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| Introduction: Sustainable
Rural Development (SRD) research is a follow-up activity to IIASA's
European Rural Development (ERD) Project. The SRD research activity
started in 2003 and is currently focusing on two regions:
China and Europe. |
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| China:
For the study of sustainable rural
development, China is a most interesting country: there is still a
large rural population of between 782 and 935 million people/1, of
which two-thirds are farmers or farm laborers/2. In 2003, the primary
sector (mainly agriculture and forestry) contributed roughly 15
percent to the nation's GDP (as compared to around 1-3 percent in
Europe). Since 1978 the country's agriculture has made great progress
(particularly in the 1980s) so that today China can feed itself -
despite quite limited resources of arable land, and contrary to widely
published doomsday scenarios of Western scholars (see:
ChinaFood CD-ROM).
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| Europe: In recent years,
rural development is getting increased attention in Europe. The
European Commission has declared rural development as the second
pillar of its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP Reform) and also
contributes greatly to the development of disadvantaged (rural)
regions through its various structural funds. A reason for the
heightened attention is the deep structural change in Europe's rural
areas, which includes not only changes in the rural economy, but also
serious demographic, social and cultural transitions.
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| The SRD research activity is led by
Gerhard K. Heilig. |
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Notes:
/1 Estimates of rural population vary greatly in China due to
different registration systems and statistical definitions. The lower
estimate is census-based. The higher estimate is derived from the
Hukou system of household registrations, published by the Ministry of
Public Security.
/2 It is a widespread belief that the people in China's rural areas
are all farmers; in reality, however, at least one third of the rural
population is working in non-agricultural sectors, such as rural
industries or services. |
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