A framework for ICT-based knowledge sharing in sustainable rural development : the case of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

Some 50% of the people in the world live in rural areas, often under harsh conditions and in poverty. The need for knowledge of how to improve living conditions is well documented. In response to this need, new knowledge of how to improve living conditions in rural areas and elsewhere is continuously being developed by researchers and practitioners around the world. People in rural areas, in particular, would certainly benefit from being able to share relevant knowledge with each other, as well as with stakeholders (e.g. researchers) and other organizations (e.g. NGOs). Central to knowledge management is the idea of knowledge sharing. This study is based on the assumption that knowledge management can support sustainable development in rural and remote regions. It aims to present a framework for knowledge management in sustainable rural development, and an inventory of existing frameworks for that. The study is interpretive, with interviews as the primary source for the inventory of stakeholders, knowledge categories and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure. For the inventory of frameworks, a literature study was carried out. The result is a categorization of the stakeholders who act as producers and beneficiaries of explicit and indigenous development knowledge. Stakeholders are local government, local population, academia, NGOs, civil society and donor agencies. Furthermore, the study presents a categorization of the development knowledge produced by the stakeholders together with specifications for the existing ICT infrastructure. Rural development categories found are research, funding, agriculture, ICT, gender, institutional development, local infrastructure development, and marketing & enterprise. Finally, a compiled framework is presented, and it is based on ten existing frameworks for rural development that were found in the literature study, and the empirical findings of the Gilgit-Baltistan case. Our proposed framework is divided in four levels where level one consists of the identified stakeholders, level two consists of rural development categories, level three of the knowledge management system and level four of sustainable rural development based on the levels below. In the proposed framework we claim that the sustainability of rural development can be achieved through a knowledge society in which knowledge of the rural development process is shared among all relevant stakeholders.

NGOs, enterprise and rural development

Non-Government Welfare Organisations (NGOs) in rural areas have traditionally relied upon the state for a large part of their revenue which in turn provides the state with the capacity to impose strict monitoring and evaluation. However the tightening of state funding has either forced NGOs to stretch their own resource to the limit or to become more enterprising and innovative in their desire to provide people with access to an ever increasing range of community-based services and opportunities for connection with their local communities. The term that is often used for these new approaches is ‘social enterprise’ that has been defined as a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners’ . It is most often seen as an interface between public and private sector, being part of neither but engaging closely with both through partnerships, stakeholding and joint ventures as well as through complex trading and contracting relationships.

Such broad definitions however do not give much guidance to how particular NGOs can shift to a social enterprise model and still remain within their chosen missions. It is the very processes of re-imagining and reforming their enterprise that is a vital element in moving to a successful social enterprise practice. Accordingly this project focuses on two NGOs in different parts of the world (Brophy Family and Youth Services in Warrnambool. Australia and Aberdeen Foyer in Aberdeen, Scotland) that have developed (and are developing) new ways of approaching their roles as service providers and early intervention agents for youth in their local areas. Since both organisations have faced (and are facing) issues associated with depleting state allocated resources they are attempting to break new ground in the ways in which they redevelop their work with youth. Both agencies are leading the way in developing a broader approach that draws together disparate element of a social enterprise model. The project analyses the processes used by these two agencies to develop as social enterprises and how likeminded agencies can use the model for capability enhancement.

Use of poverty indicators and the poverty pyramid for agricultural and rural development in the smallholder sector in Sri Lanka

Based on official micro-level poverty studies for agricultural and rural development in the smallholder sector of Sri Lanka. The Poverty Pyramid was found to be a powerful tool for poverty analysis and the design of poverty alleviation strategies that are targeted at sustained poverty alleviation. Identification of the correct target groups by factors that prevent them from being more productive in their income generation activities is crucial to the formulation of rural development programs that benefit poor people first and most.

International NGO approaches to rural development in Myanmar

The article analyzes the research data provided by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) in Myanmar on strategies that maximizes rural community development. It discusses INGO approaches to rural community development and relationship with stakeholders. The study reveals that INGOs right partnership with local officials, equity and local community sustainability are crucial to the success of rural development projects in Myanmar.

The outlook for agriculture and rural development in the Americas: a perspective on Latin America and the Caribbean, 2009

Includes bibliography

The outlook for agriculture and rural development in the Americas: a perspective on Latin America and the Caribbean, 2010

Includes Bibliography

Spatial population distribution: urban and rural development

Includes bibliography

Costa Rica: crisis, adjustment policies and rural development

Analiza la situacion del sector agropecuario costarricense hasta la decada del 70, los problemas estructurales que mostro el patron de desarrollo seguido, las manifestaciones de la crisis y las caracteristicas de las principales politicas de ajuste que se adoptaron en 1982, asi como el impacto de estas medidas en la agricultura.

Youth expectations and rural development

Includes bibliography

Urban dimensions in rural development

Includes bibliography

Institutions and public policies for rural development in Guatemala

Includes bibliography

Rural development and urban food programming

Includes bibliography

Activities at the Caribbean subregional level in relation to the World Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States

Includes bibliography