Showing papers on "Rural area published in 1978"

Rural poverty and agricultural performance in India

Abstract: Time-series evidence on rural poverty over the past two decades in India is examined. In general, the time series shows a pattern of fluctuation, with the incidence of poverty falling during periods of good agricultural performance and rising during periods of bad performance. The incidence of poverty in all of India is inversely related to agricultural performance measured in terms of agricultural NDP per rural person. This correlation between poverty and agricultural performance suggests that faster agricultural growth might have led to reduced poverty rates. The state level analysis demonstrates a similar significant inverse relationship in at least seven states, accounting for 75 percent of the rural poor. On the other hand, state level analysis also shows that there may be a process at work in the rural economies that tends to increase poverty over time. The existence of an underlying force within the rural economy is extremely important. The nature of these forces, their variation across states, and technique to mitigate their effects require further analysis. Statistical data are included. 20 references.

The role of urban‐to‐rural remittances in rural development

Abstract: One of the effects of rural‐to‐urban migration is the return of money and resources by the migrants to their respective home areas. Recently, it has been argued by several authors that such remittances represent a significant means for removing supply constraints to improved productivity in agriculture. In this paper the authors examine critically the available evidence on the rural impact of remittances. Subjects covered in the paper include the extent of the urban‐to‐rural remittances, the determinants of such financial flows and the use made in the rural areas of the money received. The paper concludes there is little evidence that urban‐rural remittances have been a significant means to rural economic development.

Agropolitan development: towards a new strategy for regional planning in Asia.

Abstract: The contours of a possible new planning paradigm are beginning to emerge. Its primary objective is social development with focus on specific human needs. According to this paradigm development must be fitted to ecological constraints. Priority attention in agrarian economies must be given to rural development and planning for rural development must be decentralized participatory and deeply immersed in the particulars of local settings. Planning will have to be based on qualitative judgments as much as on quantitative techniques and its style will have to be transactive. The intention here is to propose a spatial model for the emerging paradigm. In the 1st part of the discussion the results of the strategy of accelerated industrialization in India Indonesia West Malaysia the Philippines the Republic of Korea and Thailand are assessed. The 2nd section considers the question of a spatial policy for implementing the new strategy. Rising import prices declining export markets and deteriorating terms of trade combine to make strategy 1 inoperative as a guide to the future. One can look forward to a period when starvation will become general endemic subsistence survival in the countryside will no longer be overshadowed by relatively better living conditions in the city and when the economic environment even in the metropolis starts to deteriorate. For all these reasons a case can be made for a reassessment of national development strategies. The following policy elements should be included on the agenda: limited and specific human needs should replace unlimited generalized wants as the fundamental criterion of successful national development; agriculture should be regarded as a leading sector of the economy; attaing self sufficiency in domestic food production should be considered a high priority objective; existing inequalities in income and living conditions between social classes and between urban and rural areas should be reduced; facilitative measures to increase production of wage goods for domestic consumption should be given high priority; a policy of planned industrial dualism should be adopted whereby small scale production for the domestic market is protected against competition from large scale capital intensive enterprise. A strategy which incorporates these elements shall be called a strategy of accelerated development or strategy 2. None of the 6 countries under study have as yet committed themselves to the strategy of accelerated rural development and policy criteria will have to be invented in a vacuum of relevant experience. Statements regarding what a strategy of accelerated rural development would hope to achieve are outlined. The policy framework for agropolitan development envisions creating "cities in the fields" by embedding some of the key elements of urbanism in dense rural areas of limited size. The agropolitan district appears as the appropriate unit for devising a policy of spatial development through decentralized planning and decision making.

An epidemiological study of headache in an urban and a rural population in northern Finland

Abstract: SYNOPSIS Information on the prevalence of headache and its characteristic features and the factor provoking it was collected using a questionnaire similar to that introduced by Waters. The questionnaire was posted to every inhabitant over 15 years of age in a defined urban and a defined rural area in northern Finland. The reliability of the questionnaire was tested by neurological examination of a random sample of 200 persons. The response rate was 74.0% in the urban and 79.5% in the rural area, a total of 3067 questionnaires being returned. The prevalence of headache in the year preceeding the survey was 73.1% in women and 57.6% in men. This difference was significant. At the same time the prevalence was slightly higher in the urban than in the rural area. The percentage with headache was highest between 15 and 64 years of age in both the urban and the rural men and women, and declined sharply after 65 years of age. Only in men aged 15-24 years was it significantly more common in the urban area. Education, social class and mode of employment did not influence the prevalence of headache once pensioners were excluded. Headache was slightly more common in urban self-employed people and in urban employees, but equally common in urban and rural students, housewives and pensioners. It was significantly more common in married men and women. The percentage of women with headaches related to the menstrual period was low. The most common provoking factor was stress, the sauna-bath ranking second. No correlation was found between smoking habits and headache in this survey.

Factor Intensities and Locational Linkages of Rural Consumption Patterns in Sierra Leone

Abstract: An understanding of consumer behavior is important for the analysis of the effects of changes in income distribution on the development process. Factor intensities and locational linkages of consumption patterns at different income levels are estimated for rural households in Sierra Leone. Results lend support to the hypothesis that low income households consume goods and services requiring less capital and foreign exchange and more labor than do higher income households. At all income levels households allocate more than 75% of consumption expenditures to goods produced in rural areas. Rural consumption linkages with urban sectors, then, are not well developed.

Prevalence of Diabetes in India

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the prevalence of diabetes in India. The chapter discusses a study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research at six centers representing six different geographical regions of India. This study covered 25,000 subjects in urban areas and 20,000 in rural areas. Out of these, 3,516 subjects in urban areas and 3,495 in rural areas above the age of 15 years were given a 75 gm oral glucose load. After 2 hours, venous blood and urine were collected for sugar estimation. Subjects having a postglucose blood sugar value above 100 mg% were subjected to a standard oral glucose tolerance test. The prevalence rate of diabetes in the urban population was 3.04%, and in the rural areas, it was 1.287%. The male-to-female ratio for diabetes in the urban area was 2:1, and in the rural area, it was 1:1. The prevalence of glycosuria was 6.68% in the urban and 3.91% in the rural population. The findings of this study were discussed with reference to observations from the other five centers of the collaborative study and to additional reports from India and other areas of the world. The overall prevalence reported in this study was 2.16%; for the whole of India, it was 1.73%.

The reversal in migration patterns: some rural development consequences

Abstract: The 1970s reversal in migration patterns resulting in a net population flow from metropolitan (urban) to nonmetropolitan (rural) areas may have a variety of rural development consequences. One obvious effect in many rural communities and areas which had beer losing population and experiencing net outmigration is a sizeable population increase. Data from Maine where this process is taking place is utilized. One of the salient features of the migration flow is that it is quality-of-life oriented. Most of these relatively young highly educated persons who are trained and experienced in the professional and managerial occupations have migrated from more urbanized areas to enjoy the physical and social amenities of a semi-rural or rural way of life. The presence in rural communities of these highly qualified persons with their small families is seen as a type of developmental resource. (authors)

Water supply and nutritional status in rural northern Nigeria

Abstract: A high incidence of protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) was found in a community survey of pre-school children in rural northern Nigeria among whom gastro-enteritis is common. Wasting (

The Food Economy and French Colonial Rule in Central Cameroun

Abstract: French administrative policies during the inter-war period in Central Cameroun created a class of indigenous chiefs who fulfilled crucial functions in the mobilization of manpower and resources from the rural areas for the development of the European sector of the economy. Early problems in organizing food markets to provision the growing non-agricultural sector resulted in a decision to channel agricultural growth through the chiefs rather than to leave it to market forces. The institution of a food requisition system involved the administration in exercising direct control over key aspects of the rural economy through the regulation of production, price control, control of the trading network, and the use of the indigenat to support the rights of chiefs over their subjects. The system succeeded in achieving two purposes at once: it guaranteed a cheap, reliable supply of food to the wage-earning population, thus allowing wages to remain low and stable; and it encouraged the development of a class of wealthy planters in the rural areas whose self-interest lay in support for the colonial administration. However, close control of the economy became impossible in the late 1930s, and the government's dissatisfaction with some of the implications of its own chieftaincy policy resulted in the abandonment of the whole inter-war system. The rural economy which gradually emerged after 1946 was characterized by family-based production units but lacked a well-developed institutional framework appropriate to it.

Fertility and land availability in rural Brazil.

Abstract: Differences between the marital fertility of the agricultural frontier and that of the more settled rural areas of southern Brazil are analyzed in this paper. Fertility rates derived from 1970 census data appear to decrease as the degree of settlement increases, suggesting an experience parallel to the decline in U.S. rural fertility in the late nineteenth century, which Easterlin and others have attributed to increased scarcity of land for starting new farm households. Multivariate analysis of the Brazilian data shows parallels between the two situations but also reveals that the importance of literacy, child survival, and access to land is relatively greater than that of the availability of land for explaining fertility differentials in Brazil.

Community mental health ideology: a problematic model for rural areas.

Abstract: The prevailing model for mental health services is found to be inappropriate with respect to many of the needs of rural communities. Special problems of rural areas are identified, and suggestions are offered for revision of mental health concepts and practice that might result in a better fit between professional ideology and rural reality.

Mortality, income distribution and rural-urban residence in Brazil

Abstract: Historically the transition from high to low mortality levels has been regarded as an integral part of broader transformations in economic and social organization. The specific factors associated with length of life are numerous and complex. They include such things as income, education, housing conditions, public health services, the control of communicable diseases, nutritional levels, medical facilities, and sanitation. Because mortality levels respond to the combined impact of all these factors, quantitative estimates of the influence of any one variable are difficult to obtain. Whether the long-run downward trend in mortality rates can be attributed primarily to improved living conditions, innovations in medical technology, or economic development is a long-standing controversy that is far from settled.' Notwithstanding the debate regarding the relative impact of these factors, mortality levels can serve as summary indicators of the general conditions of a population.2 In this study, estimates of life expectancy-the average number of years of life expected at birth-are used to reflect the mortality levels that characterize subgroups of the Brazilian population. Special tabulations of the 1970 census allow us to estimate life expectancy rates by region, rural or urban residence, and household income. The values provide quantitative indicators with which to determine the magnitude of the differences in quality of life that separate the rich from the poor in the cities and countryside for ten geographic subregions. These estimates are particu-

Community mental health services in rural areas: some practical issues.

Abstract: Several critical issues involved in successfully initiating and maintaining a community mental health center program in a rural setting are discussed. These include the necessity of accurately assessing the existing social, cultural, and political system, and of fitting the mental health center program into these systems as smoothly as possible; the special problems faced in maintaining confidentiality; and the importance of recognizing and dealing with the front-line pressures on professional staff that are peculiar to the rural setting. Advantages as well as disadvantages of working in a rural program are considered.

The tides of rural physicians: the ebb and flow, or why physicians move out of and into small communities.

Abstract: To determine the characteristics of physicians who move into and out of rural areas, as well as their reasons for establishing or leaving such practices, we sent questionnaires to 67 physicians who began practice in selected rural counties in upstate New York and 88 physicians who left practices in roughly the same area. From the 52 physicians (77.6 per cent) who responded to the former survey we found that 1) good professional support is mandatory for maintaining a satisfying small community practice, 2) a predisposition to small community living is essential for physicians to be recruited for rural practice, and 3) there are substantial differences with respect to demographic characteristics among persons who share similar reasons for practicing medicine in this region. For the 68 physicians (72.0) per cent ) who responded to the latter survey, the reasons for leaving could be grouped in the following categories: economic, social, and professional logistic. Although all of these factors contribute to the decision to leave, physician geographical mobility seems to stem chiefly from an unsatisfactory professional situation. These findings suggest several strategies for improving the situations in which rural physicians practice, and thus altering the massive imbalance in physician:patient ratios in urban and rural areas.

Community-based and commercial contraceptive distribution: an inventory and appraisal.

Abstract: Nonclinical delivery systems have been developed primarily because of the need to provide greater access to a majority of the people particularly in rural areas and urban poor neighborhoods. Poor distribution of appropriately trained health personnel and physical limitations have prevented the clinic-based system to expand. Nonclinical delivery systems are designed to minimize service delivery costs and such barriers to clients as distance costs to clients administrative difficulties and ignorance of contraception. Personnel with limited family planning training have been utilized and community involvement has been increasingly encouraged. The belief that there is an unmet need for family planning services and that if services were made available in these areas they would be used underlies the development of nonclinical services. This report provides an overview on community-based and commercial distribution projects--describing projects the services they provide their evaluation design and their results in 36 countries in Asia Latin America and Africa. It also discusses the intermediate effectiveness (volume of contraceptives distributed number of acceptors continuation and prevalence) the impact on fertility decline the cost effectiveness and the replicability of such efforts. A case study of the Indonesian experience is offered.

Queensland's rural practitioners: background and motivations.

Abstract: In view of the continuing maldistribution of medical manpower, this study was undertaken in order to delineate the backgrounds and motivating factors influencing choice of practice by rural practitioners in Queensland. Of those doctors in rural practice 38% had spent more than 10 years of their childhood in a rural environment. Interest of work and variety of practice were most consistently designated as attractions of rural practice, while the factor designated as the greatest attraction of rural practice was the variety of practice. The major disadvantages of rural practice were: (i) restricted opportunities for continuing education; (ii) difficulty obtaining adequate locum assistance for holidays and continuing education; and (iii) professional isolation. The prime reasons doctors had for choosing their present practice were the practice conditions (31.3%), and geographical location (20.9%).

Urban-rural differences in coronary heart disease in a low incidence area the puerto rico heart study,

Abstract: This report explores coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors and the incidence of new CHD events developing over a two and one-half year period in 8793 urban and rural Puerto Rican men aged 45--64 years. Rural men had a lower average blood pressure, serum cholesterol, blood sugar, heart rate and relative weight than urban men. They were more active physically and although more of them smoked, they smoked fewer cigarettes than urban dwellers. The age-adjusted CHD incidence rate for urban men was 1.5 times that of rural men. Among rural areas the most rural had the lowest incidence. Among urban areas there was a suggestive trend of increasing incidence with degree of urbanization. Differences in conventional risk factors, while substantial, do not entirely explain the modest differences in incidence. There also appeared to be a relation with geographic mobility. Urban men who had always lived in the same area had an incidence rate as low as that for rural men whereas recent rural migrants to urban areas had the highest rates of all.

Agents affecting health of mother and child in a rural area of Kenya.

Abstract: Data was collected on the social and hygienic living conditions for children residing in the Machakos Project area in Kenya in a survey of a random sample of 415 households in the area. Information for the more traditional eastern area and the less traditional western area was analyzed separately. The residents in the project area lived in dispersed compounds of about 4 huts surrounded by cultivated fields. The investigators developed a set of 50 variables for assessing the social and hygienic living conditions. Information on the variables was obtained by interviewing direct observation and personal impressions. Interobserver checks were performed in order to assess the consistency of each fieldworkers data. Information on some of the variables proved unreliable and only 18 variables were used in the final analysis. Analyzed variables included 1) parental education; 2) the presence of a grandmother in the home; 3) work status of the parents; 4) presence of the father in the home; 5) quality of the drinking water; 6) cleanliness in defecation areas; 7) sleeping density; 8) the presence of animals in the bedroom; 9) the use of bedroom areas for cooking; and 10) bedroom construction materials. Fairly marked differences were observed between the eastern and western areas. Residents in the eastern area were less educated and had lower incomes poorer quality housing and less access to clean drinking water. About 1/3 of the household heads in both areas had no education and only 1/3 of all household heads held paid jobs. Eventually the data will be related to survey data currently being collected on other factors such as the incidence of illness among children in the project area. A list of the variables and codes used to score the variables was included.

From one generation to the next: changes in fertility, family size preferences, and family planning in an Indian state between 1951 and 1975.

Abstract: 2 surveys conducted in Karnataka India in 1951-1952 and 1975 to examine fertility change over a generation suggest a reason for the relatively small decline in the areas birth rate over the last 24 years indicating the possibility of the birth rate continuing at the present level for some years due to the tendency of the potential fertility of married women to increase as a consequence of modernization. Household fertility and attitude schedules were administered to 10663 households in the Mysore Population Study and to 5142 households in the Bangalore Population Study. A comparison of findings reveals that the crude birthrate declined 7.6 points in the rural hills 2 points in the rural plains 4.5 points in towns and 5.6 points in Bangalore city. The declines are small considering the time span and the presence of an intensive family planning program since the early 1960s. While there was a reduction in the age-specific fertility rates of married women over 30 the fertility of younger married women increased substantially in rural areas and in Bangalore city indicating that birth intervals have narrowed and that any reduction in marital fertility has been achieved mainly through birth limitation in older age groups primarily by sterilization. The number of children desired has declined but the decline is not as high as would be expected by at least moderate socioeconomic development and extensive family planning activities. A marked increase in the proportion of couples with knowledge of modern contraceptive methods is recorded with an added increase in the proportion of couples practicing these methods. The findings support the theory that traditional checks on fertility are being reduced with modernization.

A Proposal to End Federal Neglect of Rural Schools.

Abstract: After decades of relative obscurity, issues relating to education in rural areas are enjoying a minor renaissance across the country. The origins of this renewed interest are unclear, but seem (at least in part) to flow from larger concerns about balanced growth and rural develop ment, a new appreciation of cultural pluralism, skepticism about the quality and efficacy of large schools and urban models of education, and the irony of "progressive" urban and suburban school systems embracing traditional rural prac tices (e.g., individualized instruction, cross-age grouping, and peer teaching). Whatever the origins, the most salient fact now is that this consensus is emerg ing: Rural education is worthy of signif icantly more attention and assistance than researchers, policy makers, and educators have accorded it in the recent past. This consensus represents an opportunity that we shouldn't squander. Some observers argue, however, that the growing interest in rural education is evidence only of bucolic nostalgia and that there is little justification for increas ing federal involvement. This argument ignores several key facts that point clearly to the need for a greatly expanded federal role in rural education. Among these: 1. Contrary to public opinion, the rural sector can legitimately be classified as a major U.S. education constituency. Currently, there are more than 15 million children (ages 5 through 17) enrolled in nonmetropolitan schools.1