Rural Poverty Alleviation Research Articles

The impact of high speed railway on government expenditure on poverty alleviation in China —Evidence from Chinese poverty counties

In this paper, we evaluate the role of the high speed railway (HSR) project, one of the largest transportation infrastructure projects in the world, in poverty alleviation in China. This study combines county-level data from the China County Statistical Yearbooks with HSR data from the China Railway Yearbooks. The method of difference-in-differences is applied to examine the HSR connection effect on government expenditure in poverty alleviation across Chinese poverty counties over the period of 2010-2018. The results show that the HSR connection has a significantly positive impact on reducing government expenditure in poverty alleviation. Our results, which are based on alternative measurement of poverty alleviation and possible bias arising from endogeneity issue, are robust. This paper highlights that HSR can help achieve accessibility of rural area and poverty alleviation simultaneously. An understanding of the effect is critical for policymakers to promote intra-regional development, balancing efficiency and regional equality.

Research on the Operating Mechanism of E-Commerce Poverty Alleviation in Agricultural Cooperatives: An Actor Network Theory Perspective.

E-commerce poverty alleviation has become a new wisdom in China’s rural poverty alleviation, but there are a few empirical researches on e-commerce poverty alleviation based on farmer cooperatives. Taking four typical poverty counties in Zhejiang Province as an example, based on the actor network theory (ANT), this paper defines the participants and their obligatory passage point (OPP) from the e-commerce poverty alleviation actor network (EPAAN), combs the roles and interest demands of various stakeholders, and constructs the EPAAN model based on farmer cooperatives according to the translation process. We found that the EPAAN is a heterogeneous network by constantly updating, which consists of human actors with cooperatives as the main body and non-human actors. Moreover, our study illustrates that the formation and operation mechanism of cooperative e-commerce poverty alleviation network alliance under the background of targeted poverty alleviation can be well analyzed with the help of actor network theory. This study contributes to provide a feasible Chinese plan for the cause of poverty eradication all over the world, and provides a great reference value for global poverty governance.

Changing priorities, shifting narratives: Remapping rural livelihoods in Africa's artisanal and small-scale mining sector

This paper presents fresh ideas on why, in sub-Saharan Africa, people choose to engage in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – low-tech, labour-intensive mineral extraction and processing – for lengthy periods. It nuances claims that ASM is largely ‘poverty-driven’ by weighing in more closely on the fates of individuals in the region who turn to the sector for income out of desperation. A closer inspection of the livelihood trajectories of these people reveals that many have managed to overcome challenging work conditions and position themselves to use ASM as a ‘platform for wealth creation’. An analysis of these experiences reveals a more comprehensive picture of ASM's complexities, as well as illuminates further the sector's economic importance in sub-Saharan Africa. A case study of the gold-rich locality of Prestea, one of Ghana's most strategic ASM corridors and where numerous people who initially pursued work in the sector have managed to accumulate income and open their own businesses and/or invest in the community, is used to reinforce these points. A more complete picture of ASM livelihood trajectories would go a long way towards fortifying the case for formalizing and supporting the sector, and, more generally, making it more of a focal point of rural poverty alleviation and development strategy in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Impact of Multidimensional Health Levels on Rural Poverty: Evidence from Rural China.

Poor health and poverty interact and restrict each other. While this relationship is acknowledged, little is known about the extent of its impact. By integrating multisource data, this study used spatial econometric models to quantitatively reveal the relationship between health and rural poverty and explore its intrinsic mechanisms. The results indicated that health-care system input, individual health status, and individual health-seeking behavior have a significantly positive effect on the eradication of rural poverty. The health-care system input is characterized by spatial spillover, significantly contributing to rural poverty alleviation in the region and neighboring regions, as well. However, the effect of health-care system services’ capability was negative. Thus, it is necessary to increase investment in the health-care system and pay attention to both the health status and healthy behaviors of rural residents. Moreover, further effort should be given to the supply-side reform of health services as a breakthrough point.

Infinite Game of Poverty Alleviation (IGPA) and Accumulation of Environmental and Socio-Cultural Capital

Although poverty alleviation has become an infinite game globally since the late 1940s, Sri Lanka has not identified poverty as an issue until recently. The socio-welfare-based economic policies and continuous election-centered poverty alleviation programs push the country into the IGPA, even though the country is accumulated with plentiful natural and socio-cultural resources. Consequently, Sri Lanka struggles with severe economic crises and political chaos, worsening IGPA, which has not been adequately addressed in prevailing academic literature. This study attempts to fill this void by adopting the social-constructivism approach. Nine semi-structured interviews and three focus group discussions were conducted, plus direct observation of the rural landscape of Sri Lanka. Findings indicate IGPA has become an influential determining factor in deciding the potential ruling government, and every government has included IGPA in their political manifesto under different titles. However, the disintegration between rural poverty alleviation and sustainable capitalization led the nation to be retained with IGPA.

Food systems and rural wellbeing: challenges and opportunities

The future wellbeing of billions of rural people is interconnected with transforming food systems for equity, nutrition, environmental sustainability, and resilience. This article tackles three blind spots in the understanding of rural poverty and vulnerability: the narrow focus on extreme poverty and hunger that hides a much wider set of inequalities and vulnerabilities, insufficient recognition of the diversity of rural households, and an inadequate appreciation of the impact of rapid structural changes in markets, the physical environment, and the political economic context. A better understanding of these areas is necessary for imagining a new policy landscape that can align progress on rural poverty alleviation with a wider transformation of food systems. The article provides a framework for assessing the dynamics of rural wellbeing and food systems change. It looks at the viability of small-scale farming and the diversification of livelihood options needed to overcome rural poverty and inequality. The analysis suggests that the future prosperity of rural areas will depend on policy reforms to address market failures in the food system, which currently work against equity, good nutrition and sustainability. Investments will also be needed to enable rural economies to capture greater value from the food system, particularly in the midstream of food distribution, processing and services. The likely future scale and nature of rural poverty and inequality is such that improved social protection and humanitarian relief schemes that support those in crisis or being left behind will still be essential.

Road construction, economic growth, and poverty alleviation in China

AbstractImproving transportation infrastructure has been recognized as a necessary instrument for a region to achieve economic growth and poverty alleviation. A systematic assessment of the impact of China's transportation improvements on economic growth and poverty reduction is insufficient, especially in the context of China's targeted poverty alleviation policies. This study first constructed a theoretical framework of road construction promoting economic growth and poverty alleviation. Then, based on county panel data from 2014 to 2018, the spatial analysis technology was applied to investigate the spatio‐temporal patterns of China's road construction and rural poverty alleviation, and finally, a mediating effect model was used to quantitatively measure the impact of road construction on economic growth and poverty alleviation. Results indicate that China has made remarkable achievements in road construction and poverty reduction over the past five years. Road and railway mileage increased by 14 times and 0.66 times, respectively. Road construction in poor areas was dominated by low‐grade roads and railways. There was a mediating effect between road construction and poverty alleviation, and economic growth was the mediating variable between them. The poverty reduction effects of different road levels varied with poverty levels and across regions. But on both the national and regional scale, the poverty reduction effect of road construction was higher than that of railways. The effect of high‐grade road construction on poverty reduction in poor areas was more obvious than that of low‐grade roads. The poverty reduction effect of the primary road construction was 2–3.5 times that of the tertiary road. The poverty reduction effects of railway construction and road construction followed a gradually increasing gradient from east to west. These results indicate that transportation infrastructure construction is an important way to promote economic growth and poverty alleviation in poor areas. Our findings would provide a scientific basis for transportation infrastructure planning and investment decision‐making in less‐developed countries.

Design for poverty alleviation and craft revitalization in rural China from an actor-network perspective: the case of bamboo-weaving in Shengzhou

Design for poverty alleviation (DPA) is becoming an active promoter and effective practice form of rural social innovation. This study aims to explore the sustainable, collaborative design path of rural poverty alleviation. Based on actor network theory, this study analyzes the poverty alleviation process of rural actor network construction and participatory translation through the perspective of design integration. The case study chooses the traditional Chinese handicraft, Shengzhou bamboo weaving, to discuss the key links and elements of sustainability such as the role, benefits, and interaction of multiple actors. The staged effectiveness and social impact of the design integration are evaluated by questionnaire surveys, in-depth interviews, qualitative and quantitative data collections, a logistic regression model was used to test for significant effects while adjusting for multiple factors simultaneously. The analysis shows that although DPA is difficult to realize the fundamental adjustment of the rights and interests of rural craftsmen, it plays a key role in guiding the development of industrial goals, expected economic and social benefits, brings huge driving force and implementation effect to rural social innovation. The actor network theory solves the problem of separation between the individual and network attributes of DPA among stakeholders, and provides an innovative basis for rural social innovation to choose effective design intervention and mechanisms to balance the rights and interests of various stakeholders.

Spillover Impacts on Education from Employment Guarantees

Abstract Programs that provide lower-skill employment are a popular anti-poverty strategy in developing countries, with India's employment guarantee program (MGNREGA) employing adults in 23 percent of Indian households. MGNREGA has reduced rural poverty, but some have raised concerns that guaranteeing lower-skill (or uncredentialed) employment opportunities may discourage investment in human capital and long-run income growth. Using large-scale administrative data and household survey data, I estimate precise spillover impacts on education that reject substantive declines in children's education from the government's rollout of MGNREGA. Further, I estimate these small negative impacts are inexpensive to counteract, particularly compared with MGNREGA expenditures on rural employment and poverty alleviation.

Analysing performance of the MGNREGA scheme: A study of three Panchayats of Bijnor district (Uttar Pradesh)

By providing 100 days of wage employment, the scheme provides an income supplement to rural poor households. The scheme provides work throughout the year, especially in the agriculture lean season. Various provisions of the MGNREGA scheme bring considerable changes in wage pattern in rural areas. The study investigates the MGNREGA scheme impact on rural employment and poverty alleviation in the Bijnor district, Uttar Pradesh state. This study is predominantly based on the primary source of data collection from the selected respondents by using the Random sampling method. The finding of the study drowns in information from a field survey of 51 households that were actively working in the scheme in the district during 2018-19 and 2019-20. The research study covers aspects like awareness about the scheme, change in expenditure pattern after working under the scheme, the social condition of the respondents in a particular study region. The study also reveals that the annual expenditure of sample households is the same before working in the scheme and after working in the scheme. Only 31% of sample households have annual income above Rs. 40,000 (earn from both the primary source of income and MGNREGA) and annual expenditure were 33%, which is more than the annual income. From the total sample households, 82% of rural households have the government provide toilets (made under SBM).

Goat Husbandry: An Opportunity to Strengthen Rural Economy in Devipatan Region (Trans-Ghaghara) of Uttar Pradesh

Agriculture is the main economic activity in India which mostly practiced in association with livestock husbandry. Goat is one the most important species of livestock which reared by the poor and socio-economically backward section of rural population. Great market demand for livestock product, diversification of agriculture, rising unemployment level, nutritional requirements, lack of capital to purchase the big ruminants and lack of labour to rear the big animal have fuelled the growth of goat rearing in India. Present study has been under taken to understand the distribution of goat population in time and space, their density and share in total livestock and explore the causes of growth of goat husbandry, in the form of milk and meat production, employment and income generation. The role of goat rearing in rural socio economic transformation has been also explored for development of strategy for alleviation of rural poverty and women economic empowerment in the study area. Devipatan region in Eastern Uttar Pradesh has been selected as the study area to conduct the study. The study has revealed that goat has increased by 21.74 percent in the study area. It also revealed that 20.69 percent Hindu and 78.16 percent are Muslims are rearing goat. The caste-wise involvement shows that there are 20.00 percent Schedule caste, 71.92 other backward castes and 7.69 High caste goat farmers. The cost –income analysis showed positive performance with income over total production cost at least Rs.11854.00 per female goat per annum which varies with stock size up to Rs.14000.00 for big stock size (more than 12 female adult goat). Moreover, nutrition intake is also improved through consumption of milk produced and indirectly helps in saving expenditure for purchasing milk from outside. 71.79 percent responded in positive for improvement in nutrition intake. Economic women empowerment through this occupation is also enhanced as believed by 83 percent of respondents.

Study on the development of rural poverty alleviation eco-tourism model based on internet technology

The Computer Internet technology has the advantages of strong gathering ability, wide coverage and so on. By giving full play to the advantages of computer technology, the relatively dispersed rural tourism resources can be effectively gathered together, to promote the vitality and value space of rural tourism in an all-round way, and to provide a new and reasonable way to solve the problem of poverty. This paper analyzes the rural poverty-alleviation eco-tourism model based on Internet technology from the perspectives of value and platform positioning, and discusses its development path in detail.

PARADIGM FOR RURAL POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN NIGERIA: PUTTING THE RURAL PEOPLE AT THE TOP

The alleviation of poverty in Nigeria has rather proven to be an uphill task as poverty remains endemic, particularly amongst the rural population. This paper interrogates the poverty alleviation programmes of the Nigerian government in the current decade with a view to proposing an alternative paradigm for rural poverty alleviation. Through an observationaltheoretical approach, a model of poverty alleviation that is anchored on the perceptions, views and aspirations of the rural people was articulated and presented. The model represents a shift from a conventional top-bottom approach where the “Urban Elites” occupy the top role in the poverty alleviation schemes to put the rural people at the top. It is believed that making rural people major stakeholders in the planning and implementation of poverty alleviation programmes in their domain is key to addressing rural poverty

Factors Contribute to Project Governance Practices: Case Studies in Malaysian Rural Poverty Housing Projects

Poverty alleviation projects are implemented as part of the national development and prosperity agenda. This study aimed to gain an understanding of the factors that contribute to the project governance practices in poverty alleviation efforts for the rural poor in Malaysia, which will lead to better project delivery and the successful outcome of the projects. Multiple case studies were conducted on two public initiative housing assistance projects in rural areas of peninsular Malaysia. It explored how dealing with the rural poor influences public officials in conducting projects through stewardship-governance notion. A qualitative approach through multiple case studies was utilised in this study where multiple sources of evidence were used such as semi-structured interviews with 12 public officials, document analysis and observation. The study discovered five factors that contribute to project governance practices, namely altruistic empathy, intrinsic motivation, effective leadership, learning environment and shared vision where these factors interplay with each other towards the achievement of project outcome. Hence, this article contributes to the dynamic understanding of how public officials embraced motivational factors in conducting their works related to the rural poverty alleviation projects. Appropriate utilisation of project governance practices drives for better project delivery to the target groups.

Analysis on the Problems and Countermeasures of Agricultural Product E-commerce Development under the Background of Rural Revitalization

With the rapid development of science and technology in recent years, and the strong support of the Chinese government, the world’s most extensive Internet area has been formed. In recent years, my country’s E-commerce has developed very rapidly, which has promoted the development of rural E-commerce. The development of rural E-commerce has promoted the development of the rural economy, especially in the current country’s rural revitalization strategy. The report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China stated: “Insist on focusing on the construction of national infrastructure and social development in rural areas, deepen the construction of new rural areas and poverty alleviation development, comprehensively improve rural production and living conditions, strive to increase farmers’ income, and maintain a sustained and rapid income of farmers. increase”. Rural E-commerce is a key link in the realization of the strategic goals of rural revitalization. Although my country’s rural E-commerce development has made some outstanding achievements at this stage, in terms of the time period of rural E-commerce development, it is only in its infancy. There are bound to be many problems to be solved, and some problems in the treatment of the juvenile industry may make this industry disappear. This article is based on the rural revitalization strategy. This article explores the current problems in the development of rural E-commerce in my country, and proposes specific development paths to contribute to the further development of rural E-commerce.

Targeted Poverty Alleviation in Rural Education: A Case Study of Nanhua University’s Education Poverty Alleviation in Gutang Township, Lianyuan City

Education is the soft power of national development, and poverty alleviation through education is an important part of rural revitalization. In recent years, as a public welfare activity to help rural education poverty alleviation and development, volunteer education has been widely concerned. Taking the university of South China’s poverty alleviation project in Gutang Township of Lianyuan city as an example, this paper analyzes the current educational problems in remote areas and puts forward some suggestions on the existing problems.

Economic Responsibility Audit Transformation and Development of Township Party and Government Leading Cadres – Problems and Countermeasures

With the implementation of a series of policies to support rural development, such as the national rural revitalization strategy and poverty alleviation, the economic responsibility audit of township party and government leading cadres has been given new responsibilities and missions. However, some grass-roots audit institutions are faced with practical difficulties such as the solidification of audit thinking, slow progress of audit informatization construction, and large gap of grass-roots audit resources. The only way to overcome the difficulties is to explore the transformation of the economic responsibility audit and countermeasures of the township party and government leading cadres by tracing the source and adapting measures according to the difficulties.

Rural entrepreneurship and job creation: the hybrid identity of village-cadre-entrepreneurs

Poverty alleviation has been one of the most important issues in human society, especially in rural areas. As a critical solution to settle rural poverty, entrepreneurship increases rural entrepreneurs' income and creates job opportunities in rural communities. However, why rural entrepreneurs have different employment choices remains underexplored. This research focuses on village cadres' entrepreneurship in China, exploring how the hybrid identity of village-cadre-entrepreneurs interacts and further influences their motivation to create more jobs. Furthermore, we theorize how contextual factors, such as village isolation, lineage group, and regional collective mobilization, shape the logic of the employment strategy resulting from this hybrid identity. Based on a nationwide representative sample comprising 4346 rural entrepreneurs and their enterprises, our findings indicate that village-cadre-entrepreneurs are motivated to provide more work opportunities within the system of village self-governance. With job creation, village-cadre-entrepreneurs preserve and strengthen the “patron” image of village-cadre identity and mitigate the “businessman” image of entrepreneur identity. Further to this, the positive effect of village-cadre-entrepreneurs offering more work opportunities via entrepreneurial activities is more prominent when villages i) are more isolated from the external environment, ii) have more lineage groups, or iii) are in areas with more collective mobilization. This study highlights the impact of rural governance logic in rural entrepreneurial activities and the significance of village-cadre-entrepreneurs' role in job creation and rural poverty alleviation.

Space Power in Inclusive Development: Industrial Clusters and Rural Anti-Poverty.

Poverty seriously hinders the inclusive development of mankind and is closely related to economic growth, ecological protection, ecological restoration and sustainable use of resources. Based on the data of economic census and rural fixed observation point, a spatial econometric model is established to test the direct impact and spatial spillover effect of industrial clusters on rural poverty alleviation. The result of household-level is that the number of industrial clusters has a negative effect on poverty, namely the farmers who live in the county with more industrial clusters, may be less likely to become the poor. The number of industrial clusters in other regions also has a negative effect on poverty. By dividing farmers into the poverty and non-poverty group, the study finds that, for the poverty group, the number of industrial clusters has a positive direct and spillover effect on farmers’ income. For the non-poverty group, the number of local industrial clusters has a positive direct effect on farmers’ income, but the number of industrial clusters in other regions does not have any effects or has a negative direct effect on farmers’ income. By classifying the industries, the study discovers that the labor-intensive industrial clusters, such as textiles, manufacture and processing of machinery parts and paper industries, have a positive effect on farmers’ income.

Groundwater-sourced irrigation and agro-power subsidies: Boon or bane for small/marginal farmers in India?

Growing inequity in access to sustainable irrigation supply services, groundwater and electricity in particular, has become core agendas in many recent global development dialogues on account of food/nutritional security, ensuring on-farm livelihood opportunities, rural poverty alleviation and development. Herein, we aim to present a nation-wide appraisal of eco-environmental and socioeconomic ramifications of subsidizing farm-power services in India, to highlight future requirements to conserve groundwater reserves so as to ensure sustainable irrigation supply services. We adopted a mixed method approach, coupling secondary data analysis (obtained from various governmental archives), with a systematic review of relevant global literature. For the latter, we adopted a multi-stage PRISMA method (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) to summarize observations from post-2000 literature. Our results indicate that, over the years, groundwater has emerged as the mainstay of the irrigation sector in India (via millions of tube/bore wells), replacing surface-water systems (canals). However, unsustainable groundwater drafting has led to (i) significant groundwater drawdowns in most Indian states; (ii) exacerbated greenhouse gas emissions; and (iii) caused extensive soil-water salinization, which impede sustainable agrarian/rural development on long-run. Current literature, however, suggests that, unsustainable groundwater drafting is indulged at policy level only by (i) relaxed groundwater tariffing scheme, and (ii) lucrative agro-power subsidies – collectively which offer the farmers free reign to draft groundwater at will. We reflect on the rise of groundwater market, leading to disproportionate access to groundwater for irrigation, and tragedy of the less-endowed sections of the famring communities. We urge the concerned authorities to devise and implement strategic institutional reforms to bolster the agro-power subsidy delivery mechanisms, and reflect on opportunities of nationwide adoption of feeder channel segregation (FCS) and initiate minimum energy support (MES) schemes. The idea is to make the agro-energy sector more efficient (based on notions of equity, fairness and transparency for all to access the benefits. In the final section we urge the authorities to adopt a systems' thinking approach to identify the key barriers to on-ground implementation of FCS and MES; introduce smart metering system, and above all, incorporate the water-food-energy nexus application in mainstream decision making for irrigation services. The idea is to identify/develop means of resource co-management, identify synergies and trade-off, within a unified framework of irrigation systems’ governance that balances resources supply and demand, without endangering the ecosystem services. We also outline potential research directions; emphasize on need of targeted, process-level investigations with increased case studies, and urge the authorities for improved data dissemination and accessibility.