Rural Policy Research Articles

What Is the Rational Choice of Community Governance Policy

Community governance is the “micro-cell” of social governance and the foundation of the governance system. The rational selection logic of community governance policy reflects the value orientation, goal selection, and tool guarantee of governance policy. It is the result of the interaction between government and public values and it reflects the final value choice in the form of policy text and tries to balance policy rationality through accurate calculation. Through the analysis of 100 government work reports and 63 community governance policy documents of the Chinese government from 2013 to 2022, it was found that “People-oriented” was the core value orientation of governance policy. “Better life” was a key target choice for governance policy. “Diversified tools” were an important implementation guarantee for governance policy. These rational choices were consistent between the central and the local governments, but there was a conflict between localities. Urban and rural community governance policies need to establish a public space between policy rationality and value selection to solve the targeting bias of policy rationality in the future. This paper solves the conflict between policy rationality and value choice using the paths of expert think tank construction, highlighting leading goals, and using technology empowerment, to adjust the tension between the two through reasonable value choice and balanced policy rationality, to achieve the goal of urban and rural community governance modernization.

Inter-state disparities in government health expenditure in India: a study of national rural health mission

PurposeThe study aims to compare India's public health expenditure at the international and state levels. The paper also empirically examines the regional disparities in NRHM spending across the 21 selected states of India.Design/methodology/approachThe tools of absolute β-and σ-convergence are used in the analysis to test the regional convergence. The average annual growth rate across the states is the dependent variable for β-convergence, and time is the second dependent variable but is used for s-convergence. In contrast, the initial value of NRHM expenditure and the coefficient of variation of NRHM expenditure are used as independent variables, respectively. Descriptive statistics are also used for the study. The data are annual and cover the panel from 2007 to 2020.FindingsThe study attests to the hypothesis of β-and σ-convergence for the selected states in the period mentioned. The observed convergence in NRHM expenditure is due to the shift in the government's attention from the non-high focus high focus states to high states through the national rural health mission policy. The coefficient of variation across the states also shows a declining trend and provides the robustness of the σ-convergence.Originality/valueAs far as the literature is concerned, none of the existing studies examines the convergence of a public health expenditure scheme like the National Rural Health Mission across the Indian states by applying the techniques of β-and σ-convergence. The novelty of the study is using the newly updated dataset and validating the convergence hypotheses in the National Rural Health Mission expenditure case.

Conceptualizing New Materialism in Geographical Studies of the Rural Realm

Geographic analysis in rural areas has been dominated in recent decades by socio-economic and socio-political perspectives. The new materialism can constitute a way of progress in rural geographical studies that involve the material and the human in the form of hybrid experiences. Materiality can be expressed in three ways: (1) the surface matter that corresponds to the traditional elements of the material rural space, (2) the materiality that would be associated with a joint and undifferentiated vision of human artefacts in a village, mainly the set of rural houses and (3) the experimental materiality that has an individual dimension, the result of the multiple processes of destruction, revival and reconstruction that simultaneously happen in one place. The experimental materiality is of the most interest for geographic analysis since it is where the materiality of the rural house and the individual are hybridized in the process of recovery of the traditional rural house. In the process of recovery of materialities, binary oppositions built in the rigid framework of modernity can be dissolved and established fluid postmodern alternatives co-produced between people and materiality. The new materialism in rural geography can be an alternative path that allows analyzing heterogeneous realities in a hybrid way and contributing in a practical context to the development of new rural policies.

The Limerick Declaration on Rural Health Care 2022.

The 19th World Rural Health Conference, hosted in rural Ireland and the University of Limerick, with over 650 participants coming from 40 countries and an additional 1600 engaging online, has carefully considered how best rural communities can be empowered to improve their own health and the health of those around them. The conference also considered the role of national health systems and all stakeholders, in keeping with the commitments made through the Sustainable Development Goals and the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health as one of the fundamental rights of every human being. This conference declaration, the Limerick Declaration on Rural Healthcare, is designed to inform rural communities, academics and policymakers about how to achieve the goal of delivering high quality health care in rural and remote areas most effectively, with a particular focus on the Irish healthcare system. Congruent with current evidence and best international practice, the participants of the conference endorsed a series of recommendations for the creation of high quality, sustainable and cost-effective healthcare delivery for rural communities in Ireland and globally. The recommendations focused on four major themes: rural healthcare needs and delivery, rural workforce, advocacy and policy, and research for rural health care. Equal access to health care is a crucial marker of democracy. Hence, we call on all governments, policymakers, academic institutions and communities globally to commit to providing their rural dwellers with equitable access to health care that is properly resourced and fundamentally patient-centred in its design.

Rural Depopulation and Empty Rural Houses in Bhutan: How Different Stakeholders Interpret the Local Term Gungtong

Internal migration has played a significant role in shifting the population from rural to urban areas worldwide. In Bhutan, rural depopulation is mostly concentrated in the country's eastern and some central parts, and is changing the rural landscape, economy, and society. In discussing rural population change, the term Gungtong is widely used in the Bhutanese media and public discourses. The literal translation of Gungtong is an empty registered house. However, Gungtong is often interpreted differently in the absence of a clear legal definition. Therefore, the primary objective of this article is to explore the various interpretations of the term Gungtong and understand its meaning. To explore this, 40 semistructured interviews with Bhutanese officials and rural residents were conducted. The study highlights that the Gungtong data gathered annually by the government are based on the administrative complexity of rural taxation policy rather than the actual departure of people from rural areas and empty houses. However, the conversation around Gungtong relates to the globally recognized issue of rural depopulation. Thus, there are discrepancies within the official dataset and between the dataset and the general understanding of the issues and implications of Gungtong. Developing a clear understanding of the term Gungtong and restructuring the data collection of empty houses will help answer some critical questions on the impact of rural depopulation in farming and the rural economy, considering Bhutan's aspiration to be food self-sufficient.

Raising sons or daughters for old age? Influence of children's gender on intergenerational family support in rural families.

Under the background of miniaturization of family size and a growing number of young and middle-aged population outflow in rural China, the study of family pension mechanism in rural China from the perspective of changes in the pension functions of son and daughter will not only help to deepen the understanding of the change rules of China's family system, but also provide important reference for the future design of rural pension system. The data come from the China Family Tracking Survey (CFPS), a nationwide social survey project runs by the Social Science Research Centre of Peking University. After excluding missing data, we obtained a valid sample of 11,207 sons and 2028 daughters in four data periods. We applied a fixed effects model for the analysis. In rural areas, sons mainly provide economic support, while daughters mainly provide life care, thus forming a gender-based division of labor. With increasing off-farm job opportunities for daughters, they provide more economic support for their parents, but the time they spend on housework for their parents is reduced. As the number of children in a family has increased, daughters' role in supporting their parents has decreased. This research shows that although the traditional son-centered pension mode in China has not completely disintegrated, it has changed significantly. The findings reveal that changes in family size and improvements in women's status are important factors in changing family support patterns. Different from the thought research about intergenerational relationship for a whole model, this article from the family internal different subjects role identity, shows the characteristics of the individual in the family, is conducive to theoretically explore the tension in the intergenerational relationship, individual and family which is helpful to understand the contemporary China's rural family generation ethics and intergenerational solidarity model. Families are classified more carefully according to the number, size and gender of children in the family, so as to fully show the heterogeneity and complexity of intergenerational relationships and old-age care models in rural families with different structural types. The discussion of the above issues has refined the description of rural family pension resources in China, which has certain reference significance for improving rural pension policies and actively dealing with the aging population.

Challenges of Rural Family Physician Policy in Iran.

As per the goals of the family physician program, it is essential to pay attention to the effectiveness and performance of FPP. Although the implementation of the FPP program is an important development in the discussion of rural health insurance and the provision of health services and referral systems in the country, the evidence suggests that by identifying challenges and taking appropriate action, this plan can be improved. This study aimed to investigate the challenges of rural Family Physician Policy (FPP) in northern Iran. This study comprised a mixed method. The former intended to identify the challenges of rural FFP using the narrative review method. To achieve a comprehensive list of challenges, a narrative review and content analysis were performed and semi-structured interviews were held with key stakeholders of FPP in the north of Iran, including physicians, managers, and policymakers. Identified challenges were categorized into eight categories including the weakness of the health insurance system, low comprehensiveness of executive guidelines, inappropriate recruitment and maintenance of human resources, weakness of cultural context, low efficacy of health information management system, poor educational effectiveness, inappropriate motivational mechanisms, and weakness of the referral system. As per the quantitative findings, "weakness of the referral system" and "inappropriate recruitment and maintenance of human resources" had the lowest and highest weaknesses, respectively. To address existing challenges in the rural FPP, a comprehensive plan of action should be developed with an emphasis on human resource management, health information management system, comprehensive rural health insurance, and legislation.

Pension System for the Rural Areas in Actual Social and Economic Conditions in China

The article first describes and analyzes China's social support measures for rural population from 1950s to nowadays. It depicts the indistinct stages of pension system institutionalization from the time it appeared and up to the present. The major Chinese society peculiarity lies in a huge gap between standards of living in the city and in the country. It has its present characteristics due to the historical environment of official employment in Chinese villages and the previous absence of social and pension governmental support as its circumstances. In the study latent periods of switching from one pension form to the others are revealed. The fact is that China's social support measures for rural population has only history of one hundred years. However different pension forms replace each other dramatically during this time while special aspects of moral issues, family relations and social structures of Chinese society complicate the situation. Various aspects of rural pension policy in China are underexplored for that moment. The paper fills this important gap and gives much attention to its social, cultural and economical aspects. Evolution of Chinese rural pension policy starts from the "Five Guarantees" system, continues with the "Baoji model" and concludes with the "New Pension System" development. This system is to equalize rural and urban pension rights in China. In conclusion due to the National Social Policy only from 2014 every Chinese rural citizen aged 60 and older has pension entitlements. This fact can indicate that the primary maturity of China’s state pension system for old-age rural population has been reached.

PRONAF's funding of tillages in the brasilian northeast: behavior of financed products during the years 2013-2021

Family farming has been gaining a new look since the 1990s. A look that has sought to characterize it in a positive way, that is, to characterize it for what it is; and no longer defining it in a negative way, that is, for what it is not, as if it were the destiny of family farming to become a large monoculture production. Thus, family farming became associated, among other factors, with food production; it have been receiveing its own rural credit policy, formalized in Pronaf. However, there have been serious questions about Pronaf's ability to meet the regional diversity of family farming and, above all, about the concentration of its resources in crops that reproduce the model of productive specialization associated with crops for export. In this sense, our article seeks to observe whether, in the case of the Northeast region, Pronaf has managed to finance crops linked to local food generally associated with diversified production. To do so, we analyzed data on agricultural funding for crops granted through Pronaf during the period from 2013 to 2021 for the Northeast region. We conclude that, although there is a diversity of crops financed by Pronaf in the Northeast, the growing share of corn cultivation in the total resources requires attention.

Rural Critical Policy Analysis: A Framework for Examining Policy Through a Rural Lens

Rural Critical Policy Analysis: A Framework for Examining Policy Through a Rural Lens

Urban - rural relations: Problems, evolution and development

The harmonious development of urban and rural areas is conducive to promoting the process of urbanization and the rapid and healthy development of economic society. Since the 20th century, from the initial confrontation between urban and rural areas to the current emphasis on urban and rural overall planning and coordinated development, the 18th National Congress once again emphasized the importance of urban and rural development and policy measures. By analyzing the present situation of the city and countryside overall plan development, this study analyzes the existing questions and constraints of the city and countryside overall plan development, and puts forward the countermeasures and proposals accordingly.

Evolution of the European Union’s policy for development of rural communities in the context of the European Green Deal strategy implementation

This article refers to development support instruments for rural communities in the European Union (EU). The author presents the systemic and strategic determinants of creation and delivery of the EU rural community policy, as well as the origins and evolution of the Union policy in the abovementioned scope. The analysis is focused on the specific institutional and financial solutions which promote sustainable development of rural communities. The article demonstrates that multi-level and multi-agent nature of the development management system in the EU affects the implementation of a neo-endogenous policy towards rural communities in the EU. The text also presents developments in the implementation of EU policy for rural communities after 2021 in the context of the implementation of the European Green Deal (EGD) strategy.

O papel das políticas de crédito rural na geração de renda agrícola na agricultura familiar do estado de Pernambuco, nordeste brasileiro - tendência espacial e cenário futuro

ABSTRACT: Agriculture is central in Brazil’s political and socioeconomic history; agricultural exploitation is mainly conducted by families, creating a type of agriculture developed in small rural properties named family farming. In Brazil, family farming accounts for a very diverse group of businesses, of which 91% of all the establishments are family establishments that build different production strategies according to different degrees of potentiality and precariousness. This study evaluated the role of rural credit policies in developing family farming activities with agricultural income generation in northeastern Brazil on various family-based farms. For this, the authors conducted a case study in Pernambuco, analyzing the spatial relationship between the distribution of family farms and the access to credit resources from the National Program to Strengthen Family Farming from 2006 to 2017 and the change probabilities in types of farms considering the next 10 years, given the maintenance of conditionsreported in the analyzed period. Results indicatedthe weakening of productive potentiality of farming activities in family farms in Pernambuco, with a significant change in the distribution of family farm types, a reduction in the participation of Specialized Farms and an expressive growth of Farms with Rural Residents. The findings also indicated the relevance of access to rural credit in the supply of production needs of different family farm types and development of farming activities with income generation.

Detecting Spatiotemporal Differences in Cropland Abandonment and Reforestation Across the Three-North Region of China Based on Landsat Time Series

The Three-North region of China is an important ecological protection area. While the depopulation of rural areas and policy intervention have allowed cropland abandonment and reforestation (CAR), the spatial distribution and temporal differences underlying this landscape pattern have not been analyzed. CAR results in the gradual disappearance of the soil signal representing tilled or harvested crops, followed by a gradual increase in the interannual vegetation signal. This long-term gradual greening can be exploited to map the spatiotemporal distribution of CAR. In this study, Landsat-based detection of trends in disturbance and recovery (LandTrendr) was applied to the 1990–2020 Landsat-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) time series. The data were combined with a differential analysis of the phenological characteristics of the surveyed area to detect land surface greening trends. The relationship with actual information on CAR was then determined. The results showed widespread long-term greening in the Three-North region, covering up to 80% of the region) during the annual growth (May–June) and harvest (September–October) periods. Together, these two periods indicated 7.5% overall greening. The highest greening intensity was in areas where cropland undergone conversion to forest, which strongly suggested CAR as the succession type. The average accuracy of CAR mapping was ~80% (mapping accuracy of a greening intensity > 0.4 was as high as 87%). This study demonstrates the utility of our method in studies of driving factors of CAR and ecological benefits of secondary forest restoration.

Making a Coastal Revolution: Farmers, Fishers, and Socialism, 1946–1959

This article reveals the uneven and locally differentiated process of the Chinese Revolution and socialist construction by examining the Chinese Communist Party's policies and their effects on coastal villages in Northeast China from 1946 to 1959. It focuses on two rural reforms conducted almost simultaneously in the area, namely land reform and fishery reform. The former shows conflicting party imperatives originating from different levels of leadership, as well as the impact of the postwar Soviet occupation on rural land policies. Fishery reform drew inspiration from land reform but also incorporated invented practices and values to win support from fishers. Although the party-state attempted to adjust its revolutionary programs to accommodate the local realities in coastal villages, tension emerged in response to changes centering on the division of labor between men and women and the pay disparity between farmers and fishers.

Discussion on Marketing Mode Innovation and Technical Support of Rural E-commerce

In the innovation of rural e-commerce marketing model, products, external and government policies are the main factors affecting innovation, such as product scale, characteristics, sales form, marketing environment, basic equipment, information technology, geographical conditions, support and participation policies, etc. Modern rural e-commerce marketing is becoming more and more intelligent, and the marketing mode has also changed from B2C, F2C and F2B to more advanced F2C2C and F2C2B. The transformation of the model requires more advanced information technology and professional support, such as e-commerce platform construction, logistics technology, mobile payment technology and big data technology. These technologies are the essential basic support for rural e-commerce marketing, and they are also an indispensable part in the innovation process of rural e-commerce marketing model.

Bibliometric Analysis in the Field of Rural Revitalization: Current Status, Progress, and Prospects

Rural areas play an important role in global sustainable development. In recent years, however, rural development has experienced global crises, such as issues in public education, health care, roads, water and sanitation, along with environmental pollution and a lack of natural resources. It is therefore important to promote rural revitalization in the process of modernization. To objectively reveal the current research status in the field of rural revitalization, we analyzed relevant publications in the Web of Science from 1991 to 2021. The results are as follows: (1) In the past 30 years, the number of publications on rural vitalization has increased, and the period from 1991 to 2021 can be divided into three stages, the initial period (1991-2004), the development period (2005-2016), and the high-yield period (2017-2021). (2) Research on rural revitalization covered 60 countries or regions around the world, involving a total of 3099 authors. China, the United States, and Canada published most of the articles. (3) High-frequency keywords were migration, management, and urbanization, indicating that scientists considered the role of sustainable urban and rural development, policy formulation, and urbanization. We highlight that for the development of the field of rural vitalization, scientists need to further strengthen theoretical research, fully absorb the development achievements of advanced countries and regions, understand the laws and trends of urban and rural development in their own countries, and explore new paths to achieve rural vitalization.

RURAL SOCIOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

This study investigated the impact of rural sociology on rural development in selected rural communities in Delta State, Nigeria's Ethiope East Local Government Area. A total of 400 rural dwellers were chosen at random from a population of 362,753 in Ethiope East, Delta State, Nigeria. Out of the 400 copies distributed, 287 were retrieved and analyzed, yielding a response rate of 71.75 percent. Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23 was used to analyze data collected using percentage, Spearman's Correlation, and linear regression analysis. The findings revealed a strong link between rural sociology and rural development. The study also found that rural sociology has a positive and statistically significant impact on rural development in Delta State, Nigeria's Ethiope east local government area. We concluded that rural sociology has a significant impact on rural development based on our findings. The study thus recommends, among other things, that the Nigerian government hire rural sociologists to help implement effective rural policies and programmemes. This will help to stimulate the development of rural communities in Nigeria.

Spatial Reconstruction and Cultural Practice of Linear Cultural Heritage: A Case Study of Meiguan Historical Trail, Guangdong, China

Linear cultural heritage is a unique and emerging type of large-scale heritage primarily located in rural areas. Despite the fact that much literature has concentrated on the importance of heritage to rural revitalization and development in Western countries, linear cultural heritage production has remained largely absent from accounts of rural studies in the context of China. This article aims to address this neglect by examining the spatial reconstruction process of the Meiguan Historical Trail. Based on the theory of the production of space, this article reveals the cultural practice of local ruling elites in mobilizing linear cultural heritage to promote regional competitiveness and how ordinary people question the official space reconstruction policy. The article finds that residents are obedient to government’s efforts, while tourists are suspicious of the superficial cultural restoration. The findings further deepen the understanding of linear cultural heritage production as a rural development location policy. In addition, as an important dynamic force, culture participates in the spatial production of linear cultural heritage, which enriches the cultural dimension of spatial production to a certain extent. The findings offer theoretical direction and policy recommendations for the development and sustainability of linear cultural heritage worldwide.

Citizen support for agri-environmental measures motivated by environmental consciousness

Citizens are indispensable stakeholders in rural social-ecological systems and public policies that affect them. For example, the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) promotes agri-environmental measures (AEMs) to reduce agricultural externalities and enhance supply of ecosystem services to benefit society, compensating farmers for incurred costs and income foregone with public money. However, studies on citizen support for AEMs are rather rare. This study assesses citizen preferences for specific AEMs with a discrete choice experiment in a rural area in Flanders, which stands as an example for densely populated, intensive agricultural landscapes. Hybrid choice modelling based on the multidimensional environmental consciousness framework revealed support and significant willingness to pay for all AEMs, although with substantial heterogeneity. Mechanical weeding and increasing nesting opportunities for bees and birds were particularly favored. The affective dimension of environmental consciousness, i.e., environmental attitude, only plays a limited role in shaping the observed preferences. The cognitive dimension is even less relevant for specific preferences. This should be considered if one aims to realize community supported policies. The study presents the applicability of hybrid choice modelling in the field of environmental economics and highlights some methodological issues.