Showing papers on "Rural area published in 1990"

Estimating the willingness to pay for water services in developing countries: a case study of the use of contingent valuation surveys in southern Haiti.

Abstract: Progress in improving the quality and quantity of water used by people in rural areas of the developing world has been unsatisfactory in two respects: (1) supplies that have been built are frequently neither used correctly nor properly maintained and (2) extension of improved service to unserved populations has been slow. Though this poor record is not the result of a single factor, a major impediment to improved performance is inadequate information on the response of consumers to new service options. The behavioral assumptions that typically underlie most rural water supply planning efforts are simple. It is commonly assumed that so long as financial requirements do not exceed 5% of income, rural consumers will choose to abandon their existing water supply in favor of the "improved" system. Several reviews by the World Bank, bilateral donors, and water supply agencies in developing countries have shown, however, that this simple model of behavioral response to improved water supplies has usually proved incorrect.1 In rural areas many of those "served" by new systems have chosen to continue with their traditional water use practices.

Poverty and Opportunity Structure in Rural America

Abstract: Rural areas have a disproportionate share of the US poverty population. Like poor urban communities, the persistence and severity of poverty in rural America can be linked to a limited opportunity structure which is the outcome of both past social and economic development policies and current economic transformation. Many rural communities lack stable employment, opportunities for mobility, investment in the community, and diversity in the economy and other social institutions. They are increasingly socially and spatially isolated and particularly vulnerable to adverse effects from structural economic change. This study reviews research on rural poverty and traces its relationship to its historical roots in social, political, and economic inequality and to current economic restructuring. Relevant sources of information on rural poverty include classic community and regional analyses, studies of rural-urban migration, regional development and underdevelopment, economic restructuring, and labor market analysis.

China's rural industry : structure, development, and reform

Abstract: The emergence and recent rapid growth of rural nonagricultural enterprises (township, village and private enterprises - TVPs) in China is a striking and in many ways unique phenomenon. Almost overnight, industrial activity has expanded tremendously and enterprises have proliferated. These changes have brought about large increases in rural personal incomes and significant shifts in the structure of the rural labor force. The goal of this report is: (a) to present a better understanding of how China's industrial TVP sector actually functions; (b) to present information about the rural communal institutional and regulatory framework within which it operates; (c) to ascertain the reasons behind the rapid growth of the sector, particularly since 1984; (d) to identify and analyze the problems and obstacles faced by the TVP sector as it continues to evolve and develop; (e) to evaluate on an informed basis different institutional and policy options for the future; and (f) to shed light on the TVP sector from an international perspective. Finally, it is noted that China's TVPs have already become a pillar of the country's economy and are playing a decisive role in rural industrialization and national economic modernization.

The Economic Impact Of Rural Festivals And Special Events: Assessing The Spatial Distribution Of Expenditures

Abstract: The spatial distribution of the expenditures associated with a rural arts and crafts festival was examined. Of the nonresident expenditures associated with the festival, the mean percentage spent in the community by the survey respondents was 69.7%. Importantly, however, 77.9% of this spending was to thefestival booths, many of which were not operated by local residents. More specifically, of the $43,689 spent by the survey re spondents, $32, 719 (74.9%) was to entities outside the local economy. While the generalizability of these results is limited, the findings imply that research which fails to correct for nonlocal spending may significantly overestimate the economic benefits of festivals to the host community.

Access to obstetric care in rural areas : effect on birth outcomes

Abstract: Hospital discharge data from 33 rural hospital service areas in Washington State were categorized by the extent to which patients left their local communities for obstetrical services. Women from communities with relatively few obstetrical providers in proportion to number of births were less likely to deliver in their local community hospital than women in rural communities with greater numbers of physicians practicing obstetrics in proportion to number of births. Women from these high-outflow communities had a greater proportion of complicated deliveries, higher rates of prematurity, and higher costs of neonatal care than women from communities where most patients delivered in the local hospital.

Investigating the Determinants of Household Welfare in Cote D'Ivoire

Abstract: To predict the effect of economic policies on household welfare, one should first understand which characteristics of households and of the localities in which they live, enable them to raise their welfare levels. This paper outlines a simple procedure for investigating the determinants of household welfare and demonstrates its use with recent data from Cote d'Ivoire. Despite the relative simplicity, much information is obtained from its use on cross-sectional survey data. Results specific to Cote d'Ivoire include : high (low) returns to education in urban (rural) areas; high benefits from cocoa land relative to coffee land; a significant impact on economic welfare from the availability of medical services, and no apparent benefits from agricultural extension services.

Households, Communities, and Preschool Children's Nutrition Outcomes: Evidence from Rural Côte d'Ivoire

Abstract: I. Nutrition Outcomes in Rural C6te d'Ivoire The C6te d'Ivoire has been generally regarded as one of the few economic success stories in sub-Saharan Africa with a 7.1% annual growth rate of GDP from 1965 to 1973 and 3.7% from 1973 to 1984.1 Even its agriculture sector has grown well, with a sectoral GDP growth rate of about 3.5% annually from 1965 to 1984. Yet the C6te d'Ivoire has been widely attacked for lagging in social and health investments as well as for regional inequalities.2 However, looking at indicators of nutritional status (child height and weight-for-height) for rural children, it would seem that nutrition problems in rural C6te d'Ivoire are mild by African standards.

Urban Planning and the Post-Colonial State in Africa: A Research Overview

Abstract: Rapid urbanization has been perhaps the most dramatic of the social phenomena that marked the end of the colonial era in Africa. From a situation in 1950 in which the total urban population was no more than 28 million, the figure had by 1984 jumped to well over 125 million, representing a sharply increasing proportion of the total population (World Bank, 1986a). Yet, after an initial period when urbanization was welcomed as a positive tendency in the modernization of the continent (Friedmann, 1961) there is today some ambivalence as to the contributions of urban centers to the overall development of the continent. There are those (Santos, 1971; Bardinet, 1977) who argue that urban centers have failed to serve as a major force in the economic transformation of African countries but have, instead, highlighted their economic dependency and the negative social consequences that go with this. Others (Collier and Lai, 1980; Mabogunje, 1983) argue that much of the limited development that has been achieved in these countries has been due in no small measure to non-farm activities of these urban centers. Cities and towns are therefore apprehended not as the cause but only as the scene of social and economic problems, their role being to draw attention to endemic poverty and social degradation which otherwise remain buried and unobtrusive in the rural areas. When it comes to the role of urban planning and policies in resolving these problems, the pervading impression is of the failure of governments in most African countries to make any appreciable impact on the situation, a fact which has in turn provoked serious debates as to the nature of the post-colonial state in Africa (Hyden, 1983).

Rural restructuring: global processes and their responses.

Abstract: Who is rural? or, how to be rural, Marc Morment restructuring agriculture in advance societies - transformation, crisis and responses, Patrick Commins paradigmatic shift in agriculture - global effects and the Swedish response, Martin Peterson agricultural restructuring and rural social change in Australia, Geoffrey Lawrence rural labour market changes in the United States, Gene F.Summers et al class and change in rural Britain, Paul Cloke and Nigel Thift household, consumption and livelihood - ideologies and issues for rural research, Nenneke Redclift and Sarah Whatmore.

Parasitic diseases and urban development.

Abstract: The distribution and epidemiology of parasitic diseases in both urban and periurban areas of endemic countries have been changing as development progresses. The following different scenarios involving Chagas disease, lymphatic filariasis, leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis are discussed: (1) infected persons entering nonendemic urban areas without vectors; (2) infected persons entering nonendemic urban areas with vectors; (3) infected persons entering endemic urban areas; (4) non-infected persons entering endemic urban areas; (5) urbanization or domestication of natural zoonotic foci; and (6) vectors entering nonendemic urban areas. Cultural and social habits from the rural areas, such as type of house construction and domestic water usage, are adopted by migrants to urban areas and increase the risk of disease transmission which adversely affects employment in urban populations. As the urban health services must deal with the rise in parasitic diseases, appropriate control strategies for the urban setting must be developed and implemented.

Rural-urban linkages in contemporary Harare: why migrants need their land.

Abstract: Prior to independence in 1980 the urbanisation of Zimbabwe's African population occurred under a restrictive regime which prevented many urban workers from obtaining rights to remain permanently in urban areas. As a result many families had no choice but to maintain their links with the overcrowded rural areas, to which they would eventually have to return. Once restrictions were lifted it was to be expected that migration patterns would alter. Surveys conducted amongst post‐independence migrants in Harare's high‐density areas found that many changes had occurred, and in particular there had been a shift towards longer‐term migration. Many families now accompany the household head for at least part of the year. Nevertheless, only a minority of migrants planned to remain permanently in town. There was a strong perception that the maintenance of rural links was essential as economic security for the eventualities of old age and unemployment when urban expenses could not be covered. There is, however, pressu...

Reduction in diarrhoeal diseases in children in rural Bangladesh by environmental and behavioural modifications

Abstract: The impact of a water, sanitation and hygiene education intervention project on diarrhoeal morbidity in children under 5 years old was evaluated in a rural area of Bangladesh. Data were collected throughout 1984-1987, covering both pre- and post-intervention periods, from an intervention and a control area. The 2 areas were similar with respect to most socio-economic characteristics and baseline levels of diarrhoeal morbidity. The project showed a striking impact on the incidence of all cases of diarrhoea, including dysentery and persistent diarrhoea. By the end of the study period, children in the intervention area were experiencing 25% fewer episodes of diarrhoea than those in the control area. This impact was evident throughout the year, but particularly in the monsoon season, and in all age groups except those less than 6 months old. Within the intervention area, children from households living closer to handpumps or where better sanitation habits were practised experienced lower rates of diarrhoea. These results suggest that an integrated approach to environmental interventions can have a significant impact on diarrhoeal morbidity.

Prevalence of HIV-1 infection in the Kagera region of Tanzania: a population-based study.

Abstract: A population-based survey was carried out in the Kagera region of the United Republic of Tanzania in 1987 to determine the magnitude of HIV-1 infection and to study associated risk factors. The region was divided into one urban and three rural zones. A multistage cluster sampling technique was adopted. Antibodies to HIV-1 were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and confirmed by Western blot analysis. A total of 2,475 adults (aged 15-54 years) and 1,961 children (aged 0-14 years) was studied. The overall prevalence of HIV-1 infection among adults was 9.6%, with a higher prevalence in the urban zone (24.2%) than in the three rural zones (10.0, 4.5 and 0.4%, respectively). The corresponding figures for children were 1.3% overall: 3.9% in the urban area and for the rural areas 1.2, 0.8 and 0.0%, respectively. The age-specific seroprevalence for adults was highest in the age group 25-34 years. The age-standardized sex-specific prevalence was higher among women than men in the urban zone, while it was the same in the rural zones. Change of sexual partners among adults was associated with an increased risk of HIV-1 seropositivity. Travelling outside the region but within the country was also found to be associated with increased risk of HIV-1 infection but only in the rural population.

Rural entrepreneurship research: An integration into the entrepreneurship field

Abstract: Rural entrepreneurship is one of the newest areas of research in the entrepreneurship field. It has become one of the significant supportive factors for rural economic development and agribusiness. This article defines rural entrepreneurship, integrates the current rural entrepreneurship research into an entrepreneurship typology, critiques current rural entrepreneurship research, analyzes data sources and research methods being used, and proposes future research questions in rural entrepreneurship.

Rural-to-Urban migration and child survival in Senegal

Abstract: Analysis of the 1986 Senegal Demographic and Health Survey reveals that mothers may be able to improve their children’s survival chances by migrating from the countryside to the city. Children of urban migrants, however, continue to experience a much higher risk of mortality before the age of 5 than children of urban nonmigrants, even after the mother has lived in the city for several years. This migrant mortality disadvantage persists when controlling for numerous socioeconomic and fertility-related factors typically associated with child mortality in developing countries, which also serve as indicators of migrant selection and adaptation.

Geographic Access to Physician Services

Abstract: Prior to the last decade, it was widely accepted that physicians were geo­ graphically maldistributed; indeed, a major federal initiative, the National Health Service Corps, was based on that premise (24). The maldistribution most commonly referred to was between urban and rural areas, although there was some reference to maldistribution within urban areas as well. The usual evidence cited to show the existence of mal distribution was unequal physician/population ratios between urban and rural areas, examples of which are in Table 1 . (Although the data that I and others cite in fact distinguish metropolitan and nonmetropolitan communities, I use the less exact, but more familiar terms, urban and rural.) In addition, especially in the late 1960s and early 1970s, there were examples of towns that werc losing physicians; that is, physicians were retiring and not being replaced. The conventional view of maldistribution was not undergirded by a well­ articulated theory of how physicians chose to locate their practices; numbers analogous to those in Table 1 were believed to speak for themselves. To the degree a theory of physician location existed, it seemed to be of the following sort: Physicians prefer to locate in cities. Because of virtually unlimited demand for their services, or their ability to create demand, physicians can afford to locate in cities and thus can continue to indulge their preferences. (See Ref. 19, Appendix A, for examples of quotations along these lines.) Moreover, it was probably the case that during the 1960s, maldistribution, as conventionally defined, was worsening; that is, the inequalities in physician/population ratios were growing. This, however, is difficult to

The Upper Peninsula Program: a successful model for increasing primary care physicians in rural areas.

Abstract: In 1974, Michigan State University established the Upper Peninsula Medical Education Program (UP) to improve the physician supply in rural areas of Michigan by training students in a rural, practice-based setting. Practicing graduates of the program (N = 28) were surveyed by mail and their responses compared to a random sample of downstate MSU graduates (N = 57) with regard to practice location, specialty choice, hometown, and medical education and training. UP Program graduates showed a tendency to rural origin and chose rural practice and primary care specialties, especially family practice, more often than did their downstate colleagues. Responses of UP graduates suggested that rural residency locations would lead to increased numbers of rural practitioners. The rural UP Program has been successful to date in training medical students who ultimately pursue careers in rural primary medicine.

Economic Impacts of Recreational Spending on Rural Areas: A Case Study

Abstract: Researchers, planners, and policymakers are becoming increasingly interested in the rural economic development potentials of outdoor recreation. Empirical evidence evaluating this economic development potential, however, is almost nonexistent. In this article, results of a study that examined local economic effects of spending associated with outdoor recreation in selected rural areas are reported. Recreational expenditures were collected as part of the Public Area Recreation Visitors Study (PARVS). Economic impacts of these expenditures were estimated using regional input-output models developed from the USDA Forest Service input-output model and data base system (IMPLAN). Results indicated that recreational spending contributed substantially to gross output, income, employment, and value added in the studied rural areas. These results suggest that outdoor recreation may be a viable rural economic development strategy.

The Transmission of Production Fluctuations and Technical Change in a Village Economy: A Social Accounting Matrix Approach

Abstract: Rural poverty in India remains a pervasive and pressing problem of development, despite the favorable performance of agricultural production which has nearly doubled in the last 2 decades.1 Defining the poverty line as the level of income that permits an intake of 2,250 calories per day, the incidence of poverty was 39% in the late nineteenfifties. Two decades later, the latest available estimates, for 1977-78, show that 39% of the population is still below the poverty line.2 Because the increase in agricultural production is concentrated in areas with irrigation or assured rainfall, much of the poverty is located in the unirrigated, semi-arid regions of irregular rainfall, and it remains an important social issue. The apparent failure of economic growth per se to decrease the incidence of poverty, among other reasons, led policymakers in India, as elsewhere, to formulate in the mid-seventies specific antipoverty programs that focused on creating employment and production assets for the poor. The search for solutions to the problem of rural poverty requires both a better understanding of its dynamics and of the effectiveness and limitations of these and other programs. This article, a case study of a village, is a step in this direction. It presents simulations of the impact of weather-induced fluctuations in production and of the process of investment and accumulation in the village which reveal the most vulnerable groups in need of compensatory programs. It also shows the important welfare effects that investment programs can have on the village economy. Any study of rural poverty in India must contend with the fact that it is not a homogeneous phenomenon. In addition to the geographical variation in its incidence and causes, rural poverty is also socially highly differentiated. Even in a small geographical region such as a village, systematic differences arise between groups of poor house-

Women and Rural Development Policies: The Changing Agenda

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to review and evaluate policies directed at rural women in the Third World, as reflected in WID research and policy documents. This review covers the assumptions behind the advocacy of direct assistance to rural women, the goals that are sought in providing such assistance and the means advocated to achieve them. An attempt is made to show how the agenda of mainstream WID research and policy formulation has closely followed, reflected and responded to changing international priorities in matters of development assistance in a manner that leaves crucial redistributive and political issues tangentially addressed and unresolved.

The Rural State?: Limits to Planning in Rural Society

Abstract: Political economy of rural society the state and rural policy planning, policy and implementation impacts of rural policy intergovernmental relations public participation in rural planning.

Sustained protection against mortality and morbidity from malaria in rural Gambian children by chemoprophylaxis given by village health workers.

Abstract: Mortality and morbidity from malaria were measured in children for a one-year period in a rural area of The Gambia 3-4 years after the introduction of a primary health care programme into some villages in the study area. Among children resident in primary health care villages who received treatment for febrile illnesses from a village health worker resident in their village there was no reduction in overall mortality or in morbidity from malaria compared with levels found in villages without a primary health care worker. However, among children aged 3-59 months who received malaria chemoprophylaxis from a village health worker in addition to treatment there was a 49% reduction in mortality and a 73% reduction in attacks of clinical malaria. The level of protection against malaria achieved by chemoprophylaxis given by village health workers 3-4 years after the chemoprophylaxis programme was started was as high as that obtained shortly after the introduction of the primary health care programme.