Rural Resources Research Articles

How the Rural Digital Economy Drives Rural Industrial Revitalization—Case Study of China’s 30 Provinces

The Chinese government is implementing a rural revitalization strategy and speeding up rural modernization. The rapid development of the rural digital economy has become a new driving force for the revitalization of rural industries. By analyzing how rural industrial revitalization is driven by the rural digital economy, this study constructs a rural digital economy from the three dimensions of optimal allocation of rural resource elements, the effective connection of urban–rural markets, and the integrated development of rural industries. The entropy value method was used to assess the comprehensive level of development of the rural digital economy and industrial revitalization. Based on the agricultural and rural development data of 30 provinces in China from 2014 to 2019, we construct a dual fixed effect model to empirically analyze how the rural digital economy drives rural industrial revitalization. The results show that, first, the rural digital economy promotes the revitalization of rural industries through the following main approaches: optimal allocation and utilization of rural resources, effective connection of urban–rural markets, and industrial integration development. Second, using the benchmark regression test, it can be concluded that if the development level of the rural digital economy is increased by 1 percent, the development of rural industrial revitalization will increase by 0.066 percent, indicating that the development of the rural digital economy can significantly drive the revitalization of rural industries. Third, the driving effect of the rural digital economy on the revitalization of rural industries is heterogeneous in different regions and industrial structures. The effect of the rural digital economy on the revitalization of rural industries in the western region, the region with a high proportion of the output value of the primary industry, is higher than in the east and central regions, which have a low proportion of the output value of the primary industry.

Feasibility Analysis of Social Work Participating in Rural Revitalization in the Post Poverty Alleviation Era

Currently, China has fully built a moderately prosperous society, and poverty alleviation work has entered the "post poverty alleviation era", marking the beginning of a new stage of "consolidating and expanding the achievements of poverty alleviation and effectively connecting with rural revitalization". The involvement of social work in rural revitalization can meet the diverse and multi-level needs of rural services, help consolidate the achievements of poverty alleviation and effectively connect with rural revitalization, and promote common prosperity. Based on the SWOT model, this article analyzes the feasibility of social work participating in rural revitalization in the post poverty alleviation era: the advantages (S) are the professionalism of value theory, the systematic approach to intervention, and the theoretical perspective conforms to the concept of rural revitalization; The disadvantage (W) is that the degree of localization is low, the service means are single, and the talent team construction is in trouble; Opportunity (O) is policy support and rural revitalization requires social work participation; Risk (T) refers to excessive government control and limited resource support. The participation of social work in rural revitalization should give full play to its professionalism, improve the level of localized services, cultivate a talent team of rural social workers, revitalize rural resources, promote the joint participation of multiple entities, and improve the mechanism of government supervision and purchase of services.

Using Risk System Theory to Explore Farmers’ Intentions towards Rural Homestead Transfer: Empirical Evidence from Anhui, China

In China, rural homesteads are strategic elements for coordinating the people and land resources relationship between urban and rural regions and are powerful means for increasing the property income of farmers. The rural homestead transfer issue has always concerned policymakers. In this paper, the risk system theory framework is employed to identify risk source (risk perception), risk control (the control measures and institutions), and risk receptor (farmers’ characteristics) to explore farmers’ intentions towards rural homestead transfer from the perspective of first- and second-order observation. The results demonstrate that farmers’ intentions are significantly affected by risk source from first-order observation, and risk control and risk receptor from second-order observation. The heterogeneity of outcomes is examined by grouping of ages and regions of sampled farmers. It is suggested that the risk perception needs of farmers should be respected, land tenure of rural homesteads should be tightly protected, and farmers’ characteristics should be of great concern. Moreover, more attention should be paid to idle homesteads, and full advantage taken of rural resources to develop featured rural industries.

The optimal allocation method of resources based on the construction of rural ecological civilization

Owing to the low rate of utilization of traditional rural resources, it is impossible to allocate resources in areas with a complex agricultural structure. Therefore, this work designs a new method of resource allocation based on the construction of rural ecological civilization. In this work the optimal model of resource allocation under the construction of the rural ecological civilization is designed, the matrix of data of the evaluation index is established and the dimensionless processing is carried out. According to the gray correlation model, the degree of correlation of each evaluation index is calculated, and then the evaluation obstacle factors are calculated, to obtain the evaluation index of the optimal allocation of rural resources. On this basis, objectives of optimization of construction resources are achieved, the principles of optimization of resources are clarified, and finally the optimal allocation of resources based on the construction of rural ecological civilization is realized. The applicability of this method is verified by example analysis. The rate of utilization of rural resources under this method is high. When the regional structure is complex, it can also maintain a good resource allocation effect, demonstrating that research results are of practical importance.

ЄВРОПЕЙСЬКИЙ ШЛЯХ РОЗВИТКУ СІЛЬСЬКОГО ЗЕЛЕНОГО ТУРИЗМУ: ДОСВІД ДЛЯ УКРАЇНИ

У статті досліджено європейський досвід організації і розвитку сільського зеленого туризму. Проаналізовано сучасний стан туристичної індустрії в цілому, а також розглянуті особливості розвитку та підтримки сільського туризму у різних країнах Європи. Встановлено, що сільський зелений туризм є одним із перспективних напрямів індустрії туризму, швидкий розвиток якого обумовлено карантинними обмеженнями. З’ясовано, що сільський зелений туризм поєднує широкий спектр різних видів туризму, заснованих на використанні природних, історичних та інших особливостей сільських територій. Обґрунтовано, що розвиток зеленого туризму в Україні без урахування європейського досвіду буде неефективним. Висвітлено основні існуючі проблеми і переваги даної сфери туризму в Україні. Зроблено висновки щодо основних напрямків і перспектив організації і розвитку сільського зеленого туризму в Україні на підставі проаналізованого досвіду країн ЄС.

Analysis of Rural Governance and Resource Endowment Modeling Based on Association Rule Algorithm

At present, in the modeling and analysis of rural resource endowment, the internal relationship of elements is ignored, resulting in inaccurate judgment of governance level. Therefore, the modeling and analysis of rural governance and construction resource endowment is based on association rule algorithm. Identify the characteristics of rural governance resource elements as the information basis, design the clustering algorithm to determine the association rules and element attributes, and use the association rules algorithm to mine the internal relationship of resource endowment. Taking the information of rural governance resource endowment as the direction, the evaluation index is selected, and the rural resource endowment measurement model is constructed. The experimental results show that the modeling analysis results based on association rule algorithm are consistent with the actual governance development orientation, while the modeling analysis results based on evolution analysis algorithm and special group analysis algorithm are quite different from the actual governance development orientation. Therefore, the modeling analysis in this paper is more accurate, which is conducive to the accurate implementation of governance policies and rural planning.

Pathways toward the Transformation of Sustainable Rural Tourism Management in Central Java, Indonesia

Managing sustainable rural tourism requires a strategic transformation adapted to local conditions, the complexity of rural institutions, and the dynamics of future changes. In addition, it must be inclusive. This paper presents transformation pathways toward sustainable rural tourism management in developing countries. The general objective is to develop sustainable development strategies in the context of rural tourism. The specific objectives are to develop policy pathways and the best scenarios in this context. The study was conducted in the Kedung Ombo area in Central Java, Indonesia: a representative area involving several districts and other public organizations as stakeholders. Data analysis was performed using the MULTIPOL method. The results show that an integrated development policy that considers the interests of all stakeholders, the potential of rural resources, the infrastructure, and human resources capacity would be the optimal policy. Priority programs to be implemented are infrastructure development, strengthening private investment, strengthening governance, developing amenities, and developing information and communication technology. Furthermore, the “flight of the flamingos” and “leapfrogging” scenarios can be considered to achieve future tourism growth goals and objectives. This study is an essential resource for authorities in determining rural tourism development policies in the research location and can be applied in other areas with similar characteristics.

Educational Suggestions for Rural Revitalization

The release of the National 14th Five Year Plan in 2022 has made people realize the importance of coordinated urban-rural development from a strategic perspective. In the current period, a large number of rural areas have failed to develop in sync with cities, and the "rural disease" is becoming increasingly severe. The low efficiency of talent resource output and cultivation in rural areas is a major reason. Rural revitalization should take the lead in educating and cultivating rural talents, making up for the shortcomings of talents, and providing a continuous internal driving force for rural revitalization. Secondly, the optimization of rural resources and educational concepts can optimize the human environment and supporting policies, increase rural economic capacity from the inside out, and thus achieve the goal of attracting and retaining talents. In this way, continuous upgrading and transformation of rural industries can be achieved through talent, thereby promoting high-quality and orderly rural revitalization. In this paper, the qualitative research method is used to analyze and study the rural revitalization, and the educational factors affecting rural revitalization are obtained by literature survey and field research. Ultimately, solutions can be proposed by analyzing the problem.

Cecilia Tacoli (ed). The Earthscan Reader in Rural-Urban Linkages. London / Sterling, VA: Earthscan. 329 pages. Hardbound. Indian Rs 995.00.

The linkages between ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ locations, people, and activities contribute significantly to livelihoods and act as engines of economic, social, and cultural transformation. There is an increased interest among officials and policy-makers to better understand the opportunities and constraints that these linkages offer. Divided into five parts, the fifteen chapters, of this book bring special attention to the impact of rural-urban linkages on different aspects of sustainable development. Chapter 1 presents an analysis of recent census data, with special attention to small urban centres. David Satterthwaite argus that the rural and urban divide misses the extent to which rural households rely on urban incomes, while many urban households in low-income nations rely on rural resources and a reciprocal relationship with rural households. There is a need to forget this divide and see all settlements as being within a continuum with regard to both their population size and the extent of their non-agricultural economic base.

Cow dung extract mediated green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles for agricultural applications

In the present study, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO) were synthesized using cow dung extract to apply sustainable agriculture from rural resources. Studies on their antibacterial potential against E. coli DH 5 alpha indicated lower antimicrobial activities than the bulk Zn and commercial Zn nanoparticles. Compared with control and commercial ZnO nanoparticles, the maximum seed germination, root length, and shoot length were observed after the priming of synthesized ZnO NPs. This study suggests that ZnO may significantly increase seed germination and have lower antimicrobial potential. Further, the lower in-vitro cellular leakage and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production provided new hope for using cow dung extract mediated nanoparticles for agricultural and industrial applications.

Behavior Change in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene: A 100-Year Perspective

Abstract The current methodological paradigm for addressing water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) inaccessibility in rural sub-Saharan Africa is achieving insufficient progress. This essay evaluates WaSH-related policy, programming, and discourse from 1918 to 2021 to identify how this paradigm evolved and how it may reform. I argue that political–economic environments have strongly influenced existing sectoral praxis, shaping both programmatic methods and means. Colonial occupations generated rural–urban material inequalities, which were maintained and exacerbated during postwar reconstruction (1950–1970) and the proliferation of neoliberalism (1970–1990s). Meanwhile, modernization theory, a fundamental feature of colonial thought, has persisted discursively and practically. That is, rural resource limitations led WaSH practitioners to promote lower-cost appropriate technologies in the 1980s. Then, with challenges regarding technological disuse and misuse, behavior change–oriented methodologies responsively emerged in the 2000s and continue today. Yet, much like colonial predecessors, this latter turn presupposes that its programmatic benefactors must adapt to access WaSH services. Behavior change programs thus fail to critically consider the role of technological inadequacies and associated risk exposures in perpetuating existing inequities. Investigation of utility-style service models, where WaSH services adapt to the lives of its benefactors and behavioral persuasion is substituted for nonuser technological management, is recommended.

Foreign presence in the Southwest French countryside. Contribution of recent initiatives to the social and economic diversification of rural areas

Less studied and documented than in the cities, the presence of foreigners in the French countryside remains more discreet and often unknown today. However, new international migrations are crossing rural areas, thus adding to previous movements. In rural southwestern France, our statistical analysis, based on census data obtained from INSEE and available since 1968, reveal their spatial distribution and the process of social diversification at work. This process has led us to question contemporary rural dynamics through the prism of international migration. Whether the migrants encountered in the framework of the CAMIGRI program surveys act directly in the development of new economic and social initiatives, or contribute to their genesis and development, their presence and their point of settlement significantly interfere with the trajectory and the evolutions of certain characteristic of rural places. In the Vienne, the Dordogne and the Ariège, a cross-analysis of three recent initiatives provides food for thought on the emergence of innovative forms of rural entrepreneurship. These types of entrepreneurship have in common that they are situated in the field of arrival of foreigners in rural areas: either through a specific activity (agriculture), or through the creation of services that allow for integration, accompaniment, emergency or permanent welcome. Thus, the anchoring of foreigners, which is part of the current rural dynamics, can be seen as a real perspective of endogenous development and innovation that enhances rural resources by relying on local territorial configurations.Keywords: international migration, territorial anchorage, entrepreneurship, resource, rural

Breaking Down Barriers

In the Kootenay region of British Columbia (BC), mining has historically been a male dominated sector. Natural resource dependent communities, such as those found in the Kootenay region, have traditionally lacked employment opportunities for women. In addition, women choosing to pursue careers in the mining sector can face numerous challenges. As part of the larger Regional Workforce Development in Rural BC project, this research focuses on ways to build a more gender diverse mining workforce in the Kootenay region. Building connections to planning theory and practice in the region, the paper investigates the opportunities available to women in rural resource communities, and the challenges they face regarding employment in the mining sector. Results show that in the Kootenay region there may be a shift occurring in mining company culture. More progressive policies and respectful workplace culture, combined with gender-oriented planning initiatives, appear to create a more gender inclusive mining sector. The results also show significant challenges associated with social infrastructure and supports, specifically a lack of child care spots, high rental and real estate prices, and the lack of opportunities for further education for women who want to enter the Kootenay mining workforce.

An Analysis on the Determining Factors of Farmers’ Land-Scale Management: Empirical Analysis Based on the Micro-Perspective of Farmers in China

In the context of continuous improvement in China’s land system, the development of the rural economy is insufficient, and the growth of farmers’ income lacks sustainable momentum. The development of the internet and agricultural socialization services has had a huge impact on farmers’ land-scale management. In particular, the proliferation of internet technology in rural areas could affect farmers’ use of agricultural socialization services and increase farmers’ willingness to operate their land on a large scale. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence on the impact of the internet and agricultural socialization services on farmers’ land-scale management decisions. This study constructs a probit model using the cross-sectional data of the nationally representative CFPS2018, and empirically tests the influencing factors of farmers’ land-scale management decisions and the mechanism of heterogeneity. The research results show that, first, the popularity of the internet significantly promoted farmers’ decisions towards land rented-out, but has no significant impact on land rented-in; second, agricultural socialization services are significantly negatively correlated with farmers’ decisions towards land rented-out, but the internet may moderate this inhibitory effect and has an incentive effect on farmers’ land rented-in; third, the results of heterogeneity analysis show that the impact of the internet and agricultural socialization services on farmers’ land-scale management decisions vary with income levels and regions. Therefore, the policy direction should focus on making “internet + agriculture” and agricultural socialization services benefit all farmers, to more effectively improve the efficiency of rural land use and promote the optimal allocation of rural resources.

Smart Tourist Village—An Entrepreneurial Necessity for Maramures Rural Area

The necessity of entrepreneurship in rural area is an actual one. A smart entrepreneurial variant of contemporary village’s development could be “the smart tourist village”, to capitalize rural resources. Thus, in this research we come to a variant of contemporary village’s development, respectively “smart tourist village”, which is the basic idea of the work. To demonstrate that the notion of “smart tourist village” can be a future idea of sustainable rural entrepreneurship the steps undertaken were: the identification of the representative aspects of the villages from Maramures and of their specific resources presentation of the specific aspects; the study also made a quantitative presentation of the rural tourism infrastructure from Maramures by localities; and identifies the perception and “vision” of tourists and owners of tourist structures about Maramures tourist village as an innovative solution with benefits for tourists and locals. The information collected by using the method of qualitative case study served to sketch a possible projection such as “smart tourist village” taking into account the possible costs, return on investment, possible design and advantages.

Research on the Development Level of Rural E-Commerce in China Based on Analytic Hierarchy and Systematic Clustering Method

The development of rural e-commerce in China has important economic, social, cultural, and ecological values, which is conducive to the sustainable development of rural areas, the efficient use of rural resources, and the comprehensive development of farmers. This paper aims to establish a comprehensive evaluation index system for the development level of rural e-commerce, use the analytic hierarchy method to determine the weights of each level, and conduct cluster analysis of the development level of provinces through the systematic clustering method. The results show that: (1) Infrastructure, digital management, digital governance, technological innovation, and talent cultivation are all important factors affecting the development level of rural e-commerce, of which infrastructure construction, digital business expansion, and e-commerce talent cultivation are more important. (2) Overall, the development level of rural e-commerce in China’s provinces presents such a pattern: Beijing, Guangdong, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Fujian are comprehensively leading; Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Tibet are developing rapidly, and the rest of the provinces are developing and growing. (3) The Yangtze River Delta region is the region with the most active development level of rural e-commerce in China. The development of rural e-commerce in China is characterized by the south being better than the north and the east better than the west. The findings of this study can provide a basis for evaluating the level of rural e-commerce in various provinces in China, and provide guidance for the development of rural e-commerce in various provinces to achieve high-quality development in the next step.

Evaluation and Application of Environmental Value of Rural Land Resources Based on Improved GIS System

As the basis and material source of human production and life, land is an important part of natural resources. With the deepening of the concept of sustainable development, more and more attention has been paid to the sustainable development of land use. Reasonable assessment of land resources and environment is the premise of accelerating agricultural infrastructure construction, optimizing ecological environment construction, and rationally disposing land use structure. This paper proposes an evaluation method of rural land resources and environment based on the improved GIS system and takes Lingshan County as an example, based on the powerful spatial processing and rich spatial query and analysis capabilities of GIS, to analyze the current situation and sustainable development of its land use. It has established a representative and operable evaluation index system, which has certain reference significance for rural land and environmental evaluation.

The Politics of Governing Resilience: Gendered Dimensions of Climate-Smart Agriculture in Kenya

This paper uses climate-smart agriculture (CSA) in Kenya as an empirical entry point for investigating how climate actions reshape or reinforce gender relations, and how they are aimed at improving local resilience that is nested in such relations. While enhancing national food security, CSA practices could however reproduce inequitable power relations, such as gendered authority relations that produce vulnerability and inequalities. Equity and knowledge represent particularly contested aspects of CSA because it largely fails to address who wins and who loses from such interventions, who are able to participate while others are excluded, and whose knowledge and perspectives count in decision-making processes. Gender relations provide a stark illustration of the way that CSA fails to address how enduring inequalities of access in both production and consumption shape who is rendered vulnerable to climate change and who is left food insecure. In this paper, we treat CSA projects as a site of tensions between stability and contestation of gender relations, brought into view through moments where practices and knowledges are (re)shaped. We first review the concepts of authority, recognition, and resilience as a framework to understand how gendered inequalities and struggles over rights to resources are perpetuated within adaptation and resilience responses to climate variability. We analyze evidence from past studies regarding rural adaptation processes and gender dimensions in CSA projects to identify how such projects may modify the space for renegotiating inequitable gender relations. We approach gender relations as authority relations that are constantly internalized, resisted, and contested through practices and interactions between different actors associated with CSA projects, and the different knowledges that direct these practices. The examination focuses on Kenya as an empirical context to gain sufficient depth in understanding the social and political processes in which climate actions and gender relations are nested, enabling us to identify key points of intersection within these two themes. In addition, gendered dimensions of rural resource governance and adaptation are relatively well-described in Kenya, providing lessons for how climate actions can become more gender-responsive.

Research on the Path for Social Work Stations to Participate in Rural Governance Under the Background of Rural Revitalization

“Effective governance” is one of the problems of rural revitalization, but at present, there are some problems in rural governance, such as lack of governance body, suspension of township government and administration of village branch committees. The values of social work are highly compatible with social governance. Under the guidance of embedding perspective, social work stations, by embedding into the original administrative system, give full play to their professional advantages, excavate rural resources and coordinate multiple subjects to participate in rural governance. Solve the complex problems of rural governance, promote the development and growth of rural endogenous power, and realize the modernization of rural governance.

Social Isolation and Safety Issues among Rural Older Adults Living Alone: Perspectives of Meals on Wheels Programs

ABSTRACT Ensuring the safety and social well-being of rural populations, especially rural older adults living alone with complex medical conditions, is challenging, given large, sparsely populated communities and limited resources. Using qualitative data from surveys with 42 rural Meals on Wheels programs from across the U.S., we highlight particular challenges to meeting the social and safety needs of rural older adults living alone. Respondents described challenges, opportunities, and successes in meeting the needs of their clients. We describe these under four domains: main challenges, what can be done to address social isolation and loneliness, safety issues, improving safety, and current successes. We also identify cross-cutting themes related to programs’ rural environment (long distances, inclement weather), infrastructure (housing quality, access to broadband Internet and technological connectivity, road conditions), funding and resource availability, and service provision (availability of health care and partner organizations.) We describe each of these in more detail and also share policy recommendations for improving health and safety of older adults living alone in rural areas, including funding nutrition programs as a health benefit and addressing aging, poor-quality housing stock.