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…

The Federal Government, through its Manpower Development and Training Act of 1962, has served approximately 80,000 rural youth through its various training programs. The Neighborhood Youth Corps (NYC) and the "Concerted Services Approach" are 2 programs which have had particular impact on rural areas. The need for these programs is readily…

The Lower Mississippi Delta region, especially the rural Delta, faces many economic challenges. The rural Delta has received much federal aid in basic income support and funding for human resource development, but less for community resource programs, which are important for economic development. Federal aid to the Delta is analyzed in terms of…

Summarizes a study based on an examination of 30 highly rated nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in a dozen Latin American and Caribbean countries. Explains the terms "grassroots support organizations" (GSOs) and "membership support organizations" (MSOs). Suggests operation strategies for these organizations, particularly…

Although the number of people in developing nations who are too poor to provide themselves with an adequate diet is rising, this is not reason to assume that such poverty is inevitable. Strategies that foster economic growth and include poor people in the growth process can be found in countries with such diverse political and economic systems as…

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…

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.…

Examines development of rural communities and regions that depend on extractive industries (involving removal of raw materials from nature). Discusses "addictive activities" in such communities characterized by rising operation costs and declining commodities' prices. Discusses community and regional characteristics contributing to…

The South's recent rapid growth has not erased its widespread poverty and low levels of human capital. The rural South remains the nation's low-income and high-poverty region, and low education levels may limit the rural South's prospects for development. Underlying social and economic conditions that depend on and reinforce a low-skill population…

Written by some of the foremost experts on rural America, this book focuses on policy-relevant research on the problems of rural areas. In each chapter, rural policy needs are identified by examining the flow of events and rural sociology of the 1980s. Chapters are: (1) "Critical Times for Rural America: The Challenge for Rural Policy in the…

Lying within the Cumberland Plateau of Appalachia, the Kentucky River Area Development District (KRADD) comprises eight rural Kentucky counties: Breathitt, Knott, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, Owsley, Perry, and Wolfe. This report reviews regional history of economic development and examines socioeconomic indicators, including education, poverty, and the…

The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and private foundations, and invests in research and education to help rural communities meet the challenges of today's global society through a multidisciplinary network of university research and extension faculty, policy makers, and rural…

Five areas in the Maritime Provinces of Canada were subjected to intensive geographical, economic, and sociological surveys in an attempt to determine and define poverty illustratively rather than statistically. Information was obtained by in-residence researchers on bio-physical setting, settlement, population, labor and economic activity,…

Brazil's Yanomamo Indians seem doomed to extinction by a government policy that seeks to develop and exploit their ancestral lands. This article describes the health, economic, and cultural dangers confronting the Yanomamo and discusses a proposed 16 million acre park to protect them from non-Indian encroachment. (DS)