The Rural Household Production of Health Approach: Applying Lessons from Zambia to Rural Cancer Disparities in the U.S.

The recent focus on rural–urban cancer disparities in the United States (U.S.) requires a comprehensive understanding of the processes and relations that influence cancer care seeking and decision making. This is of particular importance for Black, Latino, and Native populations living in rural areas in the U.S., who remain marginalized in health care spaces. In this article, we describe the household production of health approach (HHPH) as a contextually-sensitive approach to examining health care seeking and treatment decisions and actions. The HHPH approach is based on several decades of research and grounded in anthropological theory on the household, gender, and therapy management. This approach directs analytical attention to how time, money, and social resources are secured and allocated within the household, sometimes in highly unequal ways that reflect and refract broader social structures. To demonstrate the benefits of such an approach to the study of cancer in rural populations in the U.S., we take lessons from our extensive HHPH research in Zambia. Using a case study of a rural household, in which household members had to seek care in a distant urban hospital, we map out what we call a rural HHPH approach to bring into focus the relations, negotiations, and interactions that are central to individual and familial health care seeking behaviors and clinical treatment particular to rural regions. Our aim is to show how such an approach might offer alternative interpretations of existing rural cancer research in the U.S. and also present new avenues for questions and for developing interventions that are more sensitive to people’s realities.

Contributions of some non-timber forest products to household income of rural dwellers in Onigambari Forest Reserve, Oyo State, Nigeria

The communities surrounding the forest reserve get their daily income from the sales of some of the non-timber forest products (NTFPs) as a means of survival for them and their house hold without proper documentation. The study described the socio-economic characteristics of the rural dwellers in the study area and determined the income made from some of these NTFPs. Data was generated through the use of structured questionnaires administered to 120 randomly selected rural household heads. Data obtained were described using frequency counts, percentages and mean scores; the relationship between dependent variables and independent variables of the study was tested using binomial test and logistic regression. Finding reveal that, non-timber forest products gathering in Onigambari was male dominated (72.3%), 78.1% were married and 38.1% had formal education. Contribution of income from non-timberforest products to total income of respondents in the State was 59.46%. It was concluded that the non-timber forest products contribute significantly to rural household income at Onigambari forest Reserve Area of Oyo State, Nigeria

Solar Photovoltaics in Pacific Island Nations: An Analysis of Rural Household Electrification Strategies in the RMI and Vanuatu

<p>Rural electrification of Pacific Island Countries (PICs) through renewable energy is necessary for poverty alleviation, energy security, improved health, and to mitigate the effects of climate change, with solar PV being the preferred technological solution. However, electrification projects in PICs have had a high rate of failure, which has led to the adoption of various electrification strategies. This research has analysed the essential criteria for creating effective and enduring electrification models for rural household-scale electrification in PICs. A case study on self-initiated solar PV home systems (SHSs) demonstrated rural end-users‘ ability and desire to maintain SHSs of their own accord, while at the same time liberating their community of reliance on kerosene. The results suggested that market solutions that pay sufficient attention to social dimensions of project design and implementation are more likely to be successful in meeting end-users needs and providing enduring results. Such approaches have fewer organizational layers, allow for end-user participation and education, and encourage self-initiative. The need for such social solutions is well documented in the development literature, yet many of the electrification programs in PICs did not allocate sufficient funds to understanding and incorporating these social aspects. This research concludes that a proper balance in the overarching program design between the technical and social focus of projects is required, as each are equally important for project effectiveness and durability.</p>

INCOME DISTRIBUTION OF RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN MEXICO

Despite the efforts to reduce poverty in rural municipalities income inequality persists in Mexico. This study presents an analysis on rural household income distribution in the country, since it is argued that conditional federal transfers fail on improving income distribution among rural households. The hypothesis stated that, because of local public goods are also part of individual budget constraints, it is rational to think that an expansion in the provision of local public goods will increase total income and, if such public goods are financed with conditional grants that target low-income groups, it is expected that income inequality may decrease. Thus, the objective was to classify rural municipalities in order to observe which among them have benefited from federal grants and those that did not, finding the reasons why assuming grants are accepted as an instrument contributing to reduce poverty and income inequality in recent years. Each group was analysed as a cluster to observe the effect of federal transfers on rural household income distribution. Main results showed that municipalities with rural low income-inequality and better economic development indicators improve income distribution when obtaining unconditional grants. This means that, in such cases, those transfers designed to reduce poverty also reduce rural income inequality. But that was not the case for the high income-inequality groups, where conditional grants did not have any effect on inequality and, in some cases, inequality increased. For the rural high income-inequality group, unconditional grants showed not to have a positive effect on reducing inequality. The clustering and regression analyses revealed large heterogeneity in the rural areas in terms of income and economic development.

Solar Photovoltaics in Pacific Island Nations: An Analysis of Rural Household Electrification Strategies in the RMI and Vanuatu

<p>Rural electrification of Pacific Island Countries (PICs) through renewable energy is necessary for poverty alleviation, energy security, improved health, and to mitigate the effects of climate change, with solar PV being the preferred technological solution. However, electrification projects in PICs have had a high rate of failure, which has led to the adoption of various electrification strategies. This research has analysed the essential criteria for creating effective and enduring electrification models for rural household-scale electrification in PICs. A case study on self-initiated solar PV home systems (SHSs) demonstrated rural end-users‘ ability and desire to maintain SHSs of their own accord, while at the same time liberating their community of reliance on kerosene. The results suggested that market solutions that pay sufficient attention to social dimensions of project design and implementation are more likely to be successful in meeting end-users needs and providing enduring results. Such approaches have fewer organizational layers, allow for end-user participation and education, and encourage self-initiative. The need for such social solutions is well documented in the development literature, yet many of the electrification programs in PICs did not allocate sufficient funds to understanding and incorporating these social aspects. This research concludes that a proper balance in the overarching program design between the technical and social focus of projects is required, as each are equally important for project effectiveness and durability.</p>