This book dives into the achievements, opportunities, risks and dangers of ICT in the rural Global South, and takes a look at the likely future. Drawing on years of experience across 45 counties, as well as extensive original academic research, Willem van Eekelen situates the evolving role of ICT in wider development patterns in the Global South. He discusses the effects of ICT on agriculture, trade, financial flows, resource management and governmental performance. He then considers the associated risks of financial insecurity, online gambling, exclusion, misinformation and the effects of ICT on people’s freedom. The book concludes with six recommendations to maximise the usefulness of rural ICT investments and minimise the risk of them causing harm. This engaging and authoritative account of ICT and rural development will help students, academics, governmental policymakers, donors and investors wishing to support socio-economic development in the Global South.

Rural Development in Practice focuses on the evolving nature of rural development in the Global South. It outlines how we got to where we are today, checks what we can learn from history, and explores the development drivers, facilitators, and obstacles most likely to shape the years ahead. The book covers the management of fishing grounds, forests, grazing lands, water sources and soil, and looks at the effects of infrastructure, trade mechanisms, and new crop varieties on farming. The author discusses the opportunities and challenges of microfinance, social safety nets and migration, and assesses the way ICT and climate change are changing everything, rapidly. Real-life examples, exercises, role-plays, textboxes, anecdotes, and illustrative artwork are used to bring concepts and theories to life, and every chapter concludes with a section that explores how best to tackle the tough and complex dilemmas of our time. Rural Development in Practice is essential reading for students at all levels and may be of benefit for programme and policy staff in rural-focused government departments, multilateral agencies, and non-government organisations.

This book dives into the achievements, opportunities, risks and dangers of ICT in the rural Global South, and takes a look at the likely future. Drawing on years of experience across 45 counties, as well as extensive original academic research, Willem van Eekelen situates the evolving role of ICT in wider development patterns in the Global South. He discusses the effects of ICT on agriculture, trade, financial flows, resource management and governmental performance. He then considers the associated risks of financial insecurity, online gambling, exclusion, misinformation and the effects of ICT on people’s freedom. The book concludes with six recommendations to maximise the usefulness of rural ICT investments and minimise the risk of them causing harm. This engaging and authoritative account of ICT and rural development will help students, academics, governmental policymakers, donors and investors wishing to support socio-economic development in the Global South.

Rural Development in Practice focuses on the evolving nature of rural development in the Global South. It outlines how we got to where we are today, checks what we can learn from history, and explores the development drivers, facilitators, and obstacles most likely to shape the years ahead. The book covers the management of fishing grounds, forests, grazing lands, water sources and soil, and looks at the effects of infrastructure, trade mechanisms, and new crop varieties on farming. The author discusses the opportunities and challenges of microfinance, social safety nets and migration, and assesses the way ICT and climate change are changing everything, rapidly. Real-life examples, exercises, role-plays, textboxes, anecdotes, and illustrative artwork are used to bring concepts and theories to life, and every chapter concludes with a section that explores how best to tackle the tough and complex dilemmas of our time. Rural Development in Practice is essential reading for students at all levels and may be of benefit for programme and policy staff in rural-focused government departments, multilateral agencies, and non-government organisations.

This book sets out to examine why the world regards the Gulf as important. Chapters either treat the way in which individual countries view their vital interest in the Gulf, or deal with specific themes such as the question of militarization and the international arms-trade. The book makes the point that different countries and continents are conscious of possessing a variety of practical interests in the region: for some, the Gulf represents a market for manufactured goods; for some a field of expatriate labour; for some a source of oil; and, for the Superpowers, an area of conspicuous political and strategic importance. This last topic, closely linked as it now is with changes in Eastern Europe and the former USSR, is analyzed at some length in this collection.