Changes in federal policy affecting rural development in economically distressed areas in 2001 include new markets initiatives, establishment of the (Mississippi River) Delta Regional Authority, and increased infrastructure funding. Infrastructure priorities include highway construction, airport improvements, public works grants, rural…

Students often participate in service learning because it looks good on college applications or is a natural outcome of their church or club activities. If they stumble into careers of service later, it is usually an afterthought, not part of a planned path. Considering the social, environmental, and economic equity issues that today's students…

This article features CATIE (Centro Agronomico Tropical de Investigacion y Ensenanza), a tropical agricultural research and higher education center. CATIE's mission is to be instrumental in poverty reduction and rural development in the American tropics, by promoting diversified and competitive agriculture and sustainable management of natural…

Appalachia provides excellent examples of regional concepts and subregional dynamics that comprise and change regions. The region also illustrates complexities that arise in teaching regional concepts. These concepts often present challenges for students, not only in comprehending the ways that change occurs as the selection of regionally-defining…

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…

Sierra Leone is currently emerging from a brutal civil war that lasted most of the 1990s, and now has the dubious distinction of being ranked among the world's poorest countries. As thousands of displaced people move back to their villages, a large proportion of the predominantly farm-based rural population are growing food crops for the first…

MDC's mission is to help organizations and communities close the gaps that separate people from opportunity. The organization has been working to create positive change in disadvantaged communities for 40 years--by conducting research and demonstrating effective programs at the community level. MDC focuses on three areas: education, economic and…

The institutions and practices of agricultural extension in Australia are changing to meet the changing needs of rural people and communities. Issues and challenges facing rural people include the declining relative economic importance of agriculture; the declining agricultural workforce; and the shift in agriculture from a purely production…

The rural communities of the North American Great Plains are experiencing fundamental economic and social changes that threaten their very existence. While local projects offer hope for survival, many communities lack the knowledge needed to envision and evaluate their possible futures. As a consequence, communities may pursue survival strategies…

Both the rural economy and the disability community in rural areas can benefit from a recognition that they are mutually dependent. With the decline of rural America, the economic base underpinning all aspects of disability support systems is weakening. In addition, rural disability services often are compartmentalized along functional lines with…

The first brief paper advocates the position that school-attending older children be used to teach health, hygiene, nutrition, and crafts to adult women and to conduct neighborhood-based literacy classes in rural communities in India. It is argued that the number of 10- to 14-year-old adolescents available for such a project would be above 60…

Peasant women are chained to their homes as child bearers and unpaid laborers working for their husbands. Employing women in rural industry would increase female status and decrease male dominance in the family. Also family size would shrink as women spend less time at home. (MR)

Rural women in developing countries usually produce food for home consumption. Since this food has no exchange value women engaged in subsistence agriculture rank low on the socioeconomic scale. Colonization which brings farm technology and education to men only further deteriorates women's status in agriculture. (MR)

Thirteen separate excerpts from the responses given to audience questions at the Mid-Appalachia White House Conference include remarks by President Ford and others of his Cabinet on education, energy, employment, rural development, the economic status of the nation, etc. (JC)

Introduction: We report on the role of information in the development of rural communities where the impact of the oral tradition remains very strong. The nature of the attributes, and the particular type of communication mechanisms to be used, have been proposed as key factors in the use of information in rural communities. Method: Literature…