is very necessary to ensure the effectiveness and accuracy of land resources and information. The information system can effectively improve the efficiency and accuracy of land resources and information. Information system can effectively improve the development, management, research, and use of land resources; electronic government system can help land resources to obtain accurate analysis and research and detailed access to the ability to understand the status of resources, in the daily changing data information dynamic understanding of the development of information changes, and grasp the latest trends in land resources, the trend of analysis, and monitoring of market resources, to provide customers with reliable decision support. It is a powerful background data guarantee for customers to provide reliable decision support.

Integrating Human Rights in EU Development Cooperation Policy: Achievements and Challenges

Some aspects of the use of community resources were studied. It was determined that it is impractical to be limited exclusively to financial or land resources, it is necessary to cover the entire resource complex of the community within the framework of the study. It was established that community resources require identification, description, analysis, classification, evaluation and planning of their rational use. Community resources are classified with a basic division into land, natural and other community resources. The need to develop a Program for the rational use and protection of land, natural and other community resources as an effective tool for identification, descriptions, analysis, classification, evaluation and use planning of community resources is substantiated. It was established that as a result of the assessment of the community's resources, it is possible to adjust the measures provided by the territorial community's development strategy, because the management of land-resource (land-property) complexes at any level has a strategic nature and must be tied to the territorial community's development strategy. It was found that an effective means to achieve this is the use of an automated system of accounting and management of land-resource (land-property) complexes of territorial communities, the creation of which should take into account the peculiarities and needs of communities. It is noted that in the framework of the development of an inclusive economy, it is necessary to involve the residents of the community in public goods, in particular, in the use of resources and their management, because the effective use of resources is achieved in the cooperation of local residents and local self-government bodies, and one of the tools is the involvement of residents in the use of resources or their management , is conducting surveys of community residents with the aim of forming strategic goals and measures for community development.

Rural development management in Nepal has been criticized for more than a decade now on the grounds of the country's weak aid‐absorbing capacity, administrative slowness and poor project management. Though several reforms of the rural development planning and management systems have been staged, at present coordination in integrated rural development projects remains weak. The paper reports on the empirical findings of research on mechanisms, procedures, organizational arrangements and problems of coordination. Although the country's environment, and its socioeconomic and cultural constraints, may negatively influence smooth operations in implementing integrated programmes, several policy considerations for improvement may be formulated. Among these, organizational reform with decentralization and reduction of the number of offices involved, strengthening the resource management system, especially budget release and personnel motivation, and a more integrated method of policy, programme and project formulation are the issues considered most important by the government officers themselves. Part II will appear in vol. 7, no. 3 of this journal, and examines the implementation and management of rural development in the Karnali and Bheri districts of the Mid‐Western Development Region of Nepal.

This article introduces the Framework for Integrating Rights and Equality (FIRE): a transdisciplinary framework that builds synergies between human rights-based (HRBA) and gender equality approaches to disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA). It describes how FIRE has been developed, tested and refined over the course of a five-year regional learning and technical cooperation programme in Asia. Recognising that both HRBA and gender equality approaches have informed development initiatives for decades, this article identifies limitations addressed by FIRE. Acknowledging the critical role of civil society in advocating for change on behalf of disadvantaged groups, we highlight the importance of a framework that supports state actors to practically integrate human rights and gender equality into operations at national and sub-national levels. Reflecting a consolidation of international standards and guidelines and a systematic integration of gender equality perspectives with an emphasis on practical utility, we argue that FIRE can be used at multiple levels of governance by state as well as non-state actors for enhancing DRR, CCA and sustainable development outcomes.

This study analyzes the need for the human rights-based approach (HRBA) to strengthen the efficiency and sustainability of KOICA’s operations in international development cooperation. It reviews KOICA’s human rights policies and explores the limits of need-based development. Policy inputs are provided by studying HRBA policies of UN and donor agencies. The study recommends an implementation framework for HRBA programming as the first step toward establishing KOICA’s human rights based development cooperation model. The framework is built around the triple pillar of root-cause analysis, rights-holders / duty-bearers analysis, and the application of PANEL principle. A practical example for practitioners is provided by applying the HRBA framework to the KOICA medium term strategy for education and health. Difference between previous KOICA projects with human rights elements and HRBA projects might look minimal. However, closer examination reveals the essential and fundamental difference of human rights-based approach as follows 1) HRBA clearly identifies rights and responsibilities of stakeholders by differentiating rights-holders from duty-bearers 2) HRBA puts human rights and empowerment of rights-holders in the center of development. 3) HRBA promotes the principles of participation, accountability, non-discrimination, empowerment, and linkage to human rights standards across all stages of a development programme.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have become the international community's shared framework for development. Since the Goals focus on national averages and do not refer explicitly to human rights, a long debate has ensued since the adoption of the MDGs in 2001 on whether the Goals are consistent with the progressive realisation of human rights. This paper reviews the history of the MDGs and outlines how developing countries can achieve the Goals. It shows that the MDGs are consistent with Human Rights Based Approaches. Yet, efforts aimed at integrating Human Rights Based Approaches into strategies to achieve the MDGs have primarily focused on normative questions. Too little progress has been made in applying Human Rights Based approached to inform the day-to-day decisions that development practitioners and Governments need to make. In response, the paper outlines a practical approach for how Human Rights Based Approaches could be systematically integrated into five common stages involved in the design and implementation of national development strategies to achieve the MDGs. The five stages cover: (i) the choice of interventions to meet the MDGs; (ii) establishment of corresponding coverage targets and an explicit monitoring framework; (iii) the programming of public expenditures; (iv) the prioritisation and sequencing of interventions over time; and (v) the design of supporting policy frameworks. For each stage, the paper outlines how Human Rights-Based Approaches can inform the choices and decisions that policymakers need to make.