Abstract
M.Comm.
The aim of this study was to analyse and discuss the importance of
rural advancement in the development of developing regions or countries,
and KwaZulu-Natal was used as a case study. The literature focused on the
backwardness of the rural areas and the importance of rural advancement for
the development of less developed regions or countries.
Development cannot be said to have taken place unless people's lives
in general have improved. Large parts of developing regions or countries
consists of rural areas. Furthermore, it appears that a large proportion of the
population in the developing regions or countries live in rural areas.
Rural advancement will, therefore, play a crucial role in the
development of developing regions or countries. Amongst other things, it will improve the lives of the people living in rural areas, it will provide markets for
both local factor inputs and locally produced goods and services, it will
redistribute national income, it will reverse rural-urban migration by providing
employment opportunities in the rural areas, and in general it will stimulate
the rural economy.
KwaZulu-Natal is one of the poorest provinces in South Africa, and a
large proportion of KwaZulu-Natal's population live in non-urban areas. The
development of KwaZulu-Natal will therefore to a great extent depend on the
development of its rural parts. The rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal are subject to a number of factors
that results in underdevelopment. Rural KwaZulu-Natal is poverty-stricken,
low levels of human development prevail, there are high rates of
unemployment, low productivity, low economic activity, and in general people
in rural KwaZulu-Natal are subject to low standards of living. Economic
activities in the province are concentrated to a large extent in the urban areas
of the province. This suggests that development initiatives of the past were
not focused on rural KwaZulu-Natal. Rural KwaZulu-Natal is also subject to
high rates of political conflict, crime and violence which have hindered the
development of the province. The provision of social and basic services in
rural KwaZulu-Natal is inadequate, and the province is subject to
environmental degradation. The study confirmed that rural advancement - through stimulation of
the economic, social, political, and environmental dimensions of development
- will play a crucial role in the future development of less developed regions
or countries, in general.