Rural Development and the Declining Coherence of Rural Policy: An American and Canadian Perspective

Rural development policy in North America has moved from a position of national importance to one of marginality as Canada and the United States grew. While rural policy and agricultural policy are no longer synonymous there is no firm consensus on what national governments should play. While national governments can operate effective commodity based policy they are less capable of managing people based policies and quite weak in operating place based policy. However as rural communities evolve in a variety of ways, it is the latter two types of policy that are most useful. Moreover social change has resulted in broad public policy being more concerned with the “ecological function” of rural areas and less concerned with the economic and social well-being of rural residents. All this suggests that rural communities will increasingly have to rely largely upon local resources and local initiative is they wish to develop.Rural policy, North America, Local development, policy coherence, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

CONCEPTUAL UNDERPINNINGS OF POLICY ANALYSIS FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT: DISCUSSION

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

A U.S. Perspective on Multifunctionality

Agribusiness,

WHAT CAN SOCIAL SCIENTISTS CONTRIBUTE TO THE CHALLENGES OF RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT?

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Measuring Farm Net Income To Better Achieve Policy Objectives

The farm problem is a longstanding topic in agricultural economics, and farm organizations continue to press claims that they are disadvantaged and deserve public support. While society may choose to support farmers it is clear that existing farm programs to not do an effective job of providing support. Farm income and farm subsidies are highly concentrated and the lowest income farmers receive little support. Moreover most households with low farm income typically manage their farm to achieve this goal. Politically, commercial farms require that hobby farms continue to be recorded as actual farms in order to mask the small number of enterprises that actually benefit from farm programs. Whether this lead to good public policy is another matter.farm problem, income distribution, farm household objective function, farm income, farm policy, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Complexity and Obsolete Data Concepts: Canadian Farm Policy, and the Changing Structure of Agriculture

Agricultural data systems remain based upon now obsolete concepts. In particular, the "full-time, family farm" is still organizing concepts for much of the farm data system, and for agricultural policies. Yet farming has clearly bifurcated into: a relatively small number of large farms that produce the majority of the food and fiber; and a large number of small part-time farms that depend mainly on off-farm income for household well-being. Both types are family farms, but they are not the family farms of the past. It is broadly recognized that large farms pose complex challenges for data collection and policy. But small farms are also complex. While small farms may not account for much production they are important for land use issues and for maintaining political support for farm policy. As agricultural policy evolves beyond support commodities it is important to have a better understanding of the heterogeneity of agriculture. This will require more attention to how we define farming, farmers and the objectives of policy.data concepts, farm policy, agricultural policy, Canada, data collection, risk, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, Risk and Uncertainty,

The Economic Well-Being of Farmers As An On-going National Public Policy Issue

Aggregate farm income is the standard measure of farm household economic well-being. In Canada farm groups have used a multi-year decline in one measure of farm income - realized net income, to press for increased financial transfers. In the first part of the paper income data is reviewed to assess the magnitude of the decline and whether Canadian farmers are worse of than their U.S. counterparts. In the second part of the paper conceptual issues with farm income as the primary measure of economic well-being are presented and the conclusion is drawn that any measure of farm income is a flawed indicator of actual well-being even though it may be statistically sound, because the underlying assumptions that make farm income maximization the main objective of farm households are no longer tenable.agricultural policy, policy design, farm income, economic well-being, farm household objectives, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Applying Multifunctionality to U.S. Farm Policy

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Trends in nursing and midwifery research and the need for change in complementary therapy research

In recent years there has been a change in nursing and midwifery research. Whilst many of the subjects being studied remain the same, nurses and midwives have started to employ a range of data collection methods that are relatively new to the profession. Predominantly quantitative research, which concentrates on reduction, objectivity, manipulation, categorization, passivity, control, prediction, causality and generalizability (Munhall & Oiler 1986), is starting to be replaced by other approaches perhaps more congruent with nursing, midwifery and caring. As Moody (1990) stated, ‘the 1980s ushered in an array of diverse, sophisticated research methods…’ with other authors adding that ‘nursing is just beginning to authenticate new territory that incorporates a plurality of methods’ (Nagle & Mitchell 1991). The following is an exploration of the recent apparent shift away from a focus on quantitative research in nursing and midwifery towards the use of qualitative methods which emphasize a greater degree of individuality, humanism, participation and interaction. It is suggested that the traditional quantitative research paradigm still exists in the field of complementary therapy research and that the shift that has taken place in nursing and midwifery research needs to be considered more seriously in the field of research in complementary therapies

ACCESS TO PESTICIDES AS A SOURCE OF TRADE DISPUTE

International Relations/Trade,