To address the challenges of sustainability in rural areas of Mexico, it must be considered that globalization opened the way to a new conception of rural development and consequently to a change of strategies aimed at achieving higher levels of productivity, often unrelated to social welfare. This widened poverty in the countryside and forced the…

Akshar Forum, an experimental livelihood school in the semi-rural village of Pamohi, Assam, in Northeast India, tests cutting-edge methods in education in the context of underserved communities and rural development programs. Started in 2015, the school links 42 children and their parents to the vast knowledge resources of the Internet to teach…

Livelihood diversification by Brazil's peasantry has intensified as rural areas have become more integrated with the country's urban fabric and as landlessness and poverty have increased. Despite the growing awareness of pluriactivity by rural households, key agrarian institutions have not addressed this key feature of life of the people they…

Children, youth, women, the elderly, men and their leaders are integral components of rural communities. It is important to ensure that their unique needs and perceptions shape development programming. However, despite having various policies and legal frameworks introduced to deepen democracy in South Africa, current rural development programming…

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…

Poverty is a dehumanising condition for every one. It erodes human rights of the affected whether women or men. Poverty subjects an individual to a state of powerlessness, hopelessness, and lack of self-esteem, confidence, and integrity, leading to a situation of multidimensional vulnerability. Poverty has a gender dimension since women and men…

This policy is the first manifestation of the state's effort to organize youth to volunteer in rural China where the help is most needed. It emphasizes key tasks that can be accomplished by the volunteers in terms of education and training for rural China, especially through science and education. The Promotion Action reflects the mission of the…

In this paper, we use the case of tequila to examine the potential for geographical indications (GIs) to contribute to socioeconomic and environmental sustainability. GIs are place-based names (e.g., Champagne, Roquefort) that convey the geographical origin, as well as the cultural and historical identity, of agricultural products. The GI for…

Most university students in China have their sights firmly set on future job and study opportunities in urban cities and abroad. However, a network of student volunteers felt compelled to join the cause of rural development and villager empowerment, reminiscent of efforts promoted forty years ago by Chairman Mao who sent "educated youth"…

Training has increasingly turned into an important NGO tool for rural development in Asia and Africa. Such a use has made it essential to assess the impact of these training sessions. Again a good portion of these sessions are offered through cascades. There has been skepticism on the effectiveness of this mechanism. In response to the above need…

Poor people make use of a variety of contextually relevant resources to pursue their livelihood strategies, and there is wide empirical evidence that opportunities and constraints for accessing these may vary considerably for women and men, particularly in the rural areas of developing countries. In this article, micro-evidence from a case study…

In Peru, the Social Compensation Fund uses various strategies for fighting rural poverty: linking social investment to other development strategies, considering poverty indicators in determining project priorities, developing a productive infrastructure, and involving local institutions in solutions. (SK)

The majority of the population of Vietnam lives in rural areas and depends on agriculture for their livelihood. Consistent growth of the agriculture sector over the past two decades has contributed to a remarkable reduction in the poverty rate and the virtual elimination of hunger in the rural areas of Vietnam. In order to continue the growth…

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…

Unless disparities in education are addressed, market-oriented reforms in Vietnam will generate inequitable agricultural growth. It is argued that if the marginal gains from investment in physical capital depend positively on knowledge, but a household cannot hire skilled labor to compensate for low skills, then even if it has access to credit,…