The Congressional Rural Caucus, the Midwest Caucus of Democratic Senators, and a number of Republican Senators are all focusing their attention on rural issues and problems. (Author)

Describes a project in Sri Lanka that used nonformal training to prepare development workers to help women's groups organize income-generating projects. The nonformal, participant-centered program reinforces individual and group consciousness and activities within a flexible framework. (CT)

The Secretary of Agriculture reports that the government is seeking to keep already congested urban areas from having to cope with the extra 100 million people who may be added to the Nation's population in the next 30 years. (Editor)

Wes Jackson, founder of the Land Institute (Salina, KS), seeks alternatives to the industrial agriculture that exhausts the soils and economies of small, rural Kansas communities. In Matfield Green (Kansas), interns from the Land Institute manage the town's cafe and help residents work together on achieving a sustainable economy based on renewable…

Classified, selected bibliography for Appalachian studies contains approximately 500 entries, published 1997-98, including books, journal articles, government documents, and dissertations. Topics include agriculture, arts and crafts, Civil War, industry and labor, economic conditions and development, education, environment, ethnicity/race,…

The theme for this conference was "Our Town and Country Society Looks at Itself." The following papers were presented at this conference: (1) "The Miracle of Production--Can We Keep It" (Aubrey D. Gates); (2) "Recent U.S. Population Trends and Their Causes" (Calvin L. Beale and Donald J. Bogue); (3) "Commercial…

A detailed examination of one agriculturally dependent Nebraska county was conducted to determine the changes believed to be underway as a result of the economic hard times associated with the farm crisis of the early 1980s. Fillmore county, with a 1980 population of 5098, was selected as it derived 25% of its total labor, salary, and proprietary…

Model IV, the rural-residential career education model, is committed to a goal of improving the growth, development, and employability of individuals in a six-state region, through an innovative, experimental system of career education. A residential community is one aspect of the innovative, experimental approach to be utilized in Model IV. Both…

A paper from an International Labour Office seminar states that the economic and social development of rural workers must be through their labor organizations. In principle, such organizations for rural workers are the same as those for urban industrial workers. Services provided by unions are discussed. (MF)

Funding for Rural Development Partnerships has signalled a shift in rural policy, towards actively involving the rural population in determining the direction and implementation of change. However, early experience with partnerships has indicated that the funding bodies have retained significant control. One reason for this is that they are…

Whether large-scale or small farms dominate, a county's farm structure is influenced not only by changes within farming but also by key factors such as nonfarm economic activity, geography, and population growth. Large-farm counties where agriculture dominates the economy are concentrated in the Plains, Midwest, and Mississippi Delta. Small-farm…

The industrial development of rural areas within a technologically and industrially advanced nation consists essentially of a redistribution of economic activity. Resultant changes in occupational structure may be assessed through study of five major areas: market participation, sectoral relocation, work specialization, occupational upgrading, and…

The Nation's 678 rural manufacturing-dependent counties, hit much harder than other rural counties, have since been recovering more. Total employment growth in rural manufacturing counties exceeded growth in nonmanufacturing counties by about 1 percentage point during 1982-84 and by almost 3 percentage points during 1984-86. (Author)

Studies in four North Dakota communities that had suffered economic and population decline in the 1980s examined the economic and community impacts of new agricultural processing plants in the late 1990s, including effects on residents' incomes, total and school-age population, needs for day care and community services, housing needs, public…

This directory is a compendium of over 600 scholars and educators in a range of disciplines throughout the United States who are actively involved in research or teaching of rural issues. It is intended as a resource for those individuals and for other professionals, providing access to one another and aiding a multi-disciplinary approach to rural…