Investment In Rural Infrastructure Research Articles

Using the analytic hierarchical process to identify potential sites for rural ecological infrastructure investment in South Africa: examples from Cacadu and Tsitsa Catchments

Climate change, population growth, and land degradation are causing various socio‐economic consequences in low‐ to medium‐income countries. To address this, it is essential to prioritize restoration interventions at specific locations to maximize their effectiveness and the supply of valuable ecosystem services, such as water regulation. A stakeholder‐driven spatial multi‐criteria analysis was applied in two degraded and rural catchments in the Eastern Cape (the Cacadu and Tsitsa River Catchments), South Africa. The process combined metrics for ecosystem health, hydrological functionality, and socio‐economic benefit to visualize areas that can be targeted to maintain or enhance flow regulation. These criteria were identified based on the guidance of local stakeholders concerning their valuable ecological infrastructure (EI). The EI types investigated were wetlands, riverbanks, rangelands, and old croplands. Human and climate change impacts threaten these EIs but are the most relevant for communal needs and sustainability. According to the analysis, more places require better management to maintain the existing flow regulation service of focal catchments than areas that require a high level of human intervention (implying areas that can enhance flow regulation). This work highlights the importance of including and contextualizing the socio‐economic benefits expected from Nature‐based Solutions or EI investment initiatives.

Impact of Rural Infrastructure on Agricultural Growth in Tamil Nadu: Econometric Analysis by VECM

The present study examined the impact of rural infrastructure investment on the agriculture and economic growth of Tamil Nadu, applying the VECM. The study further examined the causal relationship between dependent and independent variables using the VECM Granger-causality test from 1990-91 to 2020-21. The study considered the influence of economic reforms on economic growth. The estimated results of co-integration showed that there was a long-run relationship among the variables. The VECM results confirmed a long-run relationship among the variables. The estimated results of the Granger-causality analysis indicated a unidirectional causal relationship between AC and GAP was significant statistically and no relationship between GSDP and AC. The decomposition results suggested that the economic growth variation was explained mainly by agriculture credit. The findings would be helpful to policymakers in developing appropriate strategies in the state.

Research on Performance Evaluation Index System of Rural Highway PPP Project

In recent years, China has actively and steadily expanded the effective investment in rural transportation infrastructure, actively guided social capital to participate in rural development, promoted the combination of PPP model and all aspects of rural areas, and implemented a new round of rural road construction and transformation. Rural highway construction is an important measure to promote rural economic development. Because of the wide range of rural construction in China and the huge capital investment and demand, it is necessary to build a scientific and comprehensive evaluation index system to evaluate the performance of rural highway construction projects, analyze the evaluation results, and put forward feasible suggestions to help decision makers grasp the benefits and effects of construction, and take targeted measures to guide and promote the positive development of rural highways. Taking the northern extension project of XL highway as an example, this paper constructs a performance evaluation index system, which can provide reference for the project management of XL highway and other highway projects.

Triumphs, trials and tomorrow in food security: an ASEAN outlook

SummaryThe article explores the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) food security landscape amid challenges intensified by the COVID‐19 pandemic. It underscores the imperative of providing sufficient, affordable, and nutritious sustenance for the growing ASEAN population, advocating for an integrated and comprehensive approach. This approach addresses climate change impacts, prioritises investments in rural infrastructure and agricultural innovation, and champions sustainable, inclusive farming practices. The research emphasises the significance of collaborative efforts with international partners and other regional stakeholders to fortify ASEAN's food security initiatives. This collaborative model serves as an exemplar for other developing regions with significant agricultural sectors and rural populations. The pandemic has prompted governments and the private sector to collaborate and address multifaceted food security issues, revealing the need for collective regional action. ASEAN can leverage partnerships, knowledge exchange, and resource‐sharing to navigate and overcome food security challenges, catalysing regional and global solutions.

Revitalizing Rural Tourism: A Croatian Case Study in Sustainable Practices

Dubrovnik-Neretva County, renowned for the City of Dubrovnik, grapples with tourism challenges affecting its UNESCO-listed Old City. This study advocates for promoting less-explored inland areas to ease the strain on the heritage site and alleviate coastal tourist pressure. By diversifying tourism and supporting sustainable rural development, the region can spur economic growth, foster local businesses, and improve infrastructure through EU and national funding. The research explores financial investments in less-developed areas, emphasizing sustainable tourism practices for socio-economic and environmental benefits. The analysis highlights the project’s positive impact on sustainable tourism development inland, preserving natural heritage, and fostering economic benefits for local communities. According to the cost–benefit analysis, the proposed idea outperforms all alternatives with new attractions and enhanced infrastructure, contributing to overall municipal growth. External funding is crucial for viability, with a negative net income until 2040, offset by municipal support. Economic indicators justify social and economic benefits, emphasizing project resilience. The active tourism centre project, emphasizing eco-friendly outdoor activities, highlights the role of cost–benefit analysis in rural tourism infrastructure investment, recommending external funding for success.

Policy Impacts on Comparative Advantage and Production Protection to Cotton and Its Competing Crops in Pakistan

Agriculture, particularly cotton cultivation, holds paramount significance for the economy of Pakistan. The cotton crop shares 0.6 percent of the gross domestic product and contributes 70 percent to the country’s export earnings. Nonetheless, during the last two decades, cotton area and production in the country have declined. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the economic benefits and competitiveness of cotton and its competitive crops under the current set of relevant policies. We have employed a Policy Analysis Matrix to assess the impact of agricultural policies on cotton and its competing crops. The results show that cotton producers across Pakistan are implicitly taxed, while sugarcane and rice producers are protected under the current policy measures. It has also become evident that large cotton growers are more likely to get a comparative advantage of prevailing policy incentives than medium and small growers. Thus, crop-specific and scale-specific policy interventions are suggested to enhance cotton production. Similarly, exploring and converging on new potential areas for cotton production, especially in Balochistan, can improve the country’s overall cotton production.
 1. INTRODUCTION
 State institutions worldwide protect and support the agricultural sector through various policy measures. This support keeps the agriculture sector productive and competitive to ensure food security for the masses, livelihoods for farming entities, and to meet the requirements of agro-based industries (GOP, 2019). These policies broadly deal with farm inputs and outputs, trade facilitation/restrictions, mechanisation of cropping systems, and investment in rural and agricultural infrastructure, including R&D and irrigation. Government interventions have resulted in various advantages for specific crops while creating social and economic externalities for others. Pakistan has also adopted several policy measures to cater to the needs of farming communities in the changing global scenario. These policies are sometimes crop-specific but, most of the time, are designed to increase total crop productivity (MPDS, 2013).
 Agriculture contributes around 22.9 percent of the GDP and almost 34.7 percent of employment in Pakistan (GOP, 2023a). The share of major crops in GDP is nearly 4.32 percent, of which cotton accounts for 0.6 percent of GDP and 3.1 percent of total value addition in agriculture. In the case of cotton, Pakistan is the fifth largest producer globally. Its share is around 0.6 percent of GDP and contributes 2.4 percent of the value added in agriculture (GOP, 2023a). Similarly, cotton has the longest value chain among all crops, contributing significantly to Pakistan’s foreign exchange earnings. Pakistan exports $836 million (4.7 percent) of raw cotton and yarn, while cotton-based exports account for $9.5 billion, comprising more than half of the country’s total exports (GOP, 2021b). Though cotton is considered the main cash crop in the country with its strong backward and forward linkages, the past couple of decades have observed a dismal cotton performance in many instances. At the same time, the last five years can be considered devastating in terms of cotton area, production, and profitability. Table 1 below reflects the reduction in the cotton area in Punjab (which contributes around 70 percent of the total cotton acreage) and the decline in cotton production and yield. It has been observed that since 2000, cotton has lost 12 percent of its area, while its competing crops have gained the area under cultivation, mainly sugarcane, which followed a 17 percent increase in its area.
 The area replacement of cotton crop with its competitive Kharif crops, i.e., sugarcane, maize, and rice, has many interesting insights from a policy perspective. There are diverging opinions at the policy level, whether the downfall of the cotton crop is due to adverse climatic conditions, the development of pest pressure in cotton growing areas, or the frequent distortions in output and input markets. It has been observed that output prices, among all other factors, remain the primary cause of reducing the profitability of the cotton crop.

Risk Mechanism Analysis of Rural Infrastructure Investment PPP Model and Prevention Path Selection

In view of the frequent risk problems in the current PPP mode of rural infrastructure investment, this paper discusses the mechanism of risk generation from four aspects: environment, contract, behavior, ability and cognitive factors, and puts forward risk prevention paths, including establishing and improving institutional guarantee, decision-making mechanism, dynamic risk adjustment mechanism, dynamic incentive measures, supervision and risk monitoring system.

How does internet use promote joint adoption of sustainable agricultural practices? Evidence from rice farmers in China

ABSTRACTClimate change and public health emergencies have severely threatened world food security. In response, the Chinese government has actively promoted sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) and emphasized the importance of integrated packages to enhance the development of high-quality agriculture. However, due to information failure, farmers’ adoption rate of SAPs is still very low. Meanwhile, internet use can effectively reduce the cost of information barriers and catalyze farmers to promote the joint adoption of SAPs. This paper aims to theoretically elucidate the logic of how internet use impacts farmers’ joint adoption of SAPs. Empirical analysis based on data from 844 rice farmers in southern China reveals that internet use can significantly promote the joint adoption of SAPs, and adoption behaviours are complementary across multiple technologies. Furthermore, internet use in the group of rice farmers with more farmlands or those receiving subsidies is more inclined to adopt SAPs jointly. These findings suggest that developing countries should prioritize public investment in rural internet infrastructure to facilitate joint adoption of SAPs through farmers’ internet use. The moderate scale of farmland usage and targeted agricultural subsidy policies can further enhance the effectiveness of ICT-based joint adoption of SAPs.

The factors affecting rural residents’ willingness to burden-share costs of local infrastructure supply in developing countries: evidence from China

Rural infrastructure is fundamental to rural development in developing countries. Yet, rural governments endure heavier fiscal constraints than their urban counterparts. Thus, the capacity of rural residents to subsidize infrastructure supply is critical to facilitating provision. While this capability has increased, the willingness of rural inhabitants to absorb cost burdens remains low. However, the factors impacting willingness remains unexamined. This study addresses this deficiency by identifying influencing factors through the lens of “public goods theory.” A field survey of 266 rural Chinese residents is conducted. Results reveal that opinions on affordability are shaped by government policy, perceptions of equitable burden-sharing, and group behavior. Situational cognition plays an important intermediary role in affecting rural residents’ willingness. The “free-rider effect” is also confirmed as a factor. The findings of this study offer strategies for increasing the affordability of rural infrastructure investment in developing countries by raising the pay-for-use willingness of beneficiaries.

Food security in ASEAN: progress, challenges and future

This article examines the progress, challenges and future of food security in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of ASEAN food systems, exacerbating existing challenges and vulnerabilities. With a focus on addressing the pressing issue of ensuring sufficient, affordable, and nutritious food for its growing population, the article explores the multifaceted challenges of food security faced by ASEAN. It emphasizes the need for an integrated approach to address the impact of climate change, investment in rural infrastructure and agricultural research, and the promotion of sustainable and inclusive agriculture for ASEAN’s long-term food security. It also underscores the importance of collaboration with international partners and organizations to leverage expertise and resources. Overall, this article calls to action policymakers, stakeholders and external partners to collectively work toward achieving food security and sustainable development in the region.

Agriculture–Tourism Integration’s Impact on Agricultural Green Productivity in China

Currently, the integrated development of agriculture and tourism is one of the most critical strategic measures in China. The rapid growth of agricultural tourism integration presents the typical characteristics of expanding regional differences. Exploring the impact of agricultural tourism integration on the growth of green total factor productivity in agriculture has important theoretical and practical significance. This study constructs a comprehensive index system for agricultural tourism integration, measuring the development level of agricultural tourism integration in 30 sample provinces from 2008 to 2018. Using the generalized system method of moments approach and Tobit model, the impact of agricultural tourism integration on agriculture was empirically tested, and the regulatory role of rural human capital was discussed. It was found that agricultural tourism integration contributes significantly to the improvement in green total factor productivity in agriculture, with rural mobility human capital, education human capital, and health human capital all playing a significant positive moderating role in this process. Finally, it is recommended that priority be given to agricultural tourism integration in the policy framework, promoting industrial chain upgrading, raising investment in rural infrastructure, and upgrading rural human capital levels to contribute the rural economic development.

Exploring the Level and Influencing Factors of Digital Village Development in China: Insights and Recommendations

Digital rural construction is an important strategy for rural revitalization. In order to improve the precision of digital rural measurement, a set of evaluation indicators for digital rural construction was devised in this study. The study uses the entropy method, kernel density estimation and system clustering to quantify the level of China’s digital rural construction, as well as the Tobit test and other techniques. From the perspective of time series evolution, the construction of digital villages grew continuously, with a peak in 2020. After that, the speed of digital village construction slowed down slightly because of economic changes in both domestic and international environments. In terms of dynamic evolution, the core density curve of China’s digital rural construction shifted to the right between 2011 and 2021, accompanied by gradient influence and a multipolar development trend; local general budget revenue, the per capita disposable income of rural residents, rural infrastructure investment, computer ownership per 100 rural residents, added value of primary industry, education level, and rural power generation are some of the factors that affect the development level of China’s digital countryside. This study is helpful in understanding the influencing aspects of China’s digital rural construction, thereby facilitating the formation of suitable digital rural development strategies in various regions depending on the real scenario.

The impact of Digital Inclusive Finance on China’s agricultural trade

In October 2022, the Party's 20 National Congress report clearly proposed to promote rural revitalization in an all-round way. It will need to speed up digital transformation so that digital inclusive finance can serve the high-quality development of China's agriculture. Based on this, this paper uses the panel data of 31 provinces from 2011 to 2020 to investigate the impact of digital financial inclusion on the scale of agricultural trade. The results show that digital inclusive finance can promote the trade of agricultural products, and the level of economic development is a favorable factor to promote the trade of agricultural products, while foreign investment level, traditional financial level, government intervention level and urbanization level hinder the development of agricultural products trade to a certain extent. Accordingly, relevant policy suggestions are given. First, local government needs to combine the current development of agricultural products and vigorously develop digital inclusive finance. Second, use the financial advantage of digital inclusive finance to improve the scientific and technological content of agricultural products. Third, the government needs to control the degree of intervention in agricultural trade. Fourth, increase investment in new rural infrastructure to boost trade in agricultural products.

The ethnically and racially uneven role of water infrastructure spending in rural economic development

Here we test the hypothesis that local government spending on water infrastructure is associated with higher levels of economic development, and the hypothesis that this association is unequal between ethnoracial groups. Using data from the State and Local Government Finance Surveys and the US Census Bureau, we estimate a series of county-level spatial econometric models from 1980 to 2015. Our results support our hypotheses, with most beneficial associations taking 8 years to become evident. Furthermore, through the use of interactional models, we show that this effect is ethnically and racially uneven, with the benefits of investment decreasing as counties become more Latino/a and non-Latino/a Indigenous, and either increasing or decreasing as counties become more non-Latino/a Black, dependent on the specific outcome. Our results suggest that continued investment in rural water infrastructure has the potential to have wide-ranging, but possibly uneven, economic benefits for residents.

Agricultural Transformation in Indonesia: Evaluation of Policy Implementation and Challenges Faced

This article aims to evaluate the implementation of agricultural policies and identify the challenges faced in the agricultural transformation process in Indonesia. The background of the study revolves around the importance of agricultural development in achieving sustainable economic growth, food security, and poverty reduction in the country. The study's objective is to assess the effectiveness of policy implementation and understand the key challenges hindering the agricultural transformation process. To achieve the research objective, a qualitative approach was employed. Qualitative interviews were conducted with key stakeholders, including government officials, farmers, and agricultural experts, to understand their perspectives on policy implementation and identify challenges faced at the ground level. The findings of the study reveal both positive outcomes and challenges in the implementation of agricultural policies in Indonesia. The policy implementation has led to increased investment in agricultural infrastructure, technology adoption, and productivity improvement in certain regions. However, challenges such as limited access to credit and markets, inadequate extension services, and climate change impacts have hindered the desired transformation. The study underscores the need for improved coordination between government agencies, increased investment in rural infrastructure, targeted support for smallholder farmers, and climate change adaptation strategies to overcome these challenges.

Rural Infrastructure Investment and Agricultural Dilemma

Rural Infrastructure Investment and Agricultural Dilemma

Rural mistrust of public health interventions in the United States: A call for taking the long view to improve adoption.

Rural mistrust of public health interventions in the United States: A call for taking the long view to improve adoption.

Rural Infrastructure Access and Household Welfare in Ogun State

The study was carried out to determine the effect of access to rural infrastructure on household welfare in Ogun State. A three-stage sampling procedure was used to collect data from 442 selected respondents. The study was based on primary data obtained through questionnaires. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and ordered logit regression. The study revealed that majority of the respondents were male (62.3%), married (80.1%), aged 48.1±11.5 years, with years of formal education, household size and farming experience of 7.3±4.7 years, 7.2±2.8 persons and 13.7±10.4 years, respectively. The MPCHHE was ₦7,152.10. The proportion of households with access to potable water, primary school, health centre, market and agro-centre were 89.1%, 88.5%, 43.9%, 64.5% and 33.7%, respectively. More households had high access to infrastructure (52.8%). Many of the households had high welfare (43.9%), while 24.4% had medium welfare and 31.7% had low welfare. High household welfare was explained by age (β=-0.32), male-headed households (β=0.51), non-farm income (β=0.20), ARI (β=-0.49), access to credit (β=0.39), educational level (β=0.25) and labour size (β=0.34), while age (β=0.15), male-headed households (β=- 0.12) and ARI (β=0.18) explained low household welfare. Based on these findings, it was recommended that policies that would increase public investment in functional rural infrastructure must be given high priority by the government.

Looking Back, Looking Forward: What to do with Philippine Agriculture

Compared with our ASEAN neighbors against whom we usually benchmark ourselves, the Philippines is making the least progress in providing a better life for its people. While they have significantly brought their poverty rates down, poverty among Filipinos has persisted at a painfully embarrassing rate of 26%, most of that poverty is found in the countryside, among farmers and fisherfolk. The 1.7% rate of growth of agriculture, which does not even match our population growth during the last five years (2011-2015), is symptomatic of this malaise, yet the ingredients to make agriculture move forward and be more productive, competitive, sustainable, and economically rewarding to our millions of small farmers and fisherfolk are largely in place. Our moderate tropical environment and rainfall with irrigation make year-round growing possible. Our vast and carefully-managed fisheries resources should provide a sustainable supply of affordable and quality animal proteins in our diets. We have a fairly educated workforce and a modest but working higher education and scientific research infrastructure in agriculture. We have an established and increasingly competitive food and beverage manufacturing subsector. Progressive legislations are in place with the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) of 1997 and the Fisheries Code of 1998, and a palpable improving political will to support agriculture is established, as manifested by the expanding congressional appropriations for the Department of Agriculture (DA). What should we do with agriculture in 2016 and beyond to move it forward? Beyond generalities, what do we specifically want to see done by the government and those with a stake in agriculture to help farmers and fisherfolk attain a better standard of living for themselves, for all of us, now and in the future? There is no single magic bullet that will cure all the ills of Philippine agriculture. We need to come together, marshal, and direct our resources along four major platforms of reform, namely (a) reform the bureaucracy of the Department of Agriculture; (b) meaningful participation of stakeholders in the governance of agriculture; (c) continuing investments in rural institutions and infrastructure; and (d) closure on a few important but contentious issues such as a rice-centric agriculture.

The impact of rural infrastructural investment on farmers' income growth in China

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose and verify the influence mechanism of various kinds of infrastructure investment on farmers' income in rural China. It further analyzes the effect of rural infrastructure investment on rural economic transformation.Design/methodology/approachThis research is used to GMM model to verify the relationship between infrastructure investment and farmers' income; furthermore, the mediating effect model is used to verify the linear conduction mechanism, and panel threshold model is used to verify the nonlinear conduction mechanism.FindingsThe results show that: (1) Rural infrastructure investment can indirectly affect farmers' income by changing land efficiency and land use structure; (2) The impact of infrastructure investment on farmers' income is nonlinear; (3) Increasing infrastructural investment of productivity and transportation will contribute to accelerating the transformation of rural economy.Originality/valueThis paper expands the research on the impact of rural infrastructure investment on farmers' income; it analyzes the inner mechanism and enriches the research contents in this field; the influence of various infrastructure investment on rural economic transformation is further discussed; it provides policy suggestions and theoretical basis for accelerating the transformation of China's rural economy.