Akshar Forum, an experimental livelihood school in the semi-rural village of Pamohi, Assam, in Northeast India, tests cutting-edge methods in education in the context of underserved communities and rural development programs. Started in 2015, the school links 42 children and their parents to the vast knowledge resources of the Internet to teach…

Purpose: New approaches to extension service delivery are needed that stimulate increased agricultural production, contribute to collective action and which also foster the emergence of agricultural innovation systems. Research in Peru and Mexico explores some of these new approaches. Design/methodology/approach: In both countries, a qualitative…

Most university students in China have their sights firmly set on future job and study opportunities in urban cities and abroad. However, a network of student volunteers felt compelled to join the cause of rural development and villager empowerment, reminiscent of efforts promoted forty years ago by Chairman Mao who sent "educated youth"…

Despite all the efforts deployed by the countries of the world and the vigorous mobilization of the international community, rural people are lagging far behind in education and are particularly hard hit by poverty and hunger. In developing countries, the slow progress towards universal education is largely due to the sluggish growth of school…

Examines the perspectives and dimensions of social change and community development in rural United States. Argues that the causes of poverty must be reconceptualized, and emphasis placed on long-range institutionalized programs of community services, training, and citizen participation. (SK)

This case study describes the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), which was formed to explore ways to help children from its rural development program gain access to improved education. Working mainly in rural areas, BRAC focused on improved quality through improved education service delivery, management detail, and finance. While…

The Rural Education Bureau of the New Mexico Public Education Department has established a program to address the special needs of schools and communities in the extensive rural areas of the state. High poverty rates, depopulation and a general lack of viable economic opportunity have marked rural New Mexico for decades. The program underway aims…

The extent of economic and social decay in rural America has yet to be recognized by the community college. Instead of emphasizing rural survival, community college programs often weaken rural institutions and encourage the migration of rural students to the cities. Recommendations to alleviate the problem are suggested. (AH)

Unless disparities in education are addressed, market-oriented reforms in Vietnam will generate inequitable agricultural growth. It is argued that if the marginal gains from investment in physical capital depend positively on knowledge, but a household cannot hire skilled labor to compensate for low skills, then even if it has access to credit,…

This book contains a series of essays based on public lectures delivered by six agricultural economists during the 1986-1987 academic year at Western Michigan University. Some of the main issues and problems addressed in the essays are the role of technical change in agricultural development, the value of learning from historical and comparative…

The Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI), supported by the Ford Foundation, sought to energize distressed rural communities and the local colleges that serve them. Through a structured process of guided intervention, 24 colleges and their communities learned how to build new partnerships, adapt new ideas to local needs, and implement…

During the 1960s, many rural local governments were believed to provide inadequate government services, which hindered rural development. Rapid growth in government spending has reduced the incidence of government poverty from 78 percent of nonmetropolitan counties in 1962 to only 7 percent in 1987. Those counties still government-poor in 1987…

This book consists of 13 essays discussing rural poverty in the United States, including historical and current conditions of rural poverty, underlying the social, economic, and political factors, and policy implications. The book is organized into three parts. Part 1 consists of four essays that provide a comprehensive description of the poverty…

A 1960-63 research project surveyed cultural, social, and economic backgrounds of the primarily Metis and Treaty Indian populations of northern Saskatchewan, Canada. Data were obtained through interviews and consultations with people living and working in the North; published and unpublished government reports and documents were also utilized.…

Karl N. Stauber proposes three goals for rural development policy: helping the rural middle class survive, reducing concentrated rural poverty, and sustaining and improving the quality of the natural environment. In contrast to other visions, he advises policy that focuses on rural places rather than rural economic sectors such as agriculture,…