Ten Propositions on Rural Poverty and Agrarian Transition in Central Eurasia

The relation between agricultural development and rural poverty reduction in six Central Eurasian countries, namely Azerbaijan (South Caucasus) and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan (Central Asia), is discussed by presenting and analyzing ten propositions. These propositions cover a broad range of issues that relate to rural poverty in this region, such as: the state of income and non-income poverty; the diverse processes of land reform and farm restructuring, and agricultural policy reform; and finally, the institutional and market framework that is needed for dynamic agricultural and rural development. The paper contends that rural poverty is not responding as robustly to rapid economic growth in these countries, and that agricultural growth, in particular in the newly emerging peasant farm sector, is necessary to promote rural poverty reduction.

Autosuficiència energètica a la casa rural "Les Vinyes Grosses"

L’objectiu del present projecte és aconseguir l’autosuficiència energètica per a la casa rural “Les Vinyes Grosses”. Aquesta casa rural està situada a Sant Agustí de Lluçanès, comarca d’Osona. Es vol aconseguir fer una canvi de les instal·lacions que utilitzen energies no renovables a unes instal·lacions que funcionin amb energies renovables. Es pretén canviar la instal·lació de calefacció i aigua calenta que funciona amb gas-oil per una instal·lació que funcioni amb estella de pi roig que provingui de la mateixa finca. També es vol fer un canvi de la instal·lació elèctrica que funciona amb electricitat de la xarxa per una instal·lació elèctrica que utilitzi energia solar fotovoltàica. Per últim, es pretén que tota l’aigua consumida en la casa rural sigui aigua de la pluja en comptes d’utilitzar l’aigua de la xarxa. El cost total calculat per a realitzar aquests canvis d’instal·lacions és de 58.825 €, amb un temps d’amortització de 15,32 anys.

An analysis of the metabolic patterns of two rural communities affected by soy expansion in the North of Argentina

The soy expansion model in Argentina generates structural changes in traditional lifestyles that can be associated with different biophysical and socioeconomic impacts. To explore this issue, we apply an innovative method for integrated assessment - the Multi Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) framework - to characterize two communities in the Chaco Region, Province of Formosa, North of Argentina. These communities have recently experienced the expansion of soy production, altering their economic activity, energy consumption patterns, land use, and human time allocation. The integrated characterization presented in the paper illustrates the differences (biophysical, socioeconomic, and historical) between the two communities that can be associated with different responses. The analysis of the factors behind these differences has important policy implications for the sustainable development of local communities in the area.

Programa integral de atención a las personas mayores en una zona rural

We describe a community intervention program performed in three rural villages in the Alt Empordà region (Girona province). The study provides data on the services available to the elderly in a specific context, based on an initiative proposed by the villages, the local councils, and the elderly themselves. The program is a research-action plan which applies the participative and qualitative methodology characteristic of strategic planning. The study analyses how the initiative arose, the description of the process, and the different parts of the intervention program