Rural Policy Makers Research Articles

Farm adaptive business strategies in crisis management: COVID-19

The global COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted businesses worldwide, with rural businesses being no exception. This study examines the effects of the global crisis on upland farmers in England. It builds on the under-researched area of constrained rural entrepreneurship. Institutional theory is applied as a theoretical lens to understand how crisis events shape the constrained institutional contexts in which farm businesses strategically navigate. Using a qualitative, multiple case study approach, we explore how different farmers, traditionalist and entrepreneurial, have strategically responded to the aftermath of crisis-influenced constraints. Our findings highlight the importance of business strategy—particularly farm diversification—in helping farmers navigate these challenges. We provide a conceptual framework, the Farm Crisis Adaptation Framework, (FCAF) that theorizes farmer adaptation strategies in response to crisis situations. Our findings indicate a greater needed for rural policymakers to help develop the strategic entrepreneurship skillsets of farmers—helping farmers to future-proof their businesses against uncertainties. Moreover, investment is needed in the local and regional economy, establishing a conducive environment supportive of farm development strategies.

Negotiating the representations of the village in socialist Czechoslovakia

Abstract This study deals with shared ideas about the countryside and its inhabitants during the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. It identifies the most significant sources of contemporary representations of the rural. These include, besides historical ideas pre-dating the regime, the party-state itself, expert structures, the arts, and pop culture. In many cases, representations encompassed efforts to transform the countryside, or society, or to maintain the status quo, and, following de Certeau, we can consider such activities to be strategies. On the other hand, villagers approached these representations and strategies using their own tactics. This study demonstrates that rural policymaking was not just in the hands of power structures; the effects it had depended a great deal on the dominated rural inhabitants.

Rural parents’ adherence to infant feeding guidelines to prevent allergy: a cross sectional study in New South Wales

BackgroundResponding to international research showing that early introduction of common food allergens can reduce the chance of developing allergies, in 2016 the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA) revised allergen introduction guidelines, recommending earlier introduction of allergens to infants in their first year. Australia has high food allergy rates, and limited understanding of adherence to allergen introduction guidelines, especially in rural areas. This project explored rural parent adherence to ASCIA guidelines.MethodsThis was a mixed method cross sectional study using an online survey including multiple-choice and qualitative short answer responses. The sample were 336 women from two rural health districts in New South Wales. All were aged 18 or over, and either pregnant or had delivered a baby since July 2018. Descriptive statistics were used to measure behavioural alignment with the recommended guidelines, thematic analysis was used to analyse attitudes and explanations.ResultsIn 84.3% of children, feeding adhered to all four guidelines studied, including no elimination of allergens during pregnancy (98%), age of introduction of solids (97.7%), continuation of breast milk/cow’s milk formula during introduction of solids (95%), and age of introduction of allergens (92.9%). Adherence was not significantly correlated with the education (X2 = 17.9, P = .056), prior history of allergy [neither mother (X2 = 0.945,P = .623) nor previous children (X2 = 0.401,P = .818)], or primary care received during pregnancy. More than 90% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the guidelines are realistic, trustworthy, and important for the health of their child. However, thematic analysis revealed that parents’ perceptions of a child’s individual progress, and medical conditions or other circumstances, such as challenges with breastfeeding, will often take precedence over adherence to specific guideline recommendations.ConclusionsHigh rates of adherence with ASCIA guidelines found here are comparable with findings from metropolitan studies and encouraging for future population health. Participant comments on the guidelines imply to rural policymakers that there are multiple influences on parent decisions about infant feeding, often including parents’ own intuition and experiences. Further studies to improve understanding of the role of information, carers, and other influences on parent decision-making concerning feeding attitudes and behaviours will be necessary to optimise adherence in rural areas.

Does telecommuting influence homeownership and housing choice? Evidence based on pre-pandemic data

Telecommuting has become widespread during the pandemic and are expected to become mainstream work culture in the post-pandemic era. By applying a three-step Instrumental Variable analysis to the 2009 and 2017 U.S. National Household Travel Surveys, this study analyzes the impact of telecommuting on homeownership and housing type choices. Results show that, households with telecommuters are more likely to be homeowners and to live in detached or duplex houses compared to their counterparts. These effects are especially prominent for middle-aged (30–55) households. Relying on robust and national representative historical data before the COVID-19 pandemic, this study provides convincing evidence on how telecommuting affects people’s housing decisions and thus has important implications for understanding the fast-evolving housing markets in the post-pandemic era when a growing number of telecommuters look for homeownership and extract spaces to accommodate home office. It will provide important guidance for revisiting existing housing policies for both urban and rural policymakers to meet the new demand and preferences.

Transforming Rural Foodscapes Through Festivalization: A Conceptual Model

This article conceptualizes the transformative potential of food festivals for rural foodscapes. The study elaborates on the ideas behind the term “festivalization.” It seeks to understand the potential impacts of festivals on the spatial surroundings rather than the opposite, which is most frequently seen in the research on rural food festivals. Festivalization describes a process where transformative forces that trickle into the rural foodscape can be seen as continuance and incentives for change. The article introduces the following paradigmatic lenses through which festivalization and rural transformation can be observed: (1) resource redefinition, (2) upstream mobilizing, (3) spatial interlinking, (4) insubordinative activism, (5) reciprocal mediatizing, (6) redistributive commodification, (7) disruptive incorporatizing, and (8) persistent emotionalizing. When activated, the rural foodscape becomes a site for integrative identity, where festivals have transformative power. Examples from the academic literature and practice sources illustrate the points. The article outlines implications for both further studies and rural policy-making.

The Spatial Association of Rural Human Settlement System Resilience with Land Use in Hunan Province, China, 2000–2020

In China, the rural human settlement system (RHSS) reflects the relationship between rural people and land but is affected by land use and land cover change (LUCC). Maintaining a harmonious development between RHSS resilience (RHSSR) and LUCC is an important rural development issue. However, the spatial association between LUCC and RHSSR remains unclear, constraining effective land use and rural policymaking. The association between RHSSR and LUCC was assessed from a spatial perspective. Using county-level spatial panel data for Hunan Province, China (2000–2020), an evaluation indicator system was established to measure RHSS and analyze the spatiotemporal evolution of RHSSR using a geospatial analysis and geodetector model. The average RHSSR level increased from 0.158 to 1.406. The RHSSR generally presented a three-level stepped spatial distribution feature of high in the east and low in the west, with a belt-like distribution. Additionally, the RHSSR was consistent with land use intensity (LUI), but there was significant spatial heterogeneity in the spatial relationship between LUI and RHSSR. The evolution of RHSSR occurred through industrial development, medical service improvement, increased income, and environmental protection. This has important implications for future rural development strategies, the sustainable development of rural land, and the integration of RHSS into regional planning.

Governing the rural futures: Anxiety machine, anticipatory actions and rural affective politics

Regional revitalisation ideas are widely regarded as cures for socio-economic problems in rural areas in developed countries. Instead of relying on exogenous resources, the concept seeks to revalorise rural communities through cultural resources and self-responsibility. Such an approach to rural development has gained rapid popularity across East Asian regions over the past decade. Rather than merely focusing on the movement of people and ideas, a growing body of literature on policy mobility directs more attention to the power relations of the movement. However, less attention has been paid to how rural futures are anticipated and acted upon and how policies that have implemented specific futures elsewhere are justified. To address these theoretical gaps, this paper draws on the work of future geographies and develops the idea of the anxiety machine. I suggest that the study of policy mobility must seriously consider how rural futures are imagined and governed, and what rural affective politics emerged from the enactment of particular futures. With reference to a case study of rural revitalisation policy learning in Taiwan and Japan, this paper suggests that an emphasis on the circulation of global anticipatory knowledge advances the understanding of the geographies of rural policy-making.

Incorporation policies in diversifying rural localities in Italy: challenges and opportunities

Rural areas in Italy are not entirely new to international immigration, but they recently experienced a huge diversification of flows, including labour and amenity migrants and, due to relocation strategies, asylum-seekers and refugees. In places with limited resources and experience of diversity, such processes can originate new challenges, but also new opportunities. Therefore, this work investigates incorporation policies of Italian rural municipalities with quantitative and qualitative methods. First, k-medians clustering is used to classify rural municipalities according to immigration patterns and to better understand their immigrant policy activism. Second, semi-structured stakeholders' interviews are performed to explore actual practices of active rural municipalities. Results show how rural policymakers can develop alternative and innovative strategies to deal with incorporation, but these have different outcomes according to local opportunity structures and contexts of immigration.

The role of women in United Kingdom farm businesses

The global empowerment of women has been, and remains to be, a continuing issue, especially within the workplace. The agribusiness industry is no exception, where continuation of gender bias and stereotypes positions women as under-represented. Whilst the significance of women in farm businesses is evidenced, their relative invisibility in policy discourse is clear, despite the number of women developing careers in the industry increasing. This qualitative study examines the self-identified roles of women in United Kingdom (UK) farm businesses by interviewing individual participants in the sector (n = 8). The literature highlights four roles: the farmer, farm manager, off-farm income careerist and entrepreneur with an on-farm diversified business which forms a theoretical framework to structure the interviews. Findings show five emergent self-identification of role characterisations as being the mother, a decision-maker, a supporter, a labourer and an entrepreneur within a personal role profile. Thus, whilst externally identified roles consider women's status and contribution in a siloed job role structure, the multiplicity of roles that women undertake are much more nuanced and contiguous. The research contribution is an understanding of the variance and multiplicity of tasks undertaken which indicate the extensive work and contributory efforts that women instinctively provide to the farming business and the farm household structure. Findings contribute by establishing a new conceptualisation of the contributions of women to farm businesses informing rural policymakers, to consider the roles of women at farm household level rather than simply focussing on the gender characteristics of the principal farmer.

The Link between Internet Activity and Community Experience in Rural Utah ☆

The Link between Internet Activity and Community Experience in Rural Utah ^☆

Agricultural Holdings’ Impact on the Rural Development. Case Study: Romania

Associative forms represent a part of the agricultural producers’ manifestation, with long-term impact on rural development. Considering the current dimension and the cultural-organizational baggage, the authors aim to carry out an impact study on the contribution of agricultural holding companies to rural development. This objective is to be achieved through prospective analysis methods based on a structured questionnaire, which allows for statistical tests of the variables’ frequency and representativeness and econometric modelling of rural development efficiency in relation to independent variables related to the organizational custom and economic outputs of organizations. The results of the study aim at identifying the vulnerabilities that hinder the maximization of the function of the agricultural holding companies (the economic development) and treating these vulnerabilities through some concrete measures according to the modelling results. The study is useful for rural policy makers and trainers in any country in the world.

Why rural development policies have not contributed to rural development in Iran

ABSTRACT Despite rural development policies (RDP) being changed to facilitate development processes, rural areas still suffer from low development levels in developing countries, including rural Iran after 72 years of development planning experience. This article presents findings from a content analysis of Iran’s rural development policies over the past three decades to explore why RDPs have not contributed to rural development to examine issues and challenges. Results suggest the dominance of top-down, sectorial and centralised rural policymaking, although the government has tried to turn towards integrated spatial, place- and people-based policies. Although RDPs are intended to develop rural areas, results show rural Iran still suffers from low-level development, depopulation, economic and livelihood instability, limited economic opportunities, and low quality-of-life. Such rural conditions are due to factors beyond RDPs.

Appropriate policy-making for rural regions management in Iran

The development of rural areas, from various aspects, has always been of interest for researchers in less developed communities. These studies, according to the way governments look at development issues, have led the governments to make decisions and implement plans for how to manage rural areas (called politics); the process of studying, planning, as well as making decision and ultimately implementation in the rural environment is called rural policy-making. In Iran, different decisions have always been made to develop rural areas. In this study, we sought to identify the characteristics of policy-making and governance of rural areas and to understand the causes of their inefficiency in order to provide an appropriate model for policy-making and management of rural areas in Iran. Using thematic analysis, the themes of policy-making for managing the rural areas of Iran were investigated. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and studying the related documents. The findings showed three categories of pervasive themes: contexts; influential factors, and outcome dimensions. These three shape the basic concepts and organize themes for appropriate policy-making. In fact, based on the results, policy is appropriate for managing Iran's rural areas; it pays attention to the context and specific characteristics of the rural identity and environment, considers the role of external factors in decision-making and policy outcomes, is aware of the consequences of the previous policies, and leads to stability in policies.

Digital design and technology and market outreach in rural Zimbabwe

Despite producing top of the range products and services, entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe's rural Gokwe face limited access to markets. Access to local and regional trading markets is further aggravated by inadequate technological infrastructure and financial resources to carry out business activities. Aim: This article investigates the role of digital design and technology in expanding market outreach in Zimbabwe. Methods: A mixed methods research design was adopted. The qualitative data, obtained from semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion, was analysed through thematic analysis. The quantitative data was obtained from the administration of a questionnaire and used to corroborate the findings of the qualitative tool. Results: The findings revealed that while digital design and technology had little effect on identifying entrepreneurial opportunities and communicating with potential customers in Gokwe, there were clear signs that plans were being made to integrate digital technology and internet connectivity in at least one sector of the rural economy of the district. Implications: The findings may provide vital information for rural entrepreneurs and policymakers looking to benefit from the digital revolution. Recommendation: The paper encourages the use of digital marketing and advertising to take advantage of entrepreneurial opportunities.

Sociocultural vitality versus regulation policy and tourism development in preservation of traditional rural landscape: a case from Guizhou, China

ABSTRACT The preservation of traditional rural landscape and community is affected not only by exogenous driving factors such as top-down policy and tourism industry, but by endogenous driving factors derived from the rural social and cultural context. The mechanism and performance of various forces has rarely been studied before. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of exogenous versus endogenous driving forces influencing rural landscape preservation from community level to individual level through a case of Tunpu villages in southwest China. Field mapping and analysis are conducted, expert scoring and questionnaire survey data are adopted, and OLS regressions are combined with qualitative analysis in this study. The results show that: 1) at community level, the socio-cultural vitality is strongly and positively correlated with the traditional rural landscape integrity; 2) at individual level, endogenous driving factors (i.e. human–environment connection and community-based organization) have more general and positive effects on residents’ cognition, willingness, and behavior toward traditional rural landscape preservation comparing with the exogenous driving factors (i.e. top-down regulation policy and tourism development); resident’s cognition, willingness, and behavior are homogenous despite different genders, occupations, and education levels. Our findings highlight the importance of community-based endogenous forces in promoting the preservation of traditional rural landscape. We also discuss the necessity of internal rural capacity building as well as the opportunities for a more inclusive neo-endogenous development strategy for future rural landscape preservation, policy-making, and tourism development. Overall, we hope to help promoting sustainable rural landscape preservation and utilization.

Seeing is believing: sites/sights of agricultural improvement in Germany (1840–1914)

AbstractThis article explores the visual culture of rural improvement in Germany, manifested in agricultural exhibitions, model farms and test plots. It argues that, following the English example, nineteenth-century experts increasingly believed that such material sites were the most effective way to persuade small farmers to embrace change and increase productivity. The presumption was that farmers were habitually keen observers who preferred to learn by seeing and that visual displays would alleviate their characteristic mistrust and build confidence in scientific advisers. The fact that these efforts coincided with the professionalisation of agronomy, the increased influence of scientists in rural policymaking and the rise of elite agricultural institutions revises the existing narrative of the spread of agricultural knowledge in Germany. Based on archival evidence from north-western Prussia, it is clear that many small cultivators responded enthusiastically to these sites, defying stereotypes of ‘dull-wittedness’ and ingrained suspicion of the new.

Rural Governmentality in Alberta: A Case Study of Neoliberalism in Rural Canada

Rural communities in Canada have faced a long history of capital and labour flight, resource extraction, and political marginalization. At the same time, despite decades of efforts toward rural development and economic/social diversification, there is little evidence of change or improved resilience in rural Canada. This article seeks to examine this lack of change against the backdrop of that developmental history, and the underlying logics that have informed rural policy-making. Focusing on Alberta, this paper argues that rural communities face a third phase of developmental approaches embedded within a neoliberal governmentality, one that emphasizes equality of opportunity, competition, capacity-building, and collaboration. This approach is simultaneously situated within a broader neoliberal objective of defining both citizens and rural communities as economic actors. In turn, this article examines the scope, scale, and role of energy and agricultural investments as a demonstration of how neoliberal governmentality structures not only how rural development is framed, but constructs economic agency for rural communities as “the only game in town” for the very populations that bear the costs. As a result, the historical failure of rural development is unlikely to change, yet, rather than be understood as problematic, will increasingly be seen as a failure on the part of rural communities themselves.

Interpreting vernacular space in Ireland: a new sensibility

ABSTRACTPerformative analysis of the use of landscape strategies in pre-industrial vernacular architecture indicates that there is more design agency involved in the creation of these environments than conventional and historical interpretations would suggest. The development of this interpretation, referred to here as the Utilitarian-Landscape approach, has been described in the Irish architecture media as pioneering because it posits a counter-reading to typological classifications of vernacular architecture. Moreover, it challenges the entrenched scenic understanding of vernacular architecture’s relationship to landscape that underpins rural policymaking in Ireland. However, the limitations—indeed the dangers—of these two expressions of vernacular architecture, the typological and the scenic, have already started to be recognised in much emerging scholarship and practice. This article considers aspects of this scholarship and practice context in light of the Utilitarian-Landscape investigation, and points to a shift in approach to understanding vernacular environments and a new sensibility towards rurality in Ireland.

HOW MIGRANTS FROM CITIES BECOME POTENTIAL INNOVATORS IN KOREAN RURAL COMMUNITIES

Since 2010 there were more migrants from urban center to rural area due to the increase of retirees population and willingness to seek alternative lifestyles to a neo-liberal society. By this migrants movement, rural policy makers expected and considered as a new source of labor to supplement the farming industry and to vitalize social activities in rural society, and to provide organizational ability to systemize rural projects in order to cope with a changing environment. However, it is not quite clear how these migrants may bring about changes in farming and in local communities. This paper will discuss the conditions and potentiality of these migrants in relation to farming projects. The paper argued that most migrants were well-educated, innovators for new farming practices, market oriented, tend to engage in health food production, and emphasize on eco-farming or environmentally friendly farming. As newcomers they have limitations in regards to farming technology, knowledge, physical power and land holdings. In regards to eco-friendly farming, they seem to be influenced more by NGOs and governmental support for organic farming. The migrants who do not farm mostly involved in village projects during the course of implementation. It was concluded that the migrants were very valuable assets to rural community and play a crucial role in putting together various interest groups in villages and establishing income-generating projects so that villagers can start being optimistic about their future.

Critical environmental dynamics: barriers restraining business growth in rural areas of southern region of KwaZulu-Natal province

The study intends to examine the understanding and awareness of environmental dynamics and their implications of rural SMEs in the southern region of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province. The study was conducted within the rural areas of the Southern region of KZN province, using quantitative research methods. The sample for the study consisted of 150 owners/managers of SMEs. The respondents were selected using quota sampling and required to complete a research questionnaire, with an interviewer present to assist. The research instrument consisted of closed-ended questionnaires made up of 5 point Likert scale responses and questionnaires were distributed to five selected areas in rural Southern region of KZN province. The research findings indicate the size of local market is very small to sell their products; poor infrastructure has an impact on their business growth, lack of financial support, as well as tough government regulations, just to mention the few. This study provides both theoretical and practical implications for rural entrepreneurs and policy-makers. The study presents a number of recommendations, including a conceptual growth model for rural SMEs. Keywords: enveronmental dynamics, rural areas, business growth, SMEs. JEL Classification: Q56, R11, O44