Rural poor eradication has a choice with respect to what economic roles played by rural poor people should receive research attention. The poor are consumers as well as producers of various goods or services. Many more rural poor people may interact with global economic processes through consumption than through production or employment. This interaction is both direct and indirect – direct consumption of ‘globally’growth; the investment climate; incentives for labour-intensive production; access to post-primary skill-enhancing education with gender equality; greater infrastructure spending and improved quality of services delivered.
These variables can be grouped as follows
Legal and regulatory reform (tax reform, land laws and administration).
Infrastructure (different types of which benefit quite distinct groups of poor people, also infrastructure development has important employment generating impacts).
Capacity of the state (in terms of contracting, regulation and project supervision)
Investment climate surveys (should be broadened to include agriculture, services; informal sector – including the views of poor entrepreneurs and workers); and
Increasing access to finance (particularly in terms of improving the usually weak links between the conventional financial sector and community banks and micro-finance institutions).
Enabling environment is comprised of institutions which may facilitate pro-poor rural economic growth. For this analysis, this is of sufficient significance to be a meta-theme covering all categories of rural poor.These suggest that pro-poor agricultural growth is facilitated by available economic infrastructure; secure property rights; positive incentive frameworks in the sectors where poor people work and invest; investments in R&D and dissemination of crop technologies to small producers and initiatives to help the management of risk. Put differently, the enabling environment, both formal and informal, influences if and how poor people can access vital assets for productive strategies. For the rural non-farm economy (RNFE).this research, and its crucial importance with regard to livelihood strategies, it is impossible to specify specific aspects of the enabling environment in relation to productive strategies of poor rural households which should not constitute part of the research themes funded under this programme. Nevertheless, RPE might wish to limit research activities to those aspects which directly influence productive strategies of poor rural households and the way they integrate – or are limited to participate
in global economic processes. Trade agreements, for example, will have a profound impact on rural producers, both directly and indirectly, whether and on what terms they can access markets, both within their country and beyond. Issues to be addressed under this programme, however, should not deal with trade regulations, negotiations and agreements at global level in general terms, but only with those aspects directly impacting the rural poor and their productive strategies (for example with regard to the introduction of health and safety standards for agricultural produce which limit access producers.
Comments