Rural Development: A People‐oriented Strategy

Abstract

I n r e c e n t y e a r s much discussion i n t h e f i e l d o f i n t e r n a t i o n a l development has centered on t h e i n a b i l i t y of t r a d it i o n a l development p o l i c i e s t o d e a l with t h e i n c r e a s i n g impoverishment of t h e r u r a l populations o f most Third World c o u n t r i e s . I t h a s become widely accept e d by i n t e r n a t i o n a l development i n s t it u i o n s , such as t h e World Bank, as w e l l as by n a t i o n a l development agencies, that i f the underdeveloped c o u n t r i e s are t o be able t o feed t h e i r evergrowing popu l a t i o n s , and t o c l o s e t h e widening gap between themselves and t h e i n d u s t r i a l i z e d world, a major upgrading of t h e standard of l i v i n g and p r o d u c t i v i t y of t h e i r r u r a l s e c t o r s i s an a b s o l u t e n e c e s s i t y ( 1 ) . Thus, t h e proposal t h a t an e s s e n t i a l a s p e c t of any development model must be an e f f e c t i v e s t r a t e g y t o promote broadbased r u r a l development h a s gained i n c r e a s i n g recognition. DESIGNING AN A P P R O P R I A T E STRATEGYI n designing an appropriate s t r a t e g y f o r r u r a l development it i s necessary simultaneously t o consider t h e g o a l s t o be f u r t h e r e d and t h e means The goals pursued through t h e strategy presented here s t e m from my percept i o n of t h e o v e r a l l development process. I n t h e most general way, I would d e f i n e development as t h e process by which an environment i s a t t a i n e d i n which a l l members of a s o c i e t y are given an opport u n i t y t o reach t h e i r f u l l p o t e n t i a l as human beings ( 3 ) . A n e s s e n t i a l condition f o r such f u l f i l l m e n t i s t h e provision of t h e following b a s i c human needs t o every member of t h e s o c i e t y : food, c l o t h i n g , s h e l t e r , a source o f meaningful prod u c t i v e a c t i v i t y , and a sense of belonging and self-esteem.I m p l i c i t w i t h i n t h e r u r a l development s t r a t e g y presented h e r e w i l l be f o u r c e n t r a l goals:(1) The e r a d i c a t i o n of poverty:( 2 ) The e l i m i n a t i o n of unemployment;( 3 ) The e l i m i n a t i o n of major ine q u a l i t i e s , both w i t h i n t h e r u r a l s e c t o r and between t h e r u r a l and urban s e c t o r s ; and ( 4 ) The p a r t i c i p a t i o n of t h e e n t i r e r u r a l population i n t h e development process.The f i r s t g o a l , e r a d i c a t i o n of r u r a l poverty, i s important simply because t h e incidence of poverty i n t h e r u r a l s e c t o r s of almost a l l Third World c o u n t r i e s i s alarmingly high. study notes t h a t 80 p e r c e n t of t h e poor i n t h e underdeveloped c o u n t r i e s of A s i a , Africa, and L a t i n America l i v e i n r u r a l areas(4). The r u r a l poor include s m a l l farmers, t e n a n t s , l a n d l e s s workers, s e l femployed craftsmen and a r t i s a n s , and s e r v i c ...