THE ARKLETON TRUST
Enstone
NEWSLETTER
1999
THE ARKLETON TRUST
Enstone
NEWSLETTER
1999
This has been an eventful year for rural development, now sometimes described in Europe as 'the second pillar of the CAP'. The Agenda 2000 proposals, given flesh by the draft regulations published a year ago, were finally agreed this Spring, and the agreement means further changes to the Agricultural and Cohesion policies of the EU as well as policies for the applicant countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEECs). A new Rural Development Regulation has been introduced, and this will open up new possibilities for rural development support throughout the EU. A new programme - the Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development, or SAPARD - has been introduced for the CEEC's. A new Rural Community Initiative for rural areas to succeed LEADER II is envisaged, and this is known as LEADER Plus.
Two key underlying pressures for change are Eastern Enlargement and the forthcoming 'Millennium Round' of World Trade Talks due to start at the end of 1999. Other pressures include budgetary constraints and the need to further concentrate the efforts of the structural funds, continuing problems of agricultural surpluses, environmental and health considerations in relation to agriculture, the on-going need to diversify rural economies, and the need to address the problems of declining urban areas.
Over the last 20 years Cindy has worked in a variety of positions in Southeast Asia and in Sub-Saharan Africa, in both relief and development projects. She has developed a number of public health programmes with community groups and government agencies during this time, aimed particularly at supporting reproductive health and health worker training. From 1989 to 1999 she managed programmes for CARE International and for Oxfam Great Britain, with specific responsibilities for programme planning, financial management, staff development and representation. She is now a Senior Lecturer in Public Health at Oxford Brookes University, with responsibility for managing and delivering Public Health training at postgraduate level.
Our congratulations go to Michael Galsworthy who received a CBE in the 1999 Birthday Honours for his work as Chairman of 'In Pursuit of Excellence - Partnership for Cornwall'. IPE is very much Michael Galsworthy's initiative, and it aims to promote Cornwall's achievements to the world at large. Launched in 1994, it seeks to enhance the business profile of Cornwall and to demonstrate the excellence of commercial achievements in the county. It is designed to stimulate interest in Cornwall both at home and overseas.
The annual Trustees meeting was held at Enstone in June 1999. The meeting was attended by Elizabeth, Lady Higgs [Chairman of Trustees], Professor Sir Kenneth Alexander, Arthur Bell, Michael Galsworthy, David Higgs [Trustees], Professor John Bryden [Programme Director], Caroline Higgs [Hon. Sec.], Mark Telfer [Solicitor] and Libby Hollinshead [Administrator]. Apologies were received from Declan Walton who was absent on overseas business.
During the year Elizabeth Higgs has been involved with the Oxfordshire Farming Study which was published in the spring and which is available on the internet at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk. One of the recommendations of the study was the formation of a Rural Committee looking at education/environment, economy and social aspects of rural life - all under the aegis of the Rural Community Council. As Chairman of ORCC this has involved Elizabeth, who will be Chairing the Social Sub-Committee.
Participants from six Central and Eastern European Countries - Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia - gathered with social scientists, practitioners and policy makers from seven EU countries, including representatives of Scottish regional and national authorities involved in rural development, to discuss the implementation of Agenda 2000 in Europe at large. The presence of the Director for Rural Development of the European Commission lent an optimal quality to the debate on this particularly complex and pressing issue. The seminar was held under 'Chatham House' rules, allowing participants to speak freely without the fear of being quoted!
Five main issues were identified and discussed.
In discussing these and related matters, the central issues, explicit and implicit, raised by Agenda 2000 emerged with greater clarity. The difficulties that must be dealt with if it is to be implemented successfully became apparent, but so too did the scope for finding ways of dealing with them. Considerable reservations were expressed about the 'horizontalisation' of the ESF (European Social Fund) and EAGGF (European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund) structural measures, and the problems these would pose for integrated rural development at territorial levels.
A summary of the seminar proceedings was published on the www in April (http://www.rural-europe.aeidl.be/cgi-bin/policy.pl?read=42) and The Arkleton Trust is issuing a full report on the proceedings of the seminar shortly.
1999 Awards were made to three applicants - from a very strong field: Corinna Csaky, who is studying for an MA in Social Anthropology at Edinburgh University, received an award to investigate the often 'unworkable' rural home life which forces so many children in Ecuador onto the urban streets. She is also planning to study how the existing urban street children cope with this migration.
Benjamin Powis, who is studying for an MA in Rural Development at the University of Sussex, also received an award to examine the obstacles that arise from including the poor and disenfranchised into the rural development discourse - as a result of India's programme of decentralised planning.
Emma Wossknow, who is studying Sociology at Edinburgh University, was given an award to look at the relationship between children's education and labour in the Sindhuli district of Nepal.
1998 Awards:
U Anbarasu, SCORD (Society for Community Organisation & Rural Development), India. Project: To produce a documentary film on organic compost production using locally available resources and materials. The completed video will be distributed to a range of agricultural departments, universities, NGOs etc;
Kayode Egbeleye, France. Project: To produce a multi-media package (video, CD-ROM, manual) entitled 'Hands on the Deck' which will be geared towards the information/skills transfer needs of field workers etc. He will use data from existing development projects of UNAIS (UK) and CAMERA NEGRA (France);
The Reverend Canon Zedekiah Chunge, Kenya. Project: To disseminate existing data to farmers to encourage/enable them to supplement their cane growing with increased food production, by inter-cropping with short term food/fodder crops. A report has been received on this project.
1999 Awards:
Badrul Alam, Bangladesh, to publish a book entitled 'Medicinal Plants for Livestock and Poultry in Disaster Prone Areas'. The book will be published in two formats - in Bangla for distribution to colleges, schools and NGOs etc and in English for distribution to university libraries and through the OXFAM Journal, Development in Practice;
Kimanzi Muthengi, Kenya, to produce a 25 minutes video entitled 'Lessons and challenges of the PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) methodology in the Third World: The Kenyan Experience'. His aim is to show, via his film, that the PRA methodology empowers the marginalised communities and can overcome hurdles imposed by top-down development practice that has created dependency on external aid;
Oyundari Galsandorj, living in London, to publish a Mongolian translation of R Emil Newman's book called The Complete Handbook on Health and Tips - the first Mongolian translation of any western medical book.
Later in the year we contributed towards the National Conference on Climate Change and Economic Development in the South West (of England). The conference is being held on the 28/29 October 1999 and you can find full details of this event on their website which is: www.climatic-challenge.org.uk
The Arkleton Centre for Rural Development Research at the University of Aberdeen goes from strength to strength, and has now appointed all but one of its seven new core research fellows. In addition, it has two EU projects funded under the Northern Peripheries Programme covering Scandinavia and Scotland, and two new EU research projects funded under the Framework Programme, as well as sundry others. These other research activities mean that the Centre will have about 20 research and support staff by the end of this year. The Centre has jointly organised a conference with the Research Institute for Irish-Scottish Studies on Land Reform in Scotland in April, prior to the Scottish elections. It is jointly organising a conference on Rural Development and the Scottish Parliament with the Department of Agriculture at Aberdeen University in November 1999. Finally, it is planning a major conference on European Rural Policy at the Crossroads in June 2000, to link with the start of the Millennium Trade Round.
John Bryden submitted a 'Memorandum To The Agriculture Committee Of The House Of Commons On The Proposed Rural Development Regulation Published As Part Of The European Commission's Agenda 2000 Proposals' in September 1998, and was invited to give oral evidence to the Committee. Both were later published with the report of the Committee.
The Centre has its own web pages with details of staff, research and other activities which can be accessed through: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/arkleton/ . The Centre will be issuing its own newsletter, both on-line and in hard copy, later in the year.
John Bryden remains Programme Director of the Trust in a part-time capacity, and is co-Director of the Arkleton Centre. In the past year he was also advisor to the Land Reform Policy Group and the Rural Affairs Group at the Scottish Office, and a member of the Policy Advisory Forum of the Foundation for the Development of Polish Agriculture.
The Arkleton Trust
Enstone, Chipping Norton, Oxon OX7 4HHTelephone: +44 (0) 1608 677255
Fax: +44 (0) 1608 677276
e-mail: arkleton@enstoneuk.demon.co.uk
The Arkleton Trust, Registered Charity Number: 275153