Should Traditional Roles of Rural Areas Be Maintained?

Milla Tuominen Environment in India Institute for Social and Economic Change

List of contents 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Introduction Economic impacts Social impacts Environmental impacts Health impacts Conclusions List of References

1. Introduction
This paper is discussing the pros and cons on the topic whether traditional role of rural areas should be maintained. I have been dividing the possible impacts of traditional and modern agriculture into five categories: economic, social, environmental and health impacts. As the impacts are often be interconnected the division is rough and pros and cons are brought into text in order in which the topics are discussed. There is not any strict division between them as many phenomena contains both, positive and negative aspects, often contradicting with each other.

2. Economic impacts
2.1 Influences on peasants Traditional economy of rural areas is different from modern markets. Commercialization and commodification. Loans and capital needed for modern cultivation economic problems. The level of income is not necessarily the same as the value of food. Also money might be consumed to other purposes and economic skills might be lacking (saving). Income is dependent on fluctuations in world market. Gandhian philosophy includes an idea of maintaining work that needs manpower which means that replacing humans by machines is negative development and should be avoided. (Nadkarni, 2012). The shift from traditional agriculture to modern one reduces need for manpower in agriculture and makes job opportunities in rural areas even more scarce. This leads to unemployment, which forces people to move to cities to look for better opportunities. Results are urbanization and growth of cities, very often in uncontrolled ways. In Finland, which is highly industrialized, 85% of population is living in urban areas and only 4.2 % (2004) got their income from agriculture. (CIA, 2010; Statistics Finland, 2007). As moving from rural areas to cities is not always voluntary, or people looking for better opportunities have no choice but to settle down in slums and shantytowns making poverty

transferred from rural to urban areas. Poverty is growing the fastest and the most concentrated in urban settings. (UNFPA, 2007.) 2.2 Influences on national economy and politics Inequality grows when transforming from agri-society to non-agri society. Wealth focuses on fewer as well as ownership of land. On the other hand modernization of agriculture and cash crops are seen as a key for rural development and especially for national economy. Production is more efficient with modern agriculture and output per worker more. Modern and efficient agriculture is the key for industrialization and economic growth and without it development cannot occur. Export crops bring valuable foreign cash and provide capital to other sectors. When there is a surplus in production, rural population can buy products from local industry which can produce in full capacity. It increases competitiveness in global markets as well. Efficient agriculture can provide cheap raw materials to growing industry. When population grows, traditional farms do not feed all the family members and does not provide enough jobs which cause unemployment. Unemployment and economic hardship can cause political risings and religious fundamentalism. Production of cash crops can make national economy very vulnerable and dependent on fluctuating global market prices, but it can be also a waypoint in producing capital for industry which in turn produces exportable commodities for global market. (Arnon 1981, pp 1-21.) Not that much new fertile land available so only way is to increase efficiency.

3. Social impacts
Modernization has changed the life of people in rural areas and the whole social structure. Even the physical place of life has changed as now life is focusing on markets. The change has had many positive effects when the strict patterns of social structure has got weaker providing new opportunities for people with the lowest socio-economic status. It has made it possible for women and former untouchables to get better position in a society due to

collapse of cast systems. Negative aspects are there as well. There were before collective actions and cooperation in villages, which maintained sustainable use of resources and solidarity. Nowadays these collective actions are disappearing and lack of them can lead to poor management or overuse of resources. When traditional roles have been lost in modernization it has caused confusion and lack of people who used to take care of particular things in society and maintain order and harmony (e.g. untouchables, resource managers etc.) (Karanth, 2012.) Urbanization can solve better social and environmental problems than rural areas, and cities are sources for jobs and income. Education is available in cities. ( Literacy. Favorable to prevent population growth when working and literate women postpone marriage and children. Throughout the world fertility rates are lower in urban than in rural areas due to lower poverty, empowered women and reproductive health services. Everyone has a chance to lift their social and economic class and gain education. Cast violence reduces. Also women can be empowered due to urbanization as womens life is not anymore limited to home. On the other hand urban poor can have improper access to education as well. (UNFPA, 2007; ) New technology is often helpful especially for rural women whose workload has been traditionally big.

4. Environmental impacts
Cultivated species become less diverse and the ecosystems or rural areas change. Traditional animals and methods often maintain diversity and old traditions have been developed during thousands of years. Example of Finland when traditional cultivation has disappeared, many species are in danger. Also the lecture about conversation, especially traditional and community-based conversation efficient which takes into account all the aspects ecological, economical and social.

Modern agriculture dependent on technology and energy (not necessarily skills to use new technology or change spare parts). Also use of fertilizers and pesticides and high consumption of water. In India green revolution made agriculture dependent on irrigation, and water was the main supporter in a shift. This has lead to scarcity of water, which is becoming even more serious in the future. Agriculture is the biggest water consumer with a share of 89 % of consumption. As a comparison domestic use is 5 % and industrial 6 % of total water consumption. 80 % of irrigation is dependent on groundwater and 60 % of food grains are grown in irrigated area, which has lead to extraction that is higher than recharge. There has been an exponential growth in groundwater extraction within the last decade (1998 37 % and 2008 58 %). At the same time the economic value of agriculture is the smallest. Modernization of agriculture and lifestyle has lead to change in crops and increased cultivation of water-intensive crops. Also rapid industrialization and urbanization have led to increased generation and discharge of waste water as well as consumption and production more water-intensive and agri-based products, such as cotton. Urbanization and more developed water systems have made people to unable to monitor their own consumption and see value of water and its scarcity. (Chandrakanth, 2012; Grail Research, 2009; Vishwanath, 2012.) In traditional cultivation farms are small and along with population growth pressure on land is big which can change also traditional sustainable cultivation patterns. It in turn leads to overgrazing and decreasing soil fertility of land. (Arnon, 1981.) Urbanization has been seen as a way to relieve pressure on natural habitats and biodiversity as well. (UNFPA, 2007).

5. Health impacts
5.1 Health impacts for rural habitants Food crops which are typical for subsistence cultivation will be changed to cash crops. There are many eatable plants in the world and only from 30 of them human population get

80 % of its calories. Because of modernization of agriculture cultivation patterns and nutrition of peasants and maybe the whole population change to less diverse direction. With modern agriculture and cash diet does not necessarily change to better direction but can even become more based on few staples. Traditional agriculture has been blamed for malnutrition but also modern and urban diets are related very of then to malnutrition in urban areas. (Arnon 1981, pp 5-10). Toni Haapala from University of Turku has made a research about Paliyans which is a tribe in Southern India. They live in mountain rain forests and are nomadic hunter-gatherers. It has been found out that their diet nourishes them well. Indian government has a program to displace Paliyans to make them part of modern life and also to protect the forests. Nevertheless Paliyans have lived in a forest in sustainable way and displacements have caused them big problems, such as poor diet and poverty. Paliyans are mostly hired to agriculture and they are paid less than to untouchables with a result that they social status in a society is very bad. (Haapala, 2012.) 50% of worlds population is living in urban areas and till 2030 30 billion people are urbanized. Urbanization is growing the fastest in Africa and Asia and many of small towns and cities face growth that is difficult to handle, not only megacities. Urbanization has many positive impacts on health. Cities provide better health services. (UNFPA, 2007.) Also health status improves and children are healthier when women get education and live in modern conditions. Urbanization also creates many health problems. Poor people living in overcrowded slums and shantytowns in urban areas are lacking proper access to healthy accommodation, sanitation, clean water and health services. Slums are often dangerous and located in the most polluted areas of cities. (UNFPA, 2007.) such as noise, crowded accommodation, poor hygienic levels, infectious diseases, working conditions, exposure to pollution, crimes. Nowadays there has been a lot of discussion on the term environmental inequality which refers to a condition in which some particular population groups have better access to positive health benefits derived from green and healthy environment, or have extra

burden of concentration of adverse environmental health effects, such as pollution. (e.g. Mitchell & Popham, 2008: Stephens, 1996). 5.2 Health impacts for the whole population Food production is more efficient and produce more to feed the population. Growing efficiency in agriculture is needed to feed urban population. On the other hand world famine and malnutrition is not based lack of food in the world but on unequal distribution of food.

6. Conclusions 7. List of References

Arnon, I. (1981). Modernization of Agriculture in Developing Countries. Resources, Potentials & Problems. John Wiley & Sons. New York. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). (2010). The World Factbook: Urbanization. Retrieved 10.7.2012. Available: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/fields/2212.html Chandrakanth, MG. (10.7.2012). Groundwater use and abuse in India: institutional and market solutions. Lecture at the Institute for Social and Economic Change. Grail Research. (2009). Water The India Story. Retrieved 10.7.2012. Available: http://www.grailresearch.com/pdf/ContenPodsPdf/Water-The_India_Story.pdf Haapala, T. (2012). Lectures in a course Food and Development. University of Turku as past of Finnish University Partnership for International Development. Karanth, G.K. (27.6.2012). People, Culture and Society. A Lecture at the Institute for Social and Economic Change. Mitchell, R., & Popham, F. (2008) Effect of exposure to natural environment on health inequalities: an observational population study. Lancet, 372 (9650). pp. 1655-1660.

Nadkarni, M.V. (27.6.2012). Indian Approach to Development and Environment A Gandhian Perspective. A lecture at Institute for Social and Economic Change. Statistics Finland. (2007). From slash-and-burn fields to post-industrial society - 90 years of change in industrial structure. Retrieved 10.7.2012. Available: http://www.stat.fi/tup/suomi90/helmikuu_en.html Stephens, C. (1996). Healthy cities or unhealthy islands? The health and social implications of urban inequality. Environment and Urbanization 1996 8: 9 United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). (2007). Linking Population, Poverty and Development. Retrieved 8.7.2012. Available: http://www.unfpa.org/pds/urbanization.htm Vishwanath, S. (10.7.2012). Rainwater Harvesting. A lecture for the course Environment in India, Institute for Social and Economic Change. World Health Organization (WHO). (2012). Urbanization and Health. Retrieved 9.7.2012. Available: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/88/4/10-010410/en/

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