Nutrition, Health, and Population in Strategies for Rural Development
Year: 1977
Type: article
Abstract: The principal thesis of this paper is that a country's strategy\nfor rural development should embrace a "composite package" approach\nfor the delivery of nutrition, health and family planning services in\nrural areas. The reasons for the increased attention now being given to\nproblems of rural poverty, including malnutrition and ill health as\nespecially serious manifestations of poverty, are reviewed in section\nI. The interrelationships between socioeconomic development and the\nreduction of fertility are then examined, making use of an analytical\nframework developed by Richard Easterlin. In considering priorities\nfor rural development in section III, it is emphasised that an accelerated\nrate of expansion of food production is a necessary but not a sufficient\ncondition for improving levels of food consumption. There is also a\nneed to increase the effective demand of low-income households, and the\nadvantages of a pattern of agricultural development which enables a large\nand growing fraction of farm households to participate in gains in\nproductivity and income are streesed.\nThe significance of expanding job opportunities outside of\nagriculture and of slowing the rate of growth of the population,as\nfactors contributing to an increase in returns to labour,is also stressed.\nBeyond the need to accelerate growth and to structure it so as to achieve\nbroad participation, it is suggested that priority should be given to\nprogrammes which link the delivery of nutrition, health and family planning\nservices and thereby increase the attractiveness and effectiveness of\neach and also reduce the cost of achieving wide coverage. A final section\nexamines the reasons why it is important to integrate the delivery of these\nservices. It is time-consuming and difficult to achieve administrative\nintegration, but in this instance the potential benefits justify the\nefforts. Section IV also considers some of the problems which must be faced\nin implementing an integrated programme capable of fostering widespread\nimprovements in nutrition and health and increased acceptance of family\nplanning.
DOI: 10.1086/450992
Authors: Bruce F. Johnston, Anthony J. Meyer
Language: English
Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2076465054