Japan's Changing Regional World of Welfare: Agricultural Reform, Hamlet-based Collective Farming, and the Local Renegotiation of Social Risks

2020 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-351
Author(s):  
Hanno Jentzsch
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Agricultural Reform ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Collective Farming

This article analyzes agricultural reform as an element of broader shifts in the Japanese welfare regime. In postwar Japan, agricultural support and protection served as a "functional equivalent" to welfare provision in rural and semi-rural areas. However, an ongoing agricultural reform process has put pressure on aging smallholders and on JA, the powerful organization of agricultural cooperatives. This article investigates how these local actors have responded to an increasingly hostile socio-economic and political environment. To address this question, the article focuses on hamlet-based collective farming, which is a form of agricultural production that can reproduce the welfare character of the postwar support and protection regime on the local level. Based on field research in several rural and semi-rural communities, the article argues that the functions and the local proliferation of hamlet-based farming are shaped by village institutions: hamlet-level norms and rules governing land use and agricultural cooperation, as well as social ties between hamlets, local co-ops, and local governments. While the integration of village institutions into local cooperative and administrative structures can support a systematic local proliferation of collective farming, municipal and cooperative mergers have rendered such comprehensive local responses more complicated. More generally, the article proposes to investigate local acts of recombining community ties and norms with changing macro policies as a promising analytical angle to understand the ongoing renegotiation of East Asian welfare regimes.

scholarly journals Management of rural territories land resources in decentralization conditions

2019 ◽  
pp. 24-36
Author(s):  
Andriy Sava ◽  
Borys Sydoruk ◽  
Roman Voloshyn
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Land Management ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Land Resources ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
Community Needs

Introduction. Under decentralization, there is a gradual transfer of powers and resources to local governments. In this case, one of the most urgent problem for rural areas, is the organization of rational land management from the position of financial support improving through the disposing of lands, and using available lands for community needs. Methods. General and special methods – monographic and abstract-logical, methods of generalization, comparison and analysis have been applied for data processing. Results. During the decentralization reform, it was found that 488 rural united territorial communities were formed, covering almost half the area of all UTCs created. In addition, nearly 800 village councils joint to the city-based UTCs. The ways of the redistribution of powers on the UTC land resources management are established at the expense of acquiring their own powers, obtaining delegated ones, as well as acquiring the rights of other institutions. Emphasis is placed on the benefits of managing land resources of rural communities at the local level. It has been determined that the applicable law restrict communal land use of UTC. At the same time, the importance of agricultural land outside the settlement transfer to the disposal of communities is emphasized. The importance of the land payment in the structure of local budget revenues is analyzed in detail, the key problems and contradictions that accompany the process of land management powers reallocation are identified. Suggestions are made to improve the rural communities land resources management through their inventory, accounting and monitoring, revision of rental rates for communal property, strengthening control over compliance with the terms of land use agreements, use of free lands in the interests of communities. Discussion. Further studies in this area are going to be aimed at developing a comprehensive mechanism for ensuring effective management of land resources in rural areas after the completion of decentralization. Keywords: land resources, rural territories, decentralization, united territorial communities, local governments.

scholarly journals KARAKTERISTIK PERGERAKAN PENUMPANG ANGKUTAN UMUM PERDESAAN DI KABUPATEN KUNINGAN

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-132
Author(s):  
Adinda Sekar Tanjung ◽  
Puspita Dirgahayani
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Public Transportation ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Transport Services ◽  
Transportation Service ◽  
Movement Characteristics ◽  
Transportation Routes ◽  
Public Transport Services

Abstract   The demand for rural public transportation is dominated by people who cannot access private vehicles. In terms of the number of operating routes and the performance of their services, currently rural public transport services tend to decline. The mobility of rural communities to reach social facilities can be hampered if there is no public transportation service, which in turn will reduce the quality of human resources in rural areas. This study focuses on the movement characteristics of rural public transport passengers in Kuningan Regency. Several rural transportation routes were taken as samples, namely route 030 Cilimus-Linggarjati, route 061 Cilimus-Mandirancan, and route 037 Lengkong-Rancakeusik. This study shows that the characteristics of the movement of rural public transport passengers are an integral part in an effort to maintain rural public transport services. These characteristics of passenger movement can be used to improve the performance of public transportation, become input for public transport operators, and become material for local governments to make policies   Keywords: rural public transportation; public transport routes; public transport services; public transport performance.     Abstrak   Permintaan angkutan umum perdesaan didominasi oleh masyarakat yang tidak dapat mengakses kendaraan pribadi. Dari sisi jumlah trayek yang beroperasi dan kinerja layanannya, saat ini layanan angkutan umum perdesaan cenderung semakin menurun. Mobilitas masyarakat perdesaan untuk menjangkau fasilitas sosial dapat terhambat jika tidak ada layanan angkutan umum, yang pada akhirnya akan menurunkan kualitas sumber daya manusia di kawasan perdesaan. Studi ini berfokus pada karakteristik pergerakan penumpang angkutan umum perdesaan di Kabupaten Kuningan. Beberapa trayek angkutan perdesaan diambil sebagai sampel, yaitu trayek 030 Cilimus-Linggarjati, trayek 061 Cilimus-Mandirancan, dan trayek 037 Lengkong-Rancakeusik. Penelitian ini  menunjukkan bahwa karakteristik pergerakan penumpang angkutan umum perdesaan merupakan bagian yang tidak terpisahkan dalam upaya mempertahankan layanan angkutan umum perdesaan. Karakteristik pergerakan penumpang ini dapat digunakan untuk meningkatkan kinerja angkutan umum, menjadi masukan bagi operator angkutan umum, serta menjadi bahan pemerintah daerah untuk membuat kebijakan.   Kata-kata kunci: angkutan umum perdesaan; trayek angkutan umum; layanan angkutan umum; kinerja angkutan umum.

scholarly journals Tax Incentives: An Effective Development Strategy for Rural Communities?

2002 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel V. Rainey ◽  
Kevin T. McNamara
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Tax Incentives ◽  
Economic Opportunity ◽  
Capital Investments ◽  
Local Economies ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Effective Development

As national and local economies become more globalized, many rural areas are going to find it more difficult to compete for private capital investments. A traditional tool, modifications to tax policy, of state and local governments will not be as effective (for many communities it has never been effective) in the future. These communities will need to seek other avenues of growth. However, for many rural communities even alternative avenues will not lead to enhanced economic opportunity.

scholarly journals Partnership Model for Optimizing the Use of Village Funds

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Mukhtar Sarman
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Partnership Model ◽  
Self Reliance ◽  
The Government

Since 2015, the Government has allocated village development funds in the form of Village Fund policies of IDR 20.7 trillion, then in 2016 it increased to IDR 46.9 trillion, and continues to increase in the following years. However, based on field research in a number of regions in Indonesia, it turns out that the use of Village Funds is not optimal, some of which have been proven wrongly targeted, not transparent in use, and not accountable in reporting. The aspect of planning activities and the quality of human resources implementing policies and coordination between parties that should play a role are still a major problem. The PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model is actually intended for the development of large-scale projects, such as the construction of highways or seaports and airports. But by taking the substance of cooperation from the parties that each have strengths, the PPP model (and its variants) may be applicable in the use of Village Funds. Using secondary data analysts, the following article discusses the theoretical aspects of the advantages of the PPP model. This model is juxtaposed with cases of success in building the economic self-reliance of rural communities with the help of private parties and academics. It is assumed that the partnership model can be an alternative solution to further optimize the use of Village Funds in order to reduce poverty in rural areas.  

Long-Term Care Planning, Preparedness, and Response Among Rural Long-Term Care Providers

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Tiffany A. Radcliff ◽  
Jennifer A. Horney ◽  
Aram Dobalian ◽  
Blanca O. Macareno ◽  
Umar Y. Kabir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Term Care ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Communication And Coordination

Abstract Objective: Rural Long-term Care (LTC) providers face unique challenges when planning, preparing for, and responding to disasters. We sought to better understand challenges and identify best practices for LTC in rural areas. Methods: Case studies including key informant interviews and site visits were conducted with LTC staff and emergency planning, preparedness, and response partners in three rural communities. Themes were identified across sites using inductive coding. Results: Communication across disaster phases continues to be a challenge for LTC providers in rural communities for all disaster types. Communication challenges limit LTC providers’ ability to address patient needs during emergencies and limit the resilience of providers and patients to future disasters. Limited coordination among local leadership and LTC providers prevents dissemination of information, resources, and services, and slows response and recovery time. Including LTC providers as stakeholders in planning and exercises may improve communication and coordination. Conclusion: More than two decades into efforts to increase preparedness of health care systems to all hazards, rural LTC facilities still face challenges related to communication and coordination. Agencies at the federal, state, and local level should include input from rural LTC stakeholders to address gaps in communication and coordination and increase their disaster resilience.

Responding to climate change through joint partnership

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 170-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oluwatoyin Dare Kolawole ◽  
Piotr Wolski ◽  
Barbara Ngwenya ◽  
Gagoitseope Mmopelwa ◽  
Olekae Thakadu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Weather Forecasting ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Okavango Delta ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Content Type

Purpose – Climate change continues to pose a serious challenge to mankind. Given their socio-economic and vulnerable situations, resource-poor farmers will be hard hit and likely to be the most affected group in Africa – a continent that will bear the full brunt of inclement weather conditions. The purpose of this paper is to address the questions of how local farmers read and predict the weather, and how best they can collaborate with weather scientists in adapting to climate change and variability in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. Design/methodology/approach – A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed in sampling a total of 592 households heads (both men and women) in eight rural communities in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Findings – Analysis indicates that about 80 per cent of the farmers had a good knowledge of weather forecasting. In a knowledge validation workshop organised and implemented in early August 2012, farmers and scientists identified a nine-point agenda and strategies for addressing the challenges posed by climate change to community well-being and agricultural production. Knowledge sharing, installation of community weather stations and local-level capacity building are amongst the strategies identified. Research limitations/implications – The research is only limited to the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Originality/value – The paper emanates from original field research. The outcome of the paper provides pertinent information for policy formulation on how best to enhance small farmers’ adaptation to climate change.

scholarly journals New agricultural frontiers in post-conflict Sierra Leone? Exploring institutional challenges for wetland management in the Eastern Province

2008 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Maconachie
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Wetland Management ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Eastern Province ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Government ◽  
Institutional Challenges

ABSTRACTSierra Leone has recently emerged from a long period of political instability and civil war, and is ranked among the world's poorest countries. Thousands of displaced people are in the process of returning to their villages to rebuild their mainly farming-based livelihoods, and many are growing food crops for the first time in a decade. With pressure on food production increasing in rural areas, the inland valley swamps have been identified by the government as a vital resource for sustaining rural livelihoods and achieving food security through the production of rice and other commodities. However, previous government policies directed at enhanced wetland production have largely failed to achieve their goals, and have been criticised for neglecting the institutional challenges of development. Drawing on recent fieldwork carried out in two rural communities in the Eastern Province, this paper considers how institutional arrangements function in Sierra Leone's swamp wetlands, and explores how stresses associated with a post-conflict environment are shaping land-use decisions and mediating access to resources in new ways. The findings of the enquiry have implications for Sierra Leone's recently adopted commitment to decentralisation, a move that has, in theory, seen the state strengthen its position at the local level, and will allegedly create new spaces for increased interaction between state agencies, traditional leaders and communities. Two institutional challenges are examined – access to land and access to labour – that must be addressed if decentralised reforms to resource management are to be effective for wetland rice production. The analysis concludes by considering one recent initiative at the forefront of efforts to decentralise the Ministry of Agriculture, the ‘Agricultural Business Unit’ (ABU) initiative, to elucidate some of the challenges faced in post-conflict wetland rehabilitation.

scholarly journals Decentralization, legitimacy, and democracy in post-Soviet Central Asia

2021 ◽  
pp. 187936652110685
Author(s):  
David Siegel
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Political System ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Political Decentralization ◽  
Level I ◽  
Soviet Central Asia

During the 1990s, a conventional wisdom emerged, based on literature going back decades, that political decentralization might be among the most effective forces for democratization. If ordinary people could participate in autonomous local governments, democracy would be built from the ground up, ultimately shaping the entire political system. Once decentralization reforms were implemented across the world, however, the results were disappointing. Authoritarianism not only thrived at the local level, it could also undermine democratization at the national level. Thus, local-national transference still held, but sometimes as a poison. In this context, the case of post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan is an anomaly. Here, the relative success of political decentralization—rather than its failure—nevertheless failed to spur democratization at the national level. I argue that this is because decentralization allowed national authorities to appease international donors while they consolidated their own power. Moreover, while decentralization empowered local communities, it did so in ways that personalized local authority and pitted local and national authorities against one another, resulting in intense localism and antagonistic center-local relations that undermined any democratic transference. The case study findings are based on ten months of field research, which includes interviews with local and national officials, ordinary villagers, and representatives of NGOs and international organizations.

scholarly journals What a Pandemic Has Taught Us About the Potential for Innovation in Rural Health: Commencing an Ethnography in Canada, the United States, Sweden, and Australia

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Petrie ◽  
Dean Carson ◽  
Paul Peters ◽  
Anna-Karin Hurtig ◽  
Michele LeBlanc ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Absorptive Capacity ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Field Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Programme Implementation ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Community Connections

The COVID-19 pandemic coincided with a multi-national federally funded research project examining the potential for health and care services in small rural areas to identify and implement innovations in service delivery. The project has a strong focus on electronic health (eHealth) but covers other areas of innovation as well. The project has been designed as an ethnography to prelude a realist evaluation, asking the question under what conditions can local health and care services take responsibility for designing and implementing new service models that meet local needs? The project had already engaged with several health care practitioners and research students based in Canada, Sweden, Australia, and the United States. Our attention is particularly on rural communities with fewer than 5,000 residents and which are relatively isolated from larger service centres. Between March and September 2020, the project team undertook ethnographic and auto-ethnographic research in their own communities to investigate what the service model responses to the pandemic were, and the extent to which local service managers were able to customize their responses to suit the needs of their communities. An initial program theory drawn from the extant literature suggested that “successful” response to the pandemic would depend on a level of local autonomy, “absorptive capacity,*” strong service-community connections, an “anti-fragile†” approach to implementing change, and a realistic recognition of the historical barriers to implementing eHealth and other innovations in these types of rural communities. The field research in 2020 has refined the theory by focusing even more attention on absorptive capacity and community connections, and by suggesting that some level of ignorance of the barriers to innovation may be beneficial. The research also emphasized the role and power of external actors to the community which had not been well-explored in the literature. This paper will summarize both what the field research revealed about the capacity to respond well to the COVID-19 challenge and highlight the gaps in innovative strategies at a managerial level required for rapid response to system stress.*Absorptive Capacity is defined as the ability of an organization (community, clinic, hospital) to adapt to change. Organizations with flexible capacity can incorporate change in a productive fashion, while those with rigid capacity take longer to adapt, and may do so inappropriately.†Antifragility is defined as an entities' ability to gain stability through stress. Biological examples include building muscle through consistent use, and bones becoming stronger through subtle stress. Antifragility has been used as a guiding principle in programme implementation in the past.

scholarly journals Partnership Model For Optimizing The Use of Village Funds

2019 ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Mukhtar Sarman
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Partnership Model ◽  
Self Reliance ◽  
The Government

Since 2015, the Government has allocated village development funds in the form of Village Fund policies of IDR 20.7 trillion, then in 2016 it increased to IDR 46.9 trillion, and continues to increase in the following years. However, based on field research in a number of regions in Indonesia, it turns out that the use of Village Funds is not optimal, some of which have been proven wrongly targeted, not transparent in use, and not accountable in reporting. The aspect of planning activities and the quality of human resources implementing policies and coordination between parties that should play a role are still a major problem. The PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model is actually intended for the development of large-scale projects, such as the construction of highways or seaports and airports. But by taking the substance of cooperation from the parties that each have strengths, the PPP model (and its variants) may be applicable in the use of Village Funds. Using secondary data analysts, the following article discusses the theoretical aspects of the advantages of the PPP model. This model is juxtaposed with cases of success in building the economic self-reliance of rural communities with the help of private parties and academics. It is assumed that the partnership model can be an alternative solution to further optimize the use of Village Funds in order to reduce poverty in rural areas.

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