Impact of PFnet Services on Sustainable Rural Development

Author(s):  
Anand Chand ◽  
David Leeming

PFnet in the Solomon Islands is the first attempt to introduce rural e-mail stations in remote rural villages in isolated islands. It was established in 2001 under an UNDP-UNOPS project and was initially partly funded by UNDP. Since then the major funding has come from Japan, NZODA, Britain, Republic of China, AusAid and European Union (Leeming, 2003a). It is managed by the Rural Development Volunteer Association (RDVA), a registered NGO. PFnet has an Internet Café (head office) in Honiara, the capital city and operates a network hub with fourteen rural e-mail stations linked by HF (short-wave) radios with e-mails typed in a laptop and powered by solar energy (Stork, Leeming, and Biliki, 2003). PFnet provides for the information and communication needs of the rural people. It is a source of information (e.g., providing news, Internet access), source of communication (sending and receiving e-mails), and provider of typing, secretarial, and printing services. PFnet has been a success story in improving the information and communication needs of the rural people (Leeming, 2003b).

Author(s):  
Anand Chand

This chapter examines the role of People First Network (PFnet) services in enhancing information and communication and contributing to sustainable rural development and poverty reduction in Solomon Islands. More specifically, it examines two main issues. First, it examines the uptake and appropriation of PFnet services by rural Solomon Islanders. Second, it examines the impact of PFnet services on sustainable rural development and poverty reduction in Solomon Islands. This chapter is based on a empirical research conducted in Solomon Islands between January-May 2004. The chapter is organised as follows: Section one provides an overview of PFnet Project. Section two states the main aims of the study. Section three outlines the methodology used for the research. The Section four reports the main research findings. Section five discusses some problems and finally section six provides the conclusion.


2013 ◽  
pp. 1571-1605
Author(s):  
Anand Chand

This chapter examines the role of People First Network (PFnet) services in enhancing information and communication and contributing to sustainable rural development and poverty reduction in Solomon Islands. More specifically, it examines two main issues. First, it examines the uptake and appropriation of PFnet services by rural Solomon Islanders. Second, it examines the impact of PFnet services on sustainable rural development and poverty reduction in Solomon Islands. This chapter is based on a empirical research conducted in Solomon Islands between January-May 2004. The chapter is organised as follows: Section one provides an overview of PFnet Project. Section two states the main aims of the study. Section three outlines the methodology used for the research. The Section four reports the main research findings. Section five discusses some problems and finally section six provides the conclusion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-118
Author(s):  
Kumar Bhatta

Multi functionality of agriculture in the developed countries is employed as a means of rural revitalization and economic circulation. Although farm diversification in the developing countries is much more crucial, in most of the rural areas of the developing countries, it is not performed, and it is delayed. In this regard, the main objective of this study is to explore the possibilities of the multi functionality of agriculture for the sustainable rural development for the implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the developing countries. The empirical study was conducted in two of the rural districts of Nepal called Nuwakot and Rasuwa. The author intentionally chose these districts because it is one separate area north of the capital city Kathmandu and bordering to China. Further, even though the location is nearby the capital city, and the rural villages have excessive potentials for tourism activities, the farmers are still focusing on subsistence farming without getting benefits from tourism. Based on the macro data of Nepal government and field visit, the author conducted a case study. This study explored that most of the household heads are working in the agricultural sector, which can be one of the opportunities to launch multi functionality of agriculture. However, due to their weak educational background, they are expecting external supports in terms of knowledge, technology, and more importantly, supportive policy. The federal and central government should give subsidy to the farmers so that they canstart multi functionality in their farms, which lead to sustainable rural development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10510
Author(s):  
Xiaojuan Zhang ◽  
Zhengang Zhang

The sustainability of rural areas is facing numerous challenges in China. The Chinese government has chosen the construction of smart villages as an important strategy to realize the sustainable development of rural areas. In this paper, we define a smart village as a rural development model that fully utilizes the solutions provided by the information and communication technology (ICT) to promote the sustainable development of the village on the basis of clarifying the characteristics and needs of rural development. Combined with general system theory, we propose a theoretical framework of the smart village system. Based on the theoretical framework of the smart village system, we analyzed the smart village strategic planning and smart village practice in China. The results of the study showed that the construction and development of smart villages in disadvantaged rural areas is the correct choice for sustainable rural development according to the current situation in China. The Chinese government’s role in promoting smart village construction has been to promote the smart village system’s strategic subsystem to enhance smart rural areas’ development through a unified overall plan and related supporting policies. The top-down smart village construction model currently adopted by China is determined by China’s political and economic system, which is mainly reflected in the centralization of power and the public economy’s dominance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-8
Author(s):  
R. P. BAIN ◽  
D. P. RAI ◽  
SIDDARTH NAYAK

If we want to convert our rural population into knowledge driven, progressive, self sufficient, self reliant, sustainable society, the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) cannot be ignored. Timely availability information is considered as most important factor in Indian agriculture. At present ICT is the technology of this millennium. Transferring the developed technology to all end users is time-consuming and tiresome task and is often not completed due to paucity of resources and lack of manpower. In India, agriculture and rural development has gained significantly from ICT due to its widespread extension and adoption. In this era of internet, ICT is committed to provide real, timely accurate authentic information to the farmers and rural peoples.


1998 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-307
Author(s):  
Afia Malik

Given the demographic realities in the developing world, it is not possible to solve the problems of poverty in these countries following the neoclassical model of economic growth. Since the majority of people are ruralites in these countries, the focus should be on rural development directly rather than on waiting for the benefits to trickle down to the rural poor. What is needed is to improve the quality of life and productivity of the small-holders or landless whose livelihood is based on natural resources which are depleting and require urgent attention. More options should be available for the rural people in their own area.


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