Urban functions in rural development

Contractors will implement the project in three geographically and developmentally diverse pilot locations, including the Bicol River Basin in the Philippines. The conceptual framework and some key elements for a planning process currently being developed in a series of A.I.D. working papers on the location and use of urban functions (e.g., the provision of off-farm employment, marketing, storage, processing, supply, credit, and health, educational and other services) in rural development will be developed and tested further in the three pilot subprojects. In the Bicol River Basin subproject, which is illustrative of all three subprojects, patterns of urban development in the Basin area supportive of the agricultural hinterlands, including existing rural-urban linkages and need/benefit pairings, will be identified and analyzed. On the basis of these analyses, pragmatic plans and programs to strengthen these linkages will be developed. The planning process and methodology will be evaluated separately for their applicability to other countries. Training of several types will be conducted: methodology training for the planning team; orientation training for potential users of the plan; and sensitivity training for policy-level personnel. Detailed final reports from the three subprojects will be analyzed by experts and integrated into an information package to be published (500 copies) and disseminated to USAID"s, other development agencies, and potential users in LDC"s. Dissemination seminars and workshops will also be held, at least one in each of A.I.D."s four geographical regions and at AID/W.