Rural Development Research Articles

Digital Leadership Impacts on a Village-owned Enterprise Performance: A Moderation Effect of Artificial Intelligence

This study investigates the impact of digital leadership on the performance of village-owned enterprises, or VOEs emphasizing the moderating effect of artificial intelligence, or AI. As digital transformation reshapes the business landscape, effective digital leadership emerges as a crucial factor for enhancing organizational performance, particularly in rural settings. This study employs quantitative surveys and interviews from VOEs across various villages with 192 research sample size. The findings reveal that digital leadership significantly correlates with improved performance metrics, such as profitability, operational efficiency, and community values. Moreover, the integration of AI technologies further amplifies these effects, providing tools for better decision-making, resource allocation, and customer interaction. The moderation analysis indicates that the presence of AI not only enhances the effectiveness of digital leadership but also facilitates innovative practices within VOEs. This research also contributes to the understanding of how digital leadership, coupled with AI, can drive sustainable growth in village enterprises, offering practical implications for policymakers and community leaders aiming to leverage technology for rural development. Future studies are suggested to explore the long-term effects of these dynamics in diverse contexts.

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF STATE COOPERATIVE BANKS IN INDIA (2012-13 TO 2022-23): TRENDS, CHALLENGES, AND OPPORTUNITIES

This article examines the financial performance and growth trajectory of State Cooperative Banks (SCBs) in India from 2012-13 to 2022-23, focusing on key indicators such as deposits, loans, borrowings, investments, and working capital. The study highlights the significant growth in these areas, driven by increased member engagement and trust. However, opportunities for further improvement remain, particularly in the areas of deposit mobilization, loan management, and investment diversification. SCBs can capitalize on these opportunities by introducing targeted savings products for rural populations, expanding digital banking services, implementing advanced risk management practices, and optimizing working capital. The study also emphasizes the need for SCBs to expand their network into underserved rural areas, leveraging technology for financial inclusion. By addressing these growth opportunities and challenges, SCBs can enhance their operational efficiency, financial stability, and contribution to rural development.

Comprehensive Evaluation Research on the Sustainable Development Level of Rural Energy Based on CRITIC-MABAC in Henan Province

Energy shortages are a key issue at present, and climate problems caused by the extraction and use of traditional fossil energy sources are also creating new challenges for rural development, with sustainable rural energy development being a priority at present. This paper takes the sustainable development of rural energy as the research object, and evaluates the development of rural energy in each prefecture-level city in Henan Province. On the one hand, rural development is viewed from the perspective of energy, on the other hand, the evaluation results provide a reference for each prefecture-level city, and most of the energy data can be obtained directly and with a high degree of accuracy, based on the CRITIC – MABAC methodology to determine the weights from an objective point of view and to rank the evaluation results, which is capable of obtaining the most accurate evaluation results. Finally, we used energy-related data from Henan Province in 2022 to conduct empirical analyses, and verified that Shangqiu City has a high level of sustainable rural energy development, which verifies the feasibility of the methodology proposed in this paper, and gives relevant recommendations.

Community Co-creation through knowledge (Co)Production: The engagement of universities in promoting rural revitalization in China

The global discourse on the role of universities in rural revitalization has gained significant attention. The proposition is to leverage university expertise and resources to support rural development, including knowledge (co)production, community co-creation, and volunteerism – a practice that essentially bridges local actors and their knowledge with external actors and their knowledge. As advocated by UN Habitat III, the collaboration between universities and rural communities is an initiative exemplified by China's “Jointly Create a Beautiful Environment and a Happy Life” to enhance the built environment. This study aims to comprehensively investigate the implementation and outcomes of the “Rural Four Small Gardens” projects, which serve as a vital community development initiative within the Hongtang Village in Fengqing County, Yunnan Province, China. The research discusses those processes, observing opportunities for knowledge (co)production across diverse stakeholders in line with neo-endogenous rural development thinking. By exploring the co-creation approach employed in these projects, we seek to unravel how academia and local communities collaborate to address multifaceted challenges in rural areas. We argue that: 1) The engagement of rural communities through collaborative planning workshops serves as the fundamental cornerstone for university paired-up assistance; 2) the co-creation model for improving rural settlement necessitates the collective efforts of multiple stakeholders; 3) university faculty and students play pivotal roles during the process of service learning, practice research, and knowledge (co)production with villagers; and 4) Knowledge (co)production entails a dynamic process of co-construction, co-governance, and resource sharing, exemplified by co-creation initiatives of home development, farmyard enhancement, and infrastructure projects. The research offers insights for global universities seeking to engage in similar paired-up assistance initiatives, underscores the significance of co-creation in rural development, and enlightens planning education in practice and service.

AJAD’s First Twenty Years: Evolving Knowledge and Practice in Asian Agriculture and Rural Development

This special 20th Anniversary Issue, with the theme “Asian Agriculture and Development in a Dynamic and Volatile Landscape of Demands, Peoples, and Risks,” features articles from three senior members of our Editorial Board, namely C. Peter Timmer, James Roumasset, and David Dawe, who take both a retrospective and forward-looking view at agriculture in Asia. Five more articles mainly authored by renowned experts complete the lineup in this special issue, tackling pressing issues that beset the agriculture and development landscape. All together, the eight articles are hoped to provide our readers and subscribers an engaging variety of relevant, useful and even practical knowledge to students, educators, researchers, practitioners, advocates, and policymakers alike. As AJAD looks to its next 20 years, we aim to cast an even wider net across the region to gather and share broader and deeper perspectives toward building a stronger knowledge base to propel agriculture and rural development in Asia and beyond, for the benefit of all.

The Endogenous Motivation and Cultivation Strategies for Rural Teachers' Professional Development from the Perspective of Social Support Theory

Based on social support theory, this paper aims to explore the sources of endogenous motivation for rural teachers' professional development and the cultivation strategies. Due to the influence of factors such as the urban-rural dual structure and the specific geographical environment of rural areas, rural teachers often face the challenges of lack of resources and isolation. Social support can provide emotional support, information help and resource support, thereby enhancing the endogenous motivation for professional development. On this basis, this paper proposes a series of cultivation strategies for rural teachers, including providing institutional guarantees for the professional development of rural teachers, establishing a platform for rural teachers' cooperation and co-construction, providing continuous professional development training, and establishing a supportive education community network, so as to improve the endogenous motivation of rural teachers.

Spatial Pattern Analysis of Rural Development Success Rates Based on the New Rural Development Paradigm (NRDP) Indicators: A Case Study of Cimenyan District

Spatial Pattern Analysis of Rural Development Success Rates Based on the New Rural Development Paradigm (NRDP) Indicators: A Case Study of Cimenyan District

Research on Rural e-commerce Development under the Background of Rural Revitalization — Take Daji Town of Cao County as an Example

Rural revitalization has always been an important proposition of The Times. In the context of rural revitalization, the traditional sales methods have also taken a new turn, and the shopping form of "Internet + sales" is gradually accepted by the public. Rural society has also been exposed to the Internet, and has quietly changed the new sales mode. Some rural areas have combined local resources with the Internet, expanded product sales channels, and increased economic income through e-commerce. Thanks to the development of e-commerce, many poor villages have gradually been lifted out of poverty and embarked on the road of prosperity. Now it has become a wealthy Taobao town. Daji Town, Caoxian County, Heze City, Shandong Province, is such a typical village for Internet sales. Through the analysis of rural e-commerce in Daji town, this paper puts forward relevant suggestions for the existing problems of rural e-commerce in Daji town.

Measuring Rurality and Analyzing the Drivers of Rurality in Megacities—A Case Study of Shanghai, China

The Rurality Index is an important reference for the formulation of rural development strategies and policies, but the evaluation of the rurality of megacities based on the township scale is relatively limited. Based on the perspective of spatial governance, this study constructed the evaluation index system of Shanghai’s rurality and carried out the evaluation of Shanghai’s rurality at the township scale from 2005 to 2020. The article adopts the MGWR model to analyze the driving effects of five key driving factors (the proportion of foreign population, per capita industrial output value, public finance revenue, social fixed asset investment, and rail transit coverage), and adopts the Geo-Detector model to analyze the interactive driving effects of two factors. The results indicate that the rurality index of megacities and townships as a whole shows a weakening trend, and the above factors have a predominantly negative impact on rurality, with differences in the intensity of the impact in different periods. There is an obvious interactive additive effect between the factors. When formulating policies for township development, government departments need to take into account the functional positioning of the region and comprehensively adopt targeted policies on population, industry, transportation, finance and investment to regulate and guide the transformation or sustainable development of the countryside.

Mapping Rural Mobility in the Global South: Case Studies of Participatory GIS Approach for Assessments of Daily Movement Needs and Practice in Nepal and Kenya

This paper investigates rural mobility in the Global South using a participatory GIS approach to address the lack of mobility data that hampers sustainable planning to support rural development and resilience. Limited rural mobility due to poor infrastructure and financial constraints hinders social and economic activities, impeding development. The study aims to explore the socio-economic impacts of limited mobility, identify software needs for data-scarce environments, and map daily mobility patterns. Fieldwork was conducted in Kenya (2022) and Nepal (2023), collecting geographic data related to mobility. The methodology included community engagement and digital mapping using the QField app for precise data collection. The study highlights the use of participatory GIS to fill data gaps, enabling more accurate mobility assessments. Community engagement revealed gender-specific mobility patterns, with women facing particular challenges in daily activities. The study emphasizes the need for adaptable data models to reflect community-specific mobility needs and the integration of qualitative insights to propose effective and sustainable mobility solutions. This research contributes to understanding rural mobility in the Global South and demonstrates the effectiveness of participatory GIS in overcoming data scarcity and enhancing mobility analysis.

Analysis of the Implementation of Risk Management to Minimize the Risk of Bad Credit at the Nias Rural Development Savings and Loans Cooperative (KSP3) Gunungsitoli Branch

This study aims to determine the application of risk management carried out by the Nias Rural Development Savings and Loan Cooperative (KSP3) Gunungsitoli Branch in minimizing the risk of bad loans. In this study, the type of research used is a descriptive type with a qualitative approach. Data collection techniques are used through observation, interviews and documentation. To obtain information, the researcher conducted direct interviews with 6 informants, namely branch heads, 2 employees and 3 members of the Nias Rural Development Savings and Loan Cooperative (KSP3) Gunungsitoli Branch. The data analysis techniques used in qualitative research include transcripts of interview results, data reduction, data presentation and conclusion drawn. The results of the study show that the implementation of risk management carried out by the Nias Rural Development Savings and Loan Cooperative (KSP3) Gunungsitoli Branch is carried out through a series of stages, namely risk identification, risk measurement, risk monitoring and risk control. The implementation of risk management to minimize the risk of bad loans has been effectively implemented by KSP3 Nias Gunungsitoli Branch as evidenced by the NPL (Non-Performing Loan) rate from 2020-2022 which is still below 5%.

Hestia to Demeter: Reducing Agrochemical Pollution to Empower Women Farmers

The 2020 Farm to Fork strategy by the European Commission aimed to reduce agrochemical pollutants and protect biodiversity but stirred controversy due to conflicts between intensive agriculture demands and environmental priorities. Strict limits on agrochemical residues required farmers to produce less. The de-intensification and agroecology prone policy impacted livelihoods, sparking political upheaval. Due to lack of pesticide alternatives and extension services, Lebanese exports have faced challenges complying with residue restrictions. Agricultural laborers and consumers are exposed to high levels of pesticide residue. Undocumented refugee women form a significant part of the agricultural workforce, and women led agricultural cooperatives have minimal access to funding, exacerbating gender inequity. The American University of Beirut (AUB) has played a pivotal role in agroecology research, rural development, and gender equity. Knowledge transfer promotes civic awareness and private sector partnerships. Local Natural enemies and parasites emerged as a residue-free alternative to agrochemicals. Biocontrol-based integrated pest management holds great potential for mitigating pesticides hazards to human and environmental health. Launching the “natural predators” initiative from women-run farms holds a great promise in dually resolving the problems of agrochemical pollution and gender equity in the agricultural sector. Empowering women in agriculture aims to transform their role from care work to farm management. This paper focuses on the technical aspects of developing “natural enemies” as pesticides alternative for Lebanese agriculture, aiming to overcome export challenges and revitalize the economy. "Farm to Fork meets Hestia to Demeter" underscores AUB's commitment to sustainability aligns climate action with gender equity. By supporting women entrepreneurs and addressing climate change's impact on public health, the initiative contributes to AUB's broader mission of advancing Lebanon and the region through Education for Sustainable Development.

Enhancing the Competences of Female Village Officials in Zhanjiang from the Perspective of the Sociology of Knowledge

This study investigates the socio-cultural and institutional challenges faced by female village officials in Zhanjiang, using the sociology of knowledge framework to explore how tailored training programs can enhance their competences. Qualitative data, collected from participatory observation, semi-structured interviews, and training documents, were analyzed, revealing that context-specific and gender-sensitive approaches to knowledge selection, application, and transmission can empower the female officials to bridge the gap between theoretical concepts and everyday governance. Additionally, participatory methods like role-playing and case studies, adopted by the training can help the female officials apply new skills to real-world governance challenges. The findings also suggest training content needs to align with the socio-cultural realities of female village officials, particularly in aspects related to leadership, dispute mediation, and rural development. By focusing on the interplay between formal, codified knowledge and local, tacit knowledge, the study contributes to the literature on in-service training, rural governance, and gender studies.

Exploring the effects of waste plastic aggregate on styrene-butadiene-styrene-modified asphalt binders for sustainable rural pavements

In addressing the imperative need for sustainable and cost-effective solutions in rural pavement development, this study navigates the intricate balance of environmental and financial constraints to ensure the resilience of infrastructure in communities with limited resources. The focal point is the integration of waste plastic aggregate (WPA) into hot mix asphalt, augmented by the inclusion of styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) for an elevated level of performance. The findings underscore a gradual decrease in the tensile strength ratio, emphasizing a manageable impact, transitioning from 82.4% in the control to 73.7% at 6% WPA. Noteworthy is the observation of marginal reductions in indirect tensile strength and stiffness, particularly notable at higher WPA levels. Dynamic modulus testing highlights susceptibility to rutting at lower frequencies, while high-frequency results demonstrate stability up to 6% WPA. The Hamburg wheel tracking test signals heightened rutting at 3% and 6% WPA, indicating potential challenges in deformation resistance. Despite a slight dip in strength, the discernible magnitude of this reduction is not substantial. This affirms that the incorporation of WPA achieves a harmonious enhancement of sustainability without compromising critical mechanical properties.

Study on High-quality Development Strategy of Rural Economy Under the Strategy of Agriculture, Rural Areas and Farmers

With the in-depth implementation of the "three rural" strategy, the high-quality development of rural economy has become an important goal to achieve rural revitalization. This paper starts with the current situation of rural economic development, analyzes the main challenges facing rural economy, including infrastructure construction lag, unreasonable industrial structure and brain drain and innovation ability. On this basis, the core strategy of high-quality development of rural economy is put forward from three aspects: industrial revitalization, ecological revitalization and talent revitalization. By optimizing the industrial structure and promoting the integration of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries, the agricultural production efficiency is improved; Emphasizing green agriculture and environmental governance to promote sustainable development; Attention should be paid to attracting high-quality talents and improving rural education and training systems to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in rural areas. Through comprehensive measures, we will strive to provide systematic support for the high-quality development of the rural economy and help the smooth implementation of the rural revitalization strategy.

PERFORMANCE MEASURES OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES IN IFELODUN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KWARA STATE

The study assessed the performance measures of rural development strategies in Ifelodun LGA of Kwara State. The instruments used in this study are questionnaires, key informant interviews, and observation. The adopted sample size for the study is 384 persons. Simple random sampling was used to distribute questionnaires proportionally to the nine districts according to population size. Data analysis for this research was descriptive and inferential. Multiple regression analysis was used to measure the performance of development strategies in the study area. The result from the socio-economic characteristics of respondents revealed that 66% of the respondents were male, while 34% were female. Most (51.3%) of the respondents are within the age bracket of 31-45 years. It was also observed that over 90% of the respondents have attained one level of formal education or the other and apart from 17.13% and 28.73% that engage in civil service and business enterprises other than farming, 44.20% of the respondents are solely farmers and 94.5% earn above ₦20,000 monthly. Furthermore, the State Government was the major contributor to health, transport, agriculture, and education with a percentage contribution of 28.2%, 30.4%, 29.6%, and 44.8% respectively. The regression analysis result revealed that 82% of the impact of development strategies implemented in the study area could be explained by the transport, health, and agricultural sectors. Therefore, the study recommends that the federal government be more involved in the development of the study area and rural dwellers should be involved in the initiation, planning, and execution of development programs.

Declining interest in afforestation under the common agricultural policy. Evidence from Poland and Lithuania

Land afforestation is an important aspect of forested land development. Increasing the area of forest areas through the reforestation of uncultivated, abandoned or agriculturally unsuitable land is considered an important way to diversify economic activities in order to reduce dependence on agricultural activities and improve environmental conditions in rural areas. The main objective of the study is to identify the factors affecting the afforestation of agricultural land carried out in the years 2004–2020 by farmers under the individual financial perspectives of the Rural Development Programme (RDP) in Poland and Lithuania. The study included a review of Polish and Lithuanian regulations aimed at providing financial support for afforestation under the RDP. Moreover, a comparative analysis of the rules and criteria for financial support for afforestation in relation to selected socio-economic indicators of the two countries was carried out. Based on the study results, it can be clearly stated that in both Poland and Lithuania, the support for afforestation under the RDP fails to meet the beneficiaries’ expectations. It would, therefore, be advisable to adapt the Programme to the changing economic conditions and keep the afforested land under the RDP under technical supervision. Support for afforestation should be continued to ensure the improvement in land use and the enhancement of the prospects for long-term economic activity in rural areas as well as to implement the assumptions of the green economy.

Evaluation of rural tourism development level using BERT-enhanced deep learning model and BP algorithm

To address the insufficient expressive capabilities of traditional methods in assessing the development level of rural tourism, this study explores the fusion application of the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) and the Back Propagation (BP) algorithm to enhance the accuracy and comprehensiveness of rural tourism development assessment. Firstly, this study introduces the BERT deep learning model and its applications in natural language processing, alongside the role of the BP algorithm in pattern recognition and predictive analysis. Subsequently, a framework for assessing rural tourism development levels, integrating BERT and the BP algorithm, is proposed. This framework collects multidimensional rural tourism-related data and utilizes the BERT model for sentiment analysis and topic extraction from textual data. Empirical analysis of rural tourism development in a specific region validates the effectiveness of the proposed approach. Experimental results demonstrate: (1) The model achieves an accuracy of 84.33% and an F1 score of 85.33% on the publicly available Laptop dataset, with a processing time of 20 s, significantly outperforming other methods. Compared to traditional approaches, the proposed method accurately captures correlations between textual information and numerical data, thereby enhancing the credibility and accuracy of assessment results. (2) From the ablation study results, it is evident that removing any component from the model leads to performance degradation. Specifically, removing the Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit (BiGRU) reduces accuracy and F1 scores to 78.21% and 76.33% on the Laptop dataset, and to 85.10% and 70.45% on the Tourist_F dataset. Removing Text Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) reduces accuracy and F1 scores to 79.34% and 77.56% on the Laptop dataset, and to 86.25% and 72.11% on the Tourist_F dataset. The most significant performance decline occurs upon removing BERT, with accuracy and F1 scores decreasing to 70.14% and 66.43% on the Laptop dataset, and to 78.45% and 60.33% on the Tourist_F dataset. These results indicate that BiGcRU, TextCNN, and BERT each contribute significantly to the model’s performance. This study provides substantial support for advancing sustainable development in rural tourism, offering significant practical and innovative value.

Development of Nutrient Rich Morning Meals for Students by Concept of Tapas.

A correlation between nutritional status and academic achievement has been established by many studies, but students' eating habits often do not meet nutritional recommendations. Breakfast consumption has a positive effect on cognitively demanding tasks and results in better attention and memory. The goal of this work was to develop well-balanced, nutritionally rich morning meals for students based on the concept of tapas, a combination of several different small meals composed of different ingredients. An introductory survey about students' morning eating habits was conducted among students of the Faculty of Tourism and Rural Development in Požega, Croatia. Forty-six full-time students (9.50% of total number of students at the faculty) participated in the survey. Sixteen types of tapas were prepared combining ingredients which students rated as desirable (cheese, prosciutto, peppers, milk spread) and undesirable (blue fish, dry fruit, cauliflower, chickpeas) in the initial survey. Tapas (one tapa = one sample) were scored by a sensory panel of 16 students, and nutritional value of the samples was assessed by web application Program Prehrane® (The Nutrition Program). All samples except two were scored as desirable by more than 60% of students, meaning that even ingredients which have been initially scored as undesirable, can be incorporated into desirable meal when properly combined. Based on the analysis of energy and nutritional value of samples, students should combine 3 to 5 different tapas to fulfill their energy needs for breakfast or 1 to 2 different tapas for a morning snack. Developed tapas can provide a perfectly balanced meal rich in different micronutrients because they include ingredients which students normally do not include in their breakfast. Especially important ingredients were blue fish rich in unsaturated acids and selenium, nuts rich in selenium and vitamin E, and red peppers rich in vitamin C and carotenoids. Tapas containing cheese and prosciutto, students' favorite ingredients, had the highest level of sodium and fats, but not above recommended values when combined with other tapas.

Analysis of the Impact of Digital Inclusive Finance on the Well-being of Rural Residents

Improving the sense of well-being, gain, and security among rural residents has become one of the important tasks for promoting high-quality rural economic development and achieving rural revitalization. This paper, based on data from the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) from 2015 to 2019, constructs an Ordered Probit model to study and analyze the impact and mechanism of digital inclusive finance on the well-being of rural residents. The results indicate that digital inclusive finance can enhance the well-being of rural residents, and the indices of coverage breadth, usage depth, and digitalization all have significant positive effects on the well-being of rural residents. In terms of the mechanism, digital inclusive finance improves the income of rural residents, promotes entrepreneurship among them, and enhances their financial literacy, thereby increasing their well-being. At the same time, digital inclusive finance has a greater impact on the well-being of samples from rural areas in the central and eastern regions, as well as among rural women and middle-aged and elderly groups.