Describes U.S. Department of Agriculture programs and services authorized by Title VII (Rural Development) of the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996. Four agencies within the Rural Development Mission Area provide funding, technical assistance, and training to rural communities to develop utilities, housing, businesses, new…

Problems in federal rural policy arise in a number of areas: the extreme economic adversity of rural America, failure to acknowledge the higher cost of providing rural services, failure to distinguish between rural programs and agriculture programs, and failure to address specific rural needs. Papers in this collection examine rural development…

This report outlines the major rural development programs and initiatives of the Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies. Diverse economic realities make necessary differential rural development policies and programs. The federal budget deficit makes it necessary that the government use creative and efficient management techniques to…

Two rural villages with similar characteristics were selected in Punjab (northern India) in order to study attitudes towards planned socio-economic development programs. All household heads (married males) in Bhagpura (123) and Khaira Bet (116) were interviewed; other data were derived separately. Program acceptance (modernism) in both villages…

The study documents what happened in 10 rural communities when a federal educational funding program (Experimental Schools) in 1972 provided 5-year grants for demonstration projects designed both to improve the school system and, through the schools, to address a variety of community needs. The study employs two strategies to document the ways in…

The report of the 25-member National Advisory Council on Rural Development, appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture, defines rural needs and sets forth strategies for rural development in the 1980's. A review of the decade between 1970 and 1980 discusses rapid economic growth of rural areas, social progress, and changes in public service, and…

The executive summary of the first meeting of the National Advisory Council on Rural Development gives highlights of remarks and presentations by 16 speakers and discussions by subgroups on supporting state and local government (management and rural development roles), on new ways for rural development, and on financing rural development. Purposes…