Perspectives on rural development in Ciskei, 1983 ; Development Studies Working Paper, no. 17

Abstract

Rural development comprises three components: production, consumption and organisation. PRODUCTION points to the activities rural people undertake to obtain goods (such as food) and services (such as transport) for themselves and others in their community. Production can be measured in terms of the amount of money a rural family earns, or in terms of the amount of food the family grows and consumes. CONSUMPTION points to the fulfilment of the needs—in the first place, the basic needs—of rural families. Primary examples are the availability of clean water and of wood as a fuel source, of health and adequate nutrition, of education, welfare and transport. These needs are met by the delivery of services to a rural community. Services are provided in the first place by the central state, often through its local authority (in Ciskei, the Tribal Authority). They may also be provided by voluntary associations active in the community, or by the household itself. ORGANISATION points simply to the ways in which productive activities (work) and consumption (receiving) are linked together in a rural community. The structure of the Tribal Authority and village councils, of schools, clinics, agricultural cooperatives, churches and women's groups are examples. All these institutions are designed to improve production and consumption in a given rural community. A rural development strategy then is a strategy aimed at improving production, consumption and the ways in which these two are linked. A rural development strategy moreover is initiated by the central government and can therefore be seen as a relationship between the central government and rural communities in Ciskei. ; Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)