A SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS OF MANAGEMENT APPROACHES TO AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT, AND THE GRAMEEN BANK SYSTEM: PAST EXPERIENCES FROM AND WITHIN COMMONWEALTH DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: LESSONS FOR SOUTH AFRICAN AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Grameen Bank; Situational Analysis; Integrated Rural Development; Rural –

Periphery; Unemployment; Democracy; Productivity. The paper will explore in some detail the approaches utilized within Commonwealth countries

and outline Commonwealth experiences in terms of the scope for increasing productivity, income

and standards of living within the milieu of uplifting Third World agriculture, extension and rural

development in respect of farming enterprises by governments and rural farmers. In so doing the

writers will attempt a discussion on the role of extension in respect to agricultural development

and, its management, by comparing some extension systems in some Asian and African countries.

The paper assumes great significance, on the basis that South Africa is currently grappling with

these issues, in terms of dealing with the vicious cycles of poverty, pronounced inequality and

issues of poverty and absolute poverty, coupled with high degrees of unemployment in both the urban and rural – periphery of the country. It is hoped that this paper could contribute in some

small measure to agricultural development discourse in South Africa, with a view of

understanding these important variables, in the pursuit of a more equitable and just South African

society, based on the rule of law and the promotion of social – welfare, for purposes of enhancing

the good life, the promotion of the general welfare, and the establishment of true democracy, in

the interest of society as a whole, without any let or hindrance, without fear or favour, and with

the aim of promoting human dignity. The paper, does not capture or for that matter exhaust all of

the issues that encompass this rather broad topic, but establishes the importance of the

relationship of these issues to development in general, and within the context of socio – economic

upliftment, within a country that has the intellectual capacity, the monetary inputs and

infrastructure to deliver to the rural masses, their inalienable rights, and to create the environment

to deliver the better life, for all