Application of the Rural Web Framework within the Context of Sustainable Development: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

In recent years, sustainability concerns have gained increasing attention among countries and stakeholders worldwide. Towards the transition to sustainable rural development, the rural web framework (RWF) has become a consistent tool. Indicators from the RWF have been used to explore sustainable rural development for decision-making tasks, which improves the social, economic, and environmental performance of rural regions. However, the application of the RWF in studies is on the decline. Furthermore, there is a lack of literature reviews on the importance of the RWF and its relationship with different facets of sustainable development. We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) (a) to explore how studies have used the RWF in the context of sustainable development and (b) to identify areas for further research. This study found that the RWF has mostly been used in developed countries, with fewer applications in developing countries. We suggest that there should be increased application of the RWF, particularly in developing countries, to broaden the rural web–sustainable development discourse and its relevance. This paper presents several areas where the indicators of the RWF can be applied to illustrate their relevance for policy decisions towards the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Exploring sustainable development within rural regions in Ghana: A rural web approach

“…Esparcia (2014) and Munchhausen et al (2010) In Ghana, Vecchio et al (2020) used the RWF to explore the contribution of the shea butter supply chain to sustainable development in northern Ghana. Addai, Abunyewah, et al (2023) examined the contributions of urban markets to sustainable rural development in Ghana, noting that these markets enhance indicators of the rural web and create pathways for achieving rural development objectives.…”

“…Sustainable development can be understood as multi‐level, multi‐actor and multi‐faceted processes ideally requiring an underpinning of comprehensive theory to help understand the nature, dynamics and heterogeneity of changes in rural areas (Messely et al, 2013; Milone et al, 2010; Sgroi, 2022). However, there is a limited theoretical understanding of sustainable development to inform rural policies and planning (Addai, Abunyewah, et al, 2023; Guinjoan et al, 2016). Previous studies have focused on traditional approaches to rural development, including sectorial, multi‐sectorial and territorial frameworks, which have contributed to the rural development discourse but have struggled to incorporate the complex nature, dynamics and heterogeneity of rural areas.…”

“…The RWF was proposed by Ploeg and Marsden (2008) within the Enlarging the Theoretical Understanding of Rural Development (ETUDE) project funded by the European Union, to explore sustainable rural development in a new direction (Horlings et al, 2018; Ploeg & Broekhuizen, 2009). Since its inception, several studies have used the RWF and argued that its indicators, namely novelty production, sustainability, governance of markets, social capital, institutional arrangements and endogeneity, identify potential areas for enhancing sustainable development efforts by analysing how they interact within an area (Addai, Abunyewah, et al, 2023; Arato et al, 2017; Rashid et al, 2020; Vecchio et al, 2020).…”

“…To date, studies applying the RWF indicators have focused on developed countries. Indeed, there is a lack of studies exploring these indicators in the global south (Addai, Abunyewah, et al, 2023; Addai, Suh, et al, 2023). As the utilisation of the RWF sustainability indicators is in its infancy, there is a need for further conceptual development and experimentation.…”

Mitigating Spatial Disproportions in Agriculture Through Revealing Competitive Advantages

“…Promoting competitive advantages allows agricultural producers to raise the quality of their products, reduce prices, increase efficiency, and thus improve the parameters of physical availability and economic accessibility of food (Mahajan, Tomar, 2021). According to Addai et al (2023), an important issue in the transformation of approaches to strategic planning in agriculture is the convergence of the spatial development tasks with those of agricultural production and sustainable rural development. This approach makes it possible to identify the features of spatial development of various types of territories, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and determine the individual set of spatial development tools (Harbiankova, Gertsberg, 2022).…”