The Process and Shortcomings in Paddy Procurement: A Case Study of Bhandara District of Maharashtra

This paper is a humble attempt in analyzing the presumptions about loopholes in the paddy procurement chain, that were disclosed in several meetings and discussions with the District Marketing Officer and the Additional Collector of district Bhandara in Maharashtra. Paddy passes through several stages from a farm to the mill, under the MSP scheme of the Government. The major aim of the MSP was to extend a welfare hand to the farmers and to protect him from market fluctuations. However, in Bhandara, it was seen that the system of procurement under MSP, was twisted to benefit some major players. It is in resonance with Fred Rigg’s theory of prismatic societies where there are huge gaps between the policy that is envisaged and the policy that is implemented on ground. It was seen that the procurement centers do not comply with rules of grading and fair procurement, the documents submitted by the farmers are not duly attested by the Talathis, there was diversion of poor-quality paddy from nearby states and there also exists a grey market of PDS that undermines the MSP scheme. Attempt was to prove each claim through a set research methodology: aninterview, a survey, a case study or interpretation of primary and secondary data. All data was sourced from the local government officials and the images of some documents were sourced from visits to procurement centers and Talathi offices. Key findings have been shared and some systemic solutions suggested in the end because big bang reforms are not always an answer.

Development, Prosperity and Aspirations: A Narrative from the Peri-Urban Areas of Noida

Urban development at city periphery as a unique process of urbanisation, manifests in distinctive spatial and socio-economic characteristics. The emergence of settlement types—an admixture of rural and urban characteristics—functionally transient between agrarian and non-agrarian economy with pervasive change in land uses and attendant livelihood sources, retreating mode of rural social norms and advancing urban way of life are remarkably obvious in peri-urban landscape of large Indian cities. The resultant socio-economic challenges for peri-urban inhabitants often create chasm between promised development agenda and their aspirations. Delving into the socio-economic transformations on account of land appropriation by the State government for urban and industrial development and ramifications of land negotiations in five peri-urban villages of Noida—this study reveals the discordant side of urbanisation benefitting urban at the cost of rural, and administrative processes which remain oblivious to the aspirations of those whose lands provided the grounds of this development agenda.

Land Governance in Fifth Schedule Areas: A Critical Analysis of Chhattisgarh State

The governance of land is central to the political economy of development. In India, The schedule areas are demarcated primarily for the development of adivasis who are officially classified as Scheduled Tribes (STs)/and protection of culture through special legal and administrative provisions in the form of fifth and sixth schedule. The article aims to understand and analyse the land governance in the areas of Fifth Schedule with specific reference to the Chhattisgarh State. It explores the role of Governor in preventing the land alienation. The main data sources include the agriculture census, diversion of forest land for the development projects including the mining along with cases of PESA and FRA using a process tracing methodology. The gradual decline in the size of average land holdings indicates the failure of land governance. There is a need to clear the legal ambiguity between the provisions of Fifth Schedule with particular reference to the role of Governor to establish peace and good governance.

The Role of Financial Inclusion in Eliminating Household Poverty: Evidence from the Rural Wa West District of Ghana

It has been acclaimed that financial inclusion is one sure way of moving the poor out of poverty. In Ghana, poverty levels are particularly high in the Northern regions. In the Wa West district of the Upper West Region, the poverty incidence rate is as high as 92.4% (GSS, 2015). In this study, the researchers survey 378 households across the Wa West district to ascertain and examine the level of poverty and financial inclusion among households. Specifically, we examine the extent to which financial inclusion affects household income in the district. The study confirmed high levels of poverty and extremely low levels of financial inclusion among households in the district. The findings showed that households that had less access to financial products and services, had low levels of household income making them poor. Our findings confirm that in our sample, financial inclusion is a significant factor in determining household income and by extension, poverty levels. Secondly, using ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation adjusting for robustness, we found that access to credit and withdrawal frequency significantly affect household expenditure, a proxy for poverty. We also found very low levels of education in our sample but ironically, the households did not consider education a major intervention to improve their standard of living, rather preferring farming and livestock support. We recommend that governments and other policymakers adopt a two-pronged approach by increasing financial inclusion in rural areas whilst tackling low poverty level issues.

Land-use Dynamics in Lupila Ward of Makete District in Southern Highlands of Tanzania

This article examines Land-Use (LU) dynamics in Lupila ward of Makete District in Southern Highlands of Tanzania. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to track LU change in Lupila ward from 1984 to 2014. Geographical information system (GIS) was employed to track LU/Land-Cover (LU/LC) change from 1984 to 2014. The questionnaire, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), in-depth interview and field observations were used to supplement GIS. The data were collected from 87 respondents through questionnaire, FGDs and in-depth interview. Five LU/LC classes were identified, which are agriculture with scattered settlement, natural forests, woodlands, bushlands and grasslands. The identified LU/LC classes changed (increased and decreased) over time. Findings from respondents indicated that LU/LC change was mainly caused by the introduction of exotic tree species and decline in soil fertility. Based on the findings, the study recommends that it is imperative for the respective authority to introduce LU plan in each village so as to rescue resources like natural forests from being depleted.

Irrigation and Inclusiveness in Health: A Study of TwoVillages in North East Karnataka

Does irrigation mediate inclusiveness in health outcomes? This is the basic question this article is trying to address in the context of two villages in northeast Karnataka. The findings of this micro-level study show that public irrigation facilitates trickle down of positive health outcomes to the marginalised sections of the society in terms of caste and gender. On the other hand, such inclusiveness in health was not observed in the village where majority of households depend on private sources of irrigation. The above outcomes are explained in terms of inequities in access to resources including water, land and education. This study shows that public irrigation plays instrumental role in achieving larger developmental goals including health in a rural society.

Availability and Spatial Inequality of Rural Infrastructure in Jungle Mahal Blocks of Purulia District, India

Rural infrastructure is fundamental and central to the concept of quality of life as well as human development. The major characteristic of regional development is the constant widening of regional disparity in India after different plan period. Various Finance Commissions and Planning Commissions laid emphasis on the objective of achieving balanced regional development. The article identifies a gap in terms of education, health, communication and financial infrastructure in the study of panchayats of Jungle Mahal blocks. Mapping of regional disparities can aid in effective policymaking at the preliminary stage of planning. Panchayat level inequality has been analysing using dimension index and principal component analysis (PCA). Wide disparities in the availability of rural infrastructure have been pointed out and proper recommendation has also been made to minimise the gap in spatial inequality.

Impact of Improved Agricultural Technology Use on Household Income in Eastern Ethiopia: Empirical Evidence from a Propensity Score Matching Estimation

This article investigates the impact of improved agricultural technology use on farm household income in eastern Ethiopia. Primary data for the study were obtained from a random sample of 248 rural households, 119 of which are improved technology users and the rest are non-users. The research employed the propensity score matching procedure to establish the causal relationship between adoption of improved crop and livestock technologies and changes in farm income. Results from the econometric analysis show that households using improved agricultural technologies had, on average, 23,031.28 Birr1 higher annual farm income compared to those households not using such technologies. Our findings highlight the importance of promoting multiple and complementary agricultural technologies among rural smallholders. Therefore, we suggest that rural technology generation, dissemination and adoption interventions be strengthened. Moreover, the linkage among research, extension, universities and farmers needs to be enhanced through facilitating multistakeholder innovation platforms.