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Historically, waves of new technologies have brought Americans higher standards of living. Electrical service and hot and cold running water, for example, were once luxuries; now their absence makes a home substandard. Today, technologies for accessing the Internet are diffusing at an even faster rate than those earlier innovations once did, bringing with them commensurate transformations of Americans' way of life. Technologies that increase the speed at which data can be transmitted have had powerful effects. Most importantly, they have transformed the Internet from a tool used by a narrow group of academics and technicians into a means of interaction used by a large majority of Americans. However, Americans have not universally benefitted from better Internet access. Geography, especially the divide between rural and urban America, determines how much some Americans can benefit from the Internet. Networks have not been as extensively developed in rural areas as in urban areas. Some people in rural America still have dial-up as their best available, affordable technology, a technology that offers five percent of the capacity for what the FCC has said is the broadband threshold. Others have service that reaches the broadband level, but still does not offer the "lightning-fast" speeds advertised by Internet service providers in urban areas. Accordingly, the nation faces a "broadband gap," not only with regard to the lack of access in rural areas to service that meets the broadband threshold, but also with regard to the lack of availability of faster service between urban and rural America. This report identifies opportunity costs that arise from this gap. These costs exist today, but the pace at which data transmission capability is growing means that the inequality between the technology being newly deployed and the technology that was deployed a decade or more ago is increasing. Networks that connect research institutions in the United States can move 100,000 times more data per unit of time than the dial-up connections that some Americans still must use. The technology gap is not a fixed deficit that once filled, stays filled. The technology gap will be larger--much larger--in the future, along with the information and technology gap, unless significant action is taken to overcome it. (Contains 2 figures, 1 table, and 19 footnotes.)

The System-wide Collaborative Action for Livelihoods and Environment, or SCALE process, has become one of the Academy for Educational Development's (AED's) and the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID's) most utilized and replicated models, with applications in education, health, natural resources management, tourism, sustainable agriculture, and energy, among others. SCALE was originally designed through the GreenCOM project, which was funded by the USAID/Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade Bureau's Natural Resources Management Office and implemented by AED. This paper illustrates how the SCALE model can be modified for use in the context of international workforce initiatives.

A study evaluated the impact of Farmer Field Schools in Indonesia, an intensive participatory training program emphasizing integrated pest management. Focus was on whether program participation improved yields and reduced pesticide use among graduates and neighbors who gained knowledge through informal communications. It used a modified "difference-in-differences" approach to evaluate program impacts with a panel household survey. Data were from 1991-99 on field school graduates and other farmers. Analysis indicated the program did not have significant impacts on performance of graduates and neighbors. Plausible explanations were the following: (1) even if graduates gained knowledge that could over time be reflected in improved performance, change was small and could not be detected; (2) gains that could be achieved through training may have been small to begin with and may have been offset by systemic factors (soil fertility, increased plant diseases, and climate trends) causing yield declines; (3) knowledge gained was complex; and (4) the quality of knowledge achieved may have been affected by untimely transfers of funds. Recommended improvements were to focus training on highest priority topics; simplify presentation to increase the likelihood and speed of diffusion of new knowledge; and shorten training length by narrowing and prioritizing the curriculum. (Appendixes include 38 references, econometrics appendix, and 17 endnotes.) (YLB)

This report focuses on university/U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) interactions in activities directly related to agriculture, natural resources, and the environment in developing nations. It is noted that U.S. university participation in AID development assistance ventures has declined since passage of the Title XII program of the Foreign Assistance Act in 1975. New opportunities for U.S. university involvement in foreign development assistance, however, are arising from new initiatives in AID, and in other development assistance organizations. In addition, AID is focusing on its affiliations with development assistance organizations, including U.S. universities, to encourage multi-institutional collaborative relationships. The report covers the following topics: how AID has utilized university resources; recent trends in AID/university collaboration; trends in AID policies, programs, and funding; perceived conflicts in the AID/university relationship, both historical and recurrent; and opportunities for U.S. university participation in development assistance. Also discussed are new directions for university participation in development assistance. Appendices include a list of programs supporting research and technology generation, AID Regional Bureau strategies, and AID actions in developing countries. Contains 120 references. (GLR)

Although a growing theoretical literature points to credit constraints as an important source of inefficiently high child labor, little work has been done to assess its empirical relevance. This paper examines the direct effect of a transitory income shock on household child labor choices, as well as the extent to which access to credit helps families smooth away the impact of a shock. Increasing child labor in response to a transitory shock carries important costs for human capital development because of the often-irreversible disruption in schooling. Panel data from approximately 800 agricultural households in the rural Dagera region of Tanzania show that transitory income shocks, as proxied by accidental crop loss, led to significantly increased child labor among children aged 10-15. Moreover, the availability of collateralizable assets offset the effects of income shocks on child labor, even when controlling for other sources of family wealth and for household-level unobservables. Findings corroborate a large theoretical literature on the relevance of credit constraints in predicting child labor and suggest that expanding access to credit might be effective in mitigating the prevalence of child labor. (Contains 41 references) (Author/SV)

Unless disparities in education are addressed, market-oriented reforms in Vietnam will generate inequitable agricultural growth. It is argued that if the marginal gains from investment in physical capital depend positively on knowledge, but a household cannot hire skilled labor to compensate for low skills, then even if it has access to credit, the household will achieve lower returns than an educated household. If, as is common, the income-poor are less well educated because of credit market failure and living in areas with worse access to schooling, then the poor will also have lower returns to investment. This paper tests the argument using the case of irrigation infrastructure in rural Vietnam. It asks how a household's education level and demographics influence the household income gains from irrigating previously non-irrigated land. Analysis of data from the 1992-93 Vietnam Living Standards Survey on 3,049 farm households found that education variables had pronounced and significant positive impacts on crop income. Modeling the determinants of crop income uncovered evidence of strong complementarities between the returns to irrigation and household education, particularly primary education. Simulated effects of increased education indicate that gains would accrue primarily to the poor and would have a strong equalizing effect on the returns to irrigation investment. Implications for rural development strategies are discussed. (Contains 20 references and 8 data tables and figures.) (SV)

Assuming development is a process that involves the generation, diffusion, and realization of new opportunities, this paper discusses the following: (1) The Development Process: Facts and Issues (re: visible unemployment; rural to urban migration; the dualism of labor markets in the less developed countries; population growth; and the disequilibrium of economic life in the development stage); (2) The Attributes of Development Man (adaptive and innovative); (3) The Formation of Competencies and the Transmission of Information (an economic analysis of people-changing processes; skill mobility and the markets for "jobs" and "work"; how different types of competencies are acquired; information "fields" and "resistances" to information); (4) Toward Progressive Agriculture (target groups in education for agriculture; substitution and complementaries among schooling, extension, and research; maximizing the efficiency of information systems); (5) The Rural Nonfarm Economy (symbiotic relationships in the developing rural nonfarm economy; dualisms and continua in skills and in scale; education, communication, and innovation in the nonfarm enterprise); (6) Strategies for the Enlargement of Opportunities and Their Realization (the elusive meanings of integrated development; the interdependencies of education and development; economic incentives and agricultural progress; unleashing the energies and ingenuities of ordinary man). (JC)

The paper explores how continuously expanding world demand for food, feed, and fuel is generating pressure to restructure agricultural land use. In addition, problems related to transfer of agricultural crop land to energy crops are discussed. The technology of energy crops has developed to the point where large-scale commercial production of alcohol from high-yielding energy crops appears to be favorable. As gasoline prices reach $2.00 per gallon, gasahol becomes not only feasible but profitable, particularly when factors such as subsidies and by-product credit are considered. National plans to produce energy crops have been formulated in the United States, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. Brazil has already implemented a large scale alcohol fuel program based principally on sugar cane. On the negative side, however, Brazil has already felt the impact of rapidly increasing food prices. The millions who are at the bottom of the economic ladder in Brazil and elsewhere, will be increasingly squeezed as the more affluent increase their claims to cropland. The conclusion is that decision makers in developing and developed nations should carefully assess the impact of energy crop iniatives on food prices and availability before encouraging widespread conversion of cropland into energy crops. (DB)

The purpose of this paper is to identify the role of high technology in rural-to-urban and urban-to-rural movement and the implications of this technology for agriculture and rural areas. The first section of the paper considers the impact of technology on agriculture in the United States over the past 50 years. Because U.S. agriculture has undergone unprecedented technological change since the 1930s, this provides an excellent case study of the effects of technology. Section 2 examines the potential impact of high technology on rural people and areas and concludes that high technology will influence rural areas more as users than as producers of such technology. The next two sections focus on two major high technology users--the farming industry and local rural government and schools. Applications of computers in agriculture and telecommunications in marketing are described, forecasts of future microcomputer uses on farms are made, and selected applications by the public sector are considered. The final section addresses some underlying issues (posed as questions with brief answers and supporting arguments) about high technology's effect on economic efficiency and equity, educational needs, and philosophical concerns. (YLB)

The relationship between the rate of social change and the incidence of mental disorder was analyzed for a 10 percent regional sample of U.S. counties (N=279) with a non-metropolitan status as of 1950. Data collected in 1950, 1960, and 1970 were derived from the Censuses of Government, Manufacturers, and Population, as well as from Vital Statistics and other government documents. State agencies were surveyed for data on the incidence of mental disorder. Variables under study were changes in: (1) median family income; (2) income inequality; (3) median education; (4) manufacturing (initial status vs post industry); (5) occupations (percent of residents employed in agriculture and percent self and (6) rate of mental disorder. It was theorized that alterations in these dimensions and (6) rate of mental disorder. It was theorized that alternations in these dimensions imply a basic realignment of social patterns and habits with an increased potential for social disorganization and pathology. Analysis indicated that changes, self-employment excepted, were conducive to increased levels of mental disorder in rural areas. These structural changes, especially in the area of occupational change, were found to be "powerfully" related to changes in manufacturing; however, it was surmised that since interpretation of social change is difficult at best, the relationship between industry and mental disorder is less than simple. (JC)

This document, which examines various topics and issues related to the management of freshwater supplies, is organized into 6 main sections. These sections include: (1) the water cycle and renewable supplies, providing data on distribution of such supplies by continent and average annual per capita runoff produced in selected countries with projections for the year 2000; (2) competing uses for water, providing data on world water use (total and per capita) for 1940-80, growth in irrigated areas (by continent) for 1950-82, and estimated water use in selected countries (total, per capita, and sector) for 1980; (3) the environmental and economic consequences of mismanaging water supplies, indicating the status of excessive water withdrawals in selected regions; (4) the augmenting of dependable supplies, providing data on reservoir capacity in selected countries for 1970 with projections to 1990 and listing selected major river diversion projects; (5) water conservation in the United States and foreign countries; and (6) priorities for a new water economy. One suggestion offered is that planners and educators dispel the myth that water conservation is exclusively a short-term strategy to alleviate droughts and other immediate crises. (JN)

The concept of sustainable economics not only examines how to produce what for whom but also how irreplaceable resources can be adequately conserved. Efficient and equitable economic mechanisms are central components of the concept. Analyzing issues complicated by politics, ideology, and nationalism, sustainable economics scholars attempt to explore what works to make resource use more efficient, how people behave in relation to resources, and how a country's economic system can alter its prospects for survival. In this paper an answer for survival is sought through an examination of the performance of various countries throughout the world in agricultural efficiency/food security, energy efficiency, environmental pollution, and equity. Central to these topics is the changing reliance on the market, which should have significant human and environmental consequences. It is also contended that efficient food production and energy consumption make the best indicators of progress toward sustainable economics. It is concluded that many countries are reorienting their economies but that over-optimism about efficiency is not justified in view of the many problems that remain. Ten tables and 4 figures illustrate the topics in question. (TRS)

After 20 years, the "green revolution" is generally referred to as a milestone in the international agricultural movement. The introduction of new varieties of wheat and rice, along with fertilizers, pesticides, and mechanized farm equipment has produced a dramatic increase in world food production. This paper assesses the successes of the green revolution in light of its effect upon third world countries. It cautions that the revolutionary gains in agricultural production have not been distributed evenly. This uneven distribution of productivity is discussed in the first chapter, "Productivity Reconsidered." The second chapter, "Beyond the Green Revolution," considers the need for new crop varieties and technologies (including biotechnologies) but argues that tomorrow's innovations must be more consistent with regional agricultural traditions. This approach will help to avoid some of the environmental and social costs associated with the agricultural technologies utilized during the green revolution. The third chapter, "Rediscovering Traditional Agriculture," examines the benefits and limitations of traditional methods of agriculture, indicating that these practices should provide the basis for new practices, rather than be swept aside as archaic. "Toward Appropriate Biotechnology" discusses some of the possible contributions offered by biotechnology as tools for more efficient and sustainable agriculture. The document concludes with a call for additional research in sustainable agriculture productivity. (TW)

A working paper on U.S. church-related funding for (or sponsorship of) South African programs is presented to guide support-seeking organizations in South Africa to appropriate resources and to inform interested parties outside South Africa about potential resources and ways in which they might cooperate or assist. Information is provided in two sections as follows: (1) U.S. church-related projects by area of program initiative (adult education, advocacy, agriculture, bursaries, business development, church leader development, community development, crisis intervention, detainee assistance, education in the United States about South Africa, emergency relief, general support, health, leadership development, legal representation/education, materials development, nutrition, preschools, private nonracial schools, race relations, refugee education/assistance, research, external scholarships, seminars/conferences, teacher training, technical/vocational training, theological education, and youth programs); and (2) participants in the survey (e.g., Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission, African Methodist Church, African Methodist Episcopal Church, American Baptists Churches USA, Building a New South Africa, Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Theological Union, Christian Church in the USA and Canada, Church of the Intercession, Church World Service, Diocese of New York of the Episcopal Church, Episcopal Church in the USA, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, National Council of Churches, Riverside Church, Salesian Missions, and Trinity Grants Program). (SM)

Eleven indexes of rurality and their effect on the classification of Michigan's 83 counties were investigated. The indexes were based on different concepts of rurality: (1) percent of employment in agriculture, fishing, and forestry; (2) population density and distance to urban centers; and (3) economic conditions. Index rankings were compared to determine if a county's rank varied from one index to another. The two indexes most frequently associated with extreme ranks were then eliminated and a similar analysis performed. The average county still had adifference of 31 between its highest and lowest rank. Further classification into four discrete quartile groupings also revealed substantial difference in county classification depending on the index selected. Rank correlation analysis revealed that 55 pairs of correlations between indexes were significantly different from 0 at the .01 probability level. Index choice, then, did make a difference, since in selecting a particular index, rurality was explicitly or implicity defined. It was concluded that no one index could satisfy the needs of all potential users, since policy is usually problem specific and the rurality index used should also, therefore, be problem specific. (JC)

This economic analysis of migration was designed to test the following six hypotheses on the causes of out-migration from agriculture and its effect on the rural economy of Western Nigeria: (1) age of the rural family, of which the migrant is a member, is positively related to rural-urban migration rate; (2) a positive relationship exists between rural-urban migration rate and migrant education level; (3) distance between source region and receiving urban centers is negatively related to migration rate; (4) rural-urban migration is a positive function of the urban-rural earnings gap, weighted by the probability of securing urban employment; (5) availability of urban relatives is positively related to rural-urban migration rate; (6) rural-urban migration is a response to the"attractiveness" of urban areas. Data were collected from 180 families in six villages and 480 migrants from these 180 families who were living in urban Western Nigeria during 1971-72. Policy implications suggested the need to narrow the urban-rural earnings gap; invest in education tailored to labor demands of urban areas; and develop agricultural credit. The effect of migration on the rural economy was associated with increased outlay of hired labor, increased farm size, higher rural earnings per head, and a net transfer of capital. (JC)

This report summarizes the findings of one of fourteen panels that studied the progress of space science applications and defined user needs potentially capable of being met by space-system applications. The study was requested by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and was conducted by the Space Applications Board. The panels comprised user specialists drawn from federal, state, and local governments and from business and industry. In this report, the Panel on Agriculture, Forest, and Range discusses a conceptual plan for a satellite remote-sensing global information system. It is envisioned that this system will have the capability to provide timely and pertinent data to any user, anywhere in the world, who has need of information about present and potential agricultural lands, cultivated crops, forests, and rangelands. Particular attention is given to the type of valuable information about vegetative, land, and water resources that can be derived from this system on a local to a global scale. (MH)

The report identifies regions in which deserts and arid zones are increasing; discusses social and climatic causes of deserts; and suggests ways to cope with and reverse problems of famine, malnutrition, and drought. Increasingly, land is being sapped of its ability to sustain agriculture and human habitation north and south of the Sahara, in Iraq, India, the Argentine, Chile, Australia, and the southwestern United States. This is due to overgrazing, soil erosion caused by improper cultivation, and farming without proper soil renewal. Soil cannot hold rainwater in devegetated areas and natural droughts create disasters because water stores become depleted. Underdeveloped countries with large nomadic populations living on arid land have not acquired attitudes of food production for the benefit of the society in general. In these countries, production for individual survival has created problems of unnecessarily large herds and overcultivation. Although technology exists to develop better farming and animal husbandry techniques, people must first accept the resultant change in lifestyle. Solutions include establishment of herding cooperatives, tree planting programs, agricultural modernization, and improvement of grain reserve facilities. (Author/AV)

To establish a better knowledge base concerning the role of developing nation paraprofessionals in facilitating rural poor access to public services and in order to identify problems that arise in developing these patterns of service, an extensive literature search and compilation and analysis of over 50 health projects and 30 agricultural projects according to a set of 25 variables were performed. Paraprofessionals were denoted as those front-line workers with minimal education serving a semiautonomous role in the delivery of health and agricultural services. Results showed that considerably more research and attention have been focused on new levels of health personnel than on similar role capacities in agriculture services. Training materials, curricula, audio-visual aids, supervision procedures for the village health worker, plus extensive classification systems of health personnel have been developed. In contrast, this research activity represents the first effort to compile data on agriculture paraprofessionals. Findings also showed two major areas have been continually neglected-evaluation measures and community involvement. This seemed especially noteworthy since perhaps the major rationale for using low-level paraprofessionals involves their cost effectiveness as inexpensive personnel with a cultural affinity to the community which promotes participation in development. Further investigation and analysis will be required to confirm the hypothesis that the effectiveness, efficiency, and responsiveness of paraprofessionals will vary directly with their success in linking with participatory local organizations. (Author/NEC)

Major arguments and background of the worldwide land reform debate are reviewed. In developing nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the control of farmland remains a principal key to wealth, status, and power. Rural landless peasants at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder, estimated by the World Bank at more than 600 million people, are unable to meet basic needs such as food, fuel, shelter, education, health care, and family planning. Review of international agricultural output data indicates that the economic case for land reform often rivals the social case for redistributive policies. Not only do grossly skewed land ownership and oppressive tenancy conditions have social consequences, they also result in a system which uses land and capital less efficiently than small family farms. In addition to increased crop output, the economic case for land reform also rests on self-propelled economic development, full employment, and political and economic stability. However, although United Nations officials and diplomats from developing countries realize the contribution that land reform can make to agricultural progress, land reform is generally avoided by political maneuvering. The conclusion is that if developing nations combine land redistribution with population stabilization and intelligent use of foreign capital, they will generate more equitable and efficient land use. (Author/DB)

Analysts of U.S.-Soviet balance of power usually focus on relative military strength. But other factors determine a country's overall power and influence. Among the most basic is a country's capacity to feed its people. By this measure the Soviet Union appears to be in deep trouble. Massive spending has increased Soviet military strength in recent years, but the country has become weaker agriculturally. While the two superpowers now appear roughly equal in military strength, the advantage in agriculture has shifted dramatically toward the United States. The U.S. exportable food surplus is climbing, while Soviet dependence on food imports is growing. The dramatic shift in the agricultural balance of power between the two countries has been decades in the making, but contrasting food surpluses/deficits have been highly visible only in the last decade or so. As deterioration of Soviet agriculture continues, the need to import food will become even greater. The relationship between grain flow from the United States to the Soviet Union constitutes a new economic tie between the two countries, one that could eventually transform their political relations as well. (JN)

This document deals with efforts aimed at reforesting large areas of degraded lands. It includes sections on: (1) tree cover trends; (2) fuelwood challenges of the future; (3) the need to supply industrial wood; (4) stabilizing soil and water resources; (5) forests and climate change; and (6) mobilization for reforestation. (TW)

Employment problems in Africa were examined with special emphasis on rural employment and migration within the context of overall economic development. A framework was provided for analyzing rural employment in development; that framework was used to analyze empirical information from Africa; and theoretical issues were raised in analyzing rural employment and migration in economic development. The framework consisted of a micro-economic analysis of the rural labor market; an analysis of rural urban migration; and an aggregate analysis of rural employment as influenced by interaction in the product and factor markets of four sectors--urban, large and small scale; rural nonfarm; and agriculture. Results showed deficiencies in micro-level information (role of the nonfarm sector and farm mechanization); migration information (rural-urban income differentials, capital transfer measurements, and migration elasticity); and established macro-models (they lacked adequate employment focus, were partial equilibrium analyses of more complex problems, and reflected institutional assumptions not widely applicable in the African context). Recommendations emphasized development of better theory and collection of more solid micro-level data, specifically further research on rural employment, off farm employment, and migration. (JC)

Three papers from a study conference are provided. "Is There a Future for Agricultural Education?" (L. Norman) attempts to answer this question. Part I puts forward suggestions as to why there may be no future for agricultural education. Part II suggests some ways of counteracting the problems enumerated in Part I. Part III offers suggestions on securing a future for agricultural education. The second paper, "Managing Resources in Agricultural Colleges--The Way Forward?" (F. Harper), is an overview of the present and future situation. It highlights areas that will need particular attention in management. Important developments in education and in the industry that will have an effect on resource management are discussed. Alternative approaches to college management in the future are then detailed. Finally, the paper considers how the changes in colleges should be managed. The final paper, "The Role of the Chief Administrative Officer" (R. Rogers), discusses changes and developments in the education service area that have had a considerable effect on the role of the registrar/chief administrative officer (CAO). The role and function of a CAO are then outlined. (YLB)

Exploring a significant segment of rural education research and field experience in the developing nations, the communication of relevant knowledge to disadvantaged rural populations was examined in terms of: situational-structural variables (factors of physical location, environmental or ecosystem relationships, and community structures); client systems and behavioral change; and organization of curriculum and instruction. Findings indicated that: educational/training activities developed closely in relation to and interacted with a community's ecological and social-structural environments; decisions on knowledge dissemination were usually strongly influenced by groups which carried social and/or political weight, though clients were also influenced by their immediate social environments and preferences; clients tended to learn most effectively when they were in a position to engage in some decision-situation activity related to their sociocultural needs and/or to develop problem solving behaviors; curricular and instructional development was most successful when it included methods for collecting data on clients' actual and potential utilization of knowledge, their social-psychology, and the instructional theories appropriate to a given rural setting; integrated educational development was not feasible in most countries where the urgent needs for agricultural productivity were paramount, though integration as a natural by-product was sometimes operative. (JC)

Demand for agricultural commodities, particularly for basic food-stuffs, depends on a household's income, competitive prices, and a set of unique household characteristics which include tastes, location, education, family composition, and farm status. This monograph reviews disaggregated evidence at the national level on the relative contribution of each of these factors and performs statistical analysis of national aggregate data in a search for reliable patterns in this contribution. The paper examines patterns of food consumption of the poor and confirms that the poor are significantly more responsive to economic signals than higher income households. The food consumption parameters of low-income groups can thus serve as the basis for designing targeted food interventions that improve nutritional status without distorting the rest of the economy--an important objective for food policy decisions and implementation. (Author)

One hundred years of rural development in India is surveyed, tracing the impact of colonial administration up to and including the decades of independence--an administration built on elitism, centralism, and paternalism. Four major rural problems of famine, abuses of land tenure, peasant indebtedness, and rural disaffection and how political entities have attempted to overcome them are discussed. It is shown that colonial rulers dealt with scarcity, disparity, and disaffection in a variety of ways: agricultural "demonstration and propaganda" to counteract scarcity, cooperatives/tenancy reforms to check disparity, local government to redress disaffection, and techniques of rural reconstruction. The measure of success is addressed, and the shift from community development to agricultural extension as a means of rural development following World War II is chronicled. The fifties are described as a decade of community development and agriculture extension during which American influence intermingled with colonial traditions and the sixties as the culmination of American influence, with a return to older traditions. This decade is seen as one of consolidation, with comparisons drawn between development in India and China. Whether the new poverty and target groups orientation accomplishes overall rural development, so far elusive, or is merely a change in methods, remains to be seen. (RS)

Natural resource and poverty relationships are regionally specific and are associated with particular segments of the nation's population, but have no overall direct causal tie. Although employment in natural-resource-based industries in rural areas accounts for only 16% of all rural employment nationally, these industries continue to make important contributions to local economies in particular regions. While the economy in large parts of rural America is unaffected by natural-resource development and more dependent on general economic trends, in certain regions the viability of rural communities and their residents is greatly affected by natural-resource industry. Agricultural laborers, resource-linked Southern Appalachians, rural Blacks of the southern Coastal Plain, and Great Plains and Western Indians are highly poverty-prone nonmetropolitan populations. Programs and policies to address resource-related poverty can't be sweeping but must be tailored to individual settings. To improve incomes through natural resources requires not only development of the resources, but a successful combination of all of the other factors that make a resource economic: capital, labor, technology, management, and markets. (PM)