Vocational and technical training programs for less developed countries offer little in the way of training the intermediate cadres, technicians, and village level workers necessary for modernizing the primary sector on which developing economies depend. Training is vital because it secures cost reduction and maximum use of organization, enables…

The causes of rural/urban educational inequalities are multiple and diverse, and their analysis requires multi-disciplinary, longitudinal research. In this Polish study, preliminary examination of macrostatistical data on rural/urban disparities revealed the limitations of dichotomous analysis. In a broad, in-depth approach designed to develop a…

The shifting structure of production agriculture in Louisiana, characterized by technological change and economic growth, has created problems for farmers, forcing them either to get large, get out of farming, or get off-farm work to survive. A survey of 142 farmers living in parishes surrounding the Baton Rouge metropolitan area indicates…

This paper provides an overview of research policy considerations and conceptual analyses for the South for three economic development issues: the relationships of Southern agriculture to rural areas and communities; trends and adjustments underway and having an impact on economic development in the region; and the directions economic development…

The purpose of this guidebook is to help elected leaders of small towns and communities stretch their investments when matching funds are required to compete for a grant or to pay for development costs above the grant award itself. The federal "small cities" Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) is used as an example throughout the…

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…

Relying on Daniel Boorstin's argument that the newspaper was at least one of the first institutions in a frontier community, a study examined the 1880 United States Census of eight western territories to determine the number of newspapers and the ratio of newspapers to population in frontier counties. Three groups were examined: counties that had…

Achievements of the Building Our American Communities Program (BOAC), initiated in 1971 to provide a vehicle for Future Farmers of America members to make direct contributions to their communities and to practice good citizenship and develop leadership skills, are summarized in this 1985 annual report. the report begins with messages from…

Although useful for any community development planning team, this handbook is designed to assist Future Farmers of America chapter committees in coordinating Building Our American Communities (BOAC) projects. Ten steps for successful chapter participation in the BOAC program are outlined. These steps include selecting the BOAC committee and…

The 1981 Monongalia (West Virginia) Area Survey (MAS) polled 485 townspeople and 220 students about certain attitudes and economic and social conditions in an area likely to be the focus of coal-based energy developments. Townspeople were predominately middle-aged, had a high prevalence of home-ownership, and had lived in the area for a relatively…

Public officials in smaller communities that participate less frequently in the bond market need information to assist them in answering questions concerning bond financing. This booklet, developed as a part of a Western Rural Development Center series, outlines seven steps in debt management, identifies types of professional services available,…

Many communities have economic development efforts, which are generally undertaken in an attempt to create productive employment opportunities and to strengthen the local tax base. Unfortunatley, the economic development efforts of many communities, especially rural communities, are not productive ones. Many rural development efforts fail because…

With the selection of the role of the media in development education activities as the theme for the meeting, the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid (ACVFA) continued its dialogue with the private and voluntary organizations (PVO) community on the crucial issue of educating the U.S. public about hunger and related international…

Some local governments in nonmetro areas--especially those in the rural West and in very rural areas--experienced high levels of fiscal stress in the mid-seventies that were associated with high and rising local taxes. These local governments may be forced to cut back their rural development activities in the eighties. Fiscal pressures on local…