Agrarian policies and rural development in Costa Rica: definitions elements in the new international context

In the last two decades, the Costa Rican rural areas have been under considerable transformations. The changes occurred in the international context and the reorientation of the economic policies executed in the country, provoked the loom up of a more diverse productive structure and the enhancement of inequalities between the different agricultural producers groups. The extraordinary scientific and technological developments current in the contemporary society, the big differences in the knowledge generation or in the access of it, the Southern nation’s economic aperture trends and the persistence of diverse producers´ protection mechanism in the Northern countries; as well as the stimulus to agricultural and agro-industrial production for the international market, and the efforts to attract external investment, are some of the conditional factors of large rural areas modifications. The difficulties of numerous families to survive is dedicated exclusively to agricultural activities; the increase of the rural non-agricultural productive activities (tourism, services, agribusiness); the growth of rural non-agricultural employment, and the expansion of the rural areas multifunctionality, reduce the effectiveness of the prevailing perspectives, exclusively centered in agriculture, and the definition of sectarian policies and institutional initiatives without an a articulator axis. A territorial perspective adoption and the agricultural and environmental policies´ redefinition, oriented to respond to the new conditions of rural areas, are necessary measures to stimulate the productive activities´ growth, to encourage the advance of different country regions and to promote rural wellbeing. The rural social actors´ participation in these processes is a crucial factor to respond to the needs and particular demands of the diverse territories, and to promote local development in the rural spaces.Agrarian policies; Rural Development; Costa Rica

Territorial Rural Development in Latin America and the Caribbean: Discourses and Realities

The reorientation occurred in the socioeconomic, politic and institutional development of the Latin American and Caribbean countries, since 80's decade, provoke significant transformations in the regional rural spaces. The socioeconomic bipolarization is one of the most remarkable phenomena in the new conditions of the rural areas: by one side, was conformed a dynamic sector of companies, familiar's producers and external investors, dedicated to goods exportation or a different non agriculture rural activities (NARA). On the other side, numerous rural families, without the resources and the capabilities to compete with the imported goods, were gradually excluded. The NARA and the familiar pluriactivity are two ways used by the rural families to incomes generations in this new context. But the persistent poverty shows that many of them couldn't obtain the resources needed for their wealth. The Territorial Rural Development Strategies (TRDS) are one of the proposals to impulse the productive, social and institutional development in the rural areas. But these strategies confront serious obstacles to concrete their objectives and to promote the population participation and the rural wealth. In this paper were analyzed the main obstacles to encourage the TRDS in the region.Política Económica; Desarrollo Rural; Desarrollo Territorial Rural; Políticas Públicas; Actores Sociales; participación

Educación y desarrollo rural

The changes experienced by the contemporary society have a particular manifestation in the rural areas of our countries. In is in these social spaces where the most relevant impact of the accelerated economic, political and cultural integration takes it toll; it is in the rural communities, where the consequences of the open economic policies adopted by governmental authorities, are best reflected. These social processes aftermath brings about a substantial change in the rural world that contributes to enlarging the existing divide, as far as human development, between urban and rural areas. In Costa Rica, the redefinition of its development strategy started in the 1980´s. Two decades later, without a clearly defined vision and a growing uncertainty about the future on part of the population, it is an unfinished process. The national economy structural adjustment began in the 1980’s. Currently, there are opposing technical opinions as to its results. In this analysis, it is important to emphasize the impacts of the economic policies implemented in the 1980-2000 period, and the changes in the agrarian structure and social relations originated with the modernization processes experienced by the Costa Rican society as of the 1950´s decade.Los cambios experimentados por la sociedad contemporánea tienen una expresión particular en las áreas rurales de nuestros países. Se presenta en estos espacios sociales el impacto más relevante de la acelerada integración económica, política y cultural del presente y las consecuencias más notorias de las políticas de la apertura económica adaptadas por las autoridades gubernamentales. Los efectos de estos procesos sociales provocan una modificación sustancial del mundo rural y tienen a ensanchar las brechas existentes en cuanto al desarrollo humano en relación con las áreas urbanas.En Costa Rica, la redefinición de su estrategia de desarrollo se inicia en la década de los años ochenta. Dos decenios más adelante, es un proceso incompleto, sin una ruta claramente trazada y con una incertidumbre creciente ante el futuro por parte de la población. El ajuste estructural de la economía nacional se inicia en los años ochenta y al arribar al año 2000 prevalecen criterios técnicos contrapuestos sobre sus resultados. En este análisis interesa destacar los impactos en el sector rural de las políticas económicas impulsadas en el período 1980-2000 y los cambios en la estructura agraria y las relaciones sociales originadas con los procesos de modernización vividos por la sociedad costarricense a partir de la década de los años cincuenta

El sinuoso camino a la descentralización y el necesario fortalecimiento del gobierno local.

Latin American countries face the challenge of rebuilding their institutional systems, diminished in some of its essential functions as a result of economic reforms and policies implemented, with varying degrees of intensity, in most nations of the region. The identification of the poor results obtained with the efforts to reduce the functions of government and move some whole segments from it to the private sector, places the issue of strengthening and increasing its capacity to provide effective responses to the needs and demands of the population in a prominent place on the political agenda in these countries. Within these complex social processes, different routes have been opened to the quest for decentralization of government, arising from different concepts and strategies to follow uneven. This book examines the tortuous path followed by the Costa Rican society towards decentralization and strengthening local governments, with emphasis on upstream and downstream movements that have helped to promote the gradual progress in the transfer or allocation of powers to municipal corporations

Marco de análisis sobre la relevancia de los programas de maestría para el desarrollo territorial en América Central y en los Andes

In this document takes place an analysis on the main rural development tendencies in the Central American and Andean countries. Also, it presents a synthesis of the main academic and political debates related to the policies and strategies of rural development impelled in these sub regions. The contents of the document offer a frame to carry out a process of self-analysis by a group of postgraduate programs in territorial development from these countries

El Instituto de Desarrollo Agrario (IDA), el desarrollo productivo y el bienestar social en el medio rural de Costa Rica. análisis evaluativo sobre el cumplimiento de sus objetivos y funciones.

In this document is presented the main results obtained with the research, about the objective and functions achievement of the Development Agrarian Institute of Costa Rica. This institution was created in 1961, with the name of National Institute of Lands and Colonization (ITCO). In the 80’s decade its name and functions was modified and received the actual name. The agrarian policies and the institutional work, mostly in the land redistributions actions, play and important role in the rural areas transformation and in the economic and social stability of this country, in contrast with the neighbors Central American nations. During the 80’s decade the rural institutions suffered a relevant reduction in their personal number and in their budgets. This situation affects their capacity to achieve the objectives and functions assigned by the law frame. In the IDA case, besides, some corruptions scandals, contribute to decline its public image and its political capacity level. The study concludes with some institutional transformations recommendations, in order to strength its impact in the rural areas and in the rural territorial development strategies that are necessaries to poverty alleviation and to increase the welfare in the Costa Rican rural territories

Desarrollo socioeconómico y pobreza en América Latina y el Caribe

The political and economical reforms applied in Latina American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, since the 80 decade, in the structural adjustment context, produced a break in relation to the development model followed for the majority of these nations, with evident differences between them, in the past three decades. In this document was tried to do a synthesis of the main socioeconomic Latin-American development tendencies, remarking the opportunities and obstacles to impulse the strategies that drove to the route of the human sustainability development. It was did an analysis of the most important reforms characteristics, and their mostly significant results. The modifications in the economic growth model established in the region, found poverty persistence, the inequality enlarge and the social mobility limitations, some of the most clear expressions of the difficulties to promote the human sustainability development in ALC. These were considered like the Achilles Heel of the development model and the economic policies adopted, in uniform and generalized manner, by the diverse and heterogeneous Latin-American and Caribbean societies during this period. The human deprivations magnitude and the damage suffered by natural resources base in the region, established significant challenges for global human sustainability development strategies impulse. In consequence, this situation positioning the themes of the poverty and the social inequalities in an outstanding point in the regional development agenda. In this work, was did a recount of the main procedures used to poverty measurement and present information about this social phenomenon evolution, major limitations of these countries population to have the benefit of the civil, political and social rights. Also, the document realized an analysis on the subject of the democracy development and the social exclusion, poverty and the inequalities in the social tissue of these nations. These processes offer an explanation of the restrictions to build democratic societies that profound the electorate democracy and create an integral citizenship in these nations. The document referred to some changes experimented by the civil society and his essential position in the citizenship building and in the regional democratic processes. Likewise, was did a social policies orientation analysis, in the frame of the economic and political reforms established in the eighties decade as well the demands of these policies reorientation as a consequence of the poverty, inequality and social exclusion persistent in the ALC countries. The information with reference to the public social investment evolution, in the different regional societies, is a good indicator about the states effort against the poverty and inequality. At least, was analyzed the communitarian development, the social capital and the actions with an ascendant focus, impulse from the particular conditions (productive, economic, institutional, social and environmental) of the diverse urban and rural local spaces. This is understand as relevant route to strengthen the local democracy, to build citizenship, promote the human, economic, political, socio cultural and protection capacities between the deprived families. The results obtained with the development of these initiatives, and the particular experiences and the public and privet institutions that facilitate or promote these initiatives, with the participation of the local communities, have much potential importance to influence the policies definition, the development orientation and in the indication of the limitations to sustainability development that was born with the growth economic model prevailing during the last two decades in the majority of the Latin American and Caribbean countries

Marco de análisis sobre la relevancia de los programas de maestría para el desarrollo territorial en América Central y en los Andes

In this document takes place an analysis on the main rural development tendencies in the Central American and Andean countries. Also, it presents a synthesis of the main academic and political debates related to the policies and strategies of rural development impelled in these sub regions. The contents of the document offer a frame to carry out a process of self-analysis by a group of postgraduate programs in territorial development from these countries

Política agraria y desarrollo rural en Costa Rica: elementos para su definición en el nuevo entorno internacional.

In the last two decades, the Costa Rican rural areas have been under considerable transformations. The changes occurred in the international context and the reorientation of the economic policies executed in the country, provoked the loom up of a more diverse productive structure and the enhancement of inequalities between the different agricultural producers groups. The extraordinary scientific and technological developments current in the contemporary society, the big differences in the knowledge generation or in the access of it, the Southern nation’s economic aperture trends and the persistence of diverse producers´ protection mechanism in the Northern countries; as well as the stimulus to agricultural and agro-industrial production for the international market, and the efforts to attract external investment, are some of the conditional factors of large rural areas modifications. The difficulties of numerous families to survive is dedicated exclusively to agricultural activities; the increase of the rural non-agricultural productive activities (tourism, services, agribusiness); the growth of rural non-agricultural employment, and the expansion of the rural areas multifunctionality, reduce the effectiveness of the prevailing perspectives, exclusively centered in agriculture, and the definition of sectarian policies and institutional initiatives without an a articulator axis. A territorial perspective adoption and the agricultural and environmental policies´ redefinition, oriented to respond to the new conditions of rural areas, are necessary measures to stimulate the productive activities´ growth, to encourage the advance of different country regions and to promote rural wellbeing. The rural social actors´ participation in these processes is a crucial factor to respond to the needs and particular demands of the diverse territories, and to promote local development in the rural spaces

Desarrollo rural y ciudadanía social: Territorios, instituciones y actores locales

The development of policies related to the promotion of territorial development, family farming and the revitalization of local markets, linked to the revitalization of public institutional system, the promotion of partnerships and the establishment of areas of citizen participation, open spaces to the search for new approaches and strategies to tackle the development in rural areas. The territorial approach to rural development provides, in this regard, a holistic perspective and a set of strategies and methods of action which respond to the new conditions of the rural environment and the multiplicity of demands that must be attend in order to promote development in rural areas. In this publication, are exposed some of the major changes taking place in rural Latin American and the basic elements included in the strategies which seeks to stimulate productive, institutional and social transformations within a framework of environmental sustainability in rural areas of the region