The farming community, in many parts of Australia, is widely dispersed and heavily dependent upon communication both within the community and outside. In this preliminary paper we explore the information needs and information flows of the rural sector and consider the farm as the potential focus of a virtual community. A virtual community may form a basis both for electronic commerce, in the tr...

Use and characteristics of the minor rural road network have changed dramatically in West-European intensive agricultural landscapes. These changes are caused by modern agriculture, by changing values of the road’s verges and by the multifunctionalization of the rural landscape. Changing the network, conventional farming practices often decrease landscape ecological stability. These problems ca...

The general purpose of this article is to identify the influencing factors on rural women participation inagricultural extension programs in Mazandaran Province. Therefore, using multi-stage sampling, 300 ruralwomen were selected randomly. The research instrument was a semi-structured questionnaire. Results showthat rural women participation in agricultural extension programs is at average leve...

this study was conducted to reveal the impact of rural-urban migration on broiler production in the niger delta region of nigeria. data were collected from 795 household heads and farmers/managers/supervisors of 25 selected broiler farms in the study area. descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis was utilized to analyze the data. able bodied young men constituted most of the rura...

OBJECTIVES The present study was a qualitative investigation of the impact of drought on rural families of southern New South Wales, Australia, with particular emphasis on the concept of resilience in times of stress. The aim was to provide insight, from a psychological perspective, into the experiences of rural farmers in a time of adversity, and to identify the coping resources utilized by th...

In spite of rapid urbanization in most parts of the world over the past two decades, rural development remains a major challenge for developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. According to a recent World Bank report, “75 percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas and most are involved in farming.” There is also new urgency for addressing rural problems generated by population ...

The 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak in the UK was widespread and devastating. Some areas (e.g. Cumbria) were very badly hit, but all farmers were affected to some degree. Huge numbers of animals, infected and healthy, were slaughtered. Tourism was badly affected. Data from three systematic studies found elevated levels of psychological morbidity among farmers and other rural workers, espec...

LADDER is a research project funded by the Policy Research Programme of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) that seeks to identify alternative routes by which the rural poor can climb out of poverty. LADDER is working with nearly 40 villages and 1,200 households in Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Kenya to discover the blocking and enabling agencies in the institutional environme...

Low-cost drying technologies suitable for rural farming areas are presented. Some of the important considerations with regard to their suitability include: 1. Low initial capital; 2. easy-to-operate with no complicated electronic/ mechanical protocol, and 3. effective in promoting better drying kinetics. The drying technologies that were selected include fluidized bed, spouted bed, infrared, so...