Introduction On Rural Population And Land Tenure - Essay Example

Introduction On Rural Population And Land Tenure Rural life all over the world has undergone tremendous changes in the last 50 years. Countries have witnessed total paradigm shift in socio-economic parameters during this time. Key among these changes includes; increase in rural population, land fragmentation, and threats to food security. Stiles and Cameron (2009) noted that changes in rural social life and agricultural practices have made communities vulnerable, both regionally and at the national level; community land and modes of farming are being reshaped to reflect the new realities. Land tenure system is also changing rapidly judging from the fact whereas an individual farmer used to own large chunk of land sometime back, it’s now being fragmented among the ever increasing young generation (Berkes and Davidson-Hunt, 2007). In the process land has been losing its fertility and at times making mechanization difficult. This not only lowers the productivity of the land, but also increases cost of production, as production becomes more labor intensive. Social theorist would say this is a good way especially in times of rising population as more rural population would get absorbed in farming. To remain competitive at times of increasing land sub-division, rural communities have been forced to reorganize their production and approach to markets. For example, there has been increasing trends towards common-based social enterprises, in pooling resources as a mechanism for engaging global actors and secure tenure in terms of supplies and input sourcing (Berkes and Davidson-Hunt, 2007). This article therefore looks at the key issues in rural agriculture in the context of increasing population and changes in land tenure. The article highlights how the interrelations of the two variables affects production, rural social set up, and their impact on labor organization and food security. Demographic dynamics of rural population According to the 2011 National Population census, rural population in Canada has been rising steadily over the years, where at presents it’s estimated that over 6.5 million persons (19.6%). However, in terms of proportion, rural population as a percentage of total population had been declining. For example, in 1851, 9 out of 10 persons used to live in the rural areas as opposed to the current 2 in every 10. Though Canada has the lowest population of rural population among the G8 countries, it faces similar challenges in terms of land resource management and food security (Statistics Canada, 2012). The increase in rural population has resulted in numerous changes in rural agriculture in terms of labour, organization, and mobility. In addition, as more people move to the urban areas, social organizations in rural areas have also changed. For example, growth in urbanization towards rural areas and expansion of the economy away from non-farm activities has resulted in more people leaving farming to work in manufacturing and service industries (Statistics Canada, 2012). Some of these people maybe working in rural areas but not in the farms. As a result, farm families are reducing, though rural population is rising slowly. Another key change in rural population that is affecting agriculture is the increasing number of industries in the rural areas that are offering better part-time job. Most rural population therefore prefers to work off-farm, though they still reside in rural areas. Production systems have therefore become capital intensive and more mechanized, save for a few areas where farmland is small due frequent sub-divisions. On the same case, wealth increase in rural population has seen most farmers increase their participation in markets to enhance their revenues (Stiles and Cameron, 2009). New developments in land tenure Land tenure has undergone tremendous changes in Canada right from the agrarian times where land was communally owned, tenancy/ lease and individual land ownership. The changes have been very important that they have helped to stabilize production and guarantee food security to the entire nation. In the earlier days, the coming of the British rule saw the disposal of crown land and purchase of land parcels. This gave birth to owner operated farms where titles were issues and land use defined. Among the systems and land utilization includes; agricultural land, commercial land, public, forest and forest lands. Three entities are vested with ownership of land that is the Federal or the National government which manages mostly the crown land, the provincial government and individual owners who own private land. The private owners often are few and own large parcels of land while tenant farmers are numerous who occupy land for production though ownership rest with the national or provincial government. Due to increasing estates and urban homes, the government is striving towards land consolidation. Urbanization is eating into farm lands as more people seek to own homes. The move aims at reducing the number of farm families and land parcels to allow for mechanization. However, the aboriginal people retain ownership to land and water use in most rural parts in Canada (Rigsby, 1999) Challenges Increase in rural population and changes in land tenure and land use in Canada has brought about some key socio-economic challenges which include land productivity and rural development; urban migration and food security concerns. First, productivity of arable land in Canada has slightly reduced. This comes at time when industries dependent on raw materials from the farm have been increasing raising the question of whether land use can be sustainably support other enterprises. Doing so will continue to broaden employment opportunities and income generation needed in rural development. In addition, failure to manage land resource properly would open rural economies to global competition as rural companies would source raw materials from outside. Such a situation is likely to result in demise of the rural industries and economy at large. As a result, research in agricultural production has increased to enable available land sustain rural development through increased production with increased efficiencies in cost management (Charlebois, 2008). Second, faster growth in rural population and urban economy than expansion of rural economy has resulted rural urban migration. Skilled manpower has tended to move to urban centers. As a result, wage differential between farm and non-farm wages has remained significant a situation that has only worked to perpetuate the migration cycle (Rushton, 2001). In addition, population increase and changes in land tenure systems have resulted into labour reorganization. Current practice is that there are more women and older generation working in the agricultural sector than in the service and manufacturing sectors. Young generation that is more educated gets absorbed mainly in service industries which are often far from rural areas. This has given rural development specialists a head ache where proper incentives have had to be given to attract and retain highly skilled, young and energetic workforce to drive the rural economy. Third, increase in rural population and that of the entire nation also raises concern over food security. Given that farm land is fixed in terms of size while population continues to rise there has always been need to balance the two. Increasing population has meant that production methods have to improve and be more efficient. As such an ever increasing population has to rely on a few farm families to produce enough for the country and possibly surplus for exportation. In the case of Canada, 18% of rural population has to produce enough for the nation which clearly shows the essence of supporting rural development. The logic behind this dates back in the industrial revolution in Europe where countries had to produce enough to support the urban population as well as the agricultural related industries and support services. However, Drive towards food security is compounded by other factors like increasing cost of fuel, limited skilled manpower to work in farms and agricultural rural industries. Reduced government subsidies also limit farmer’s capability to produce enough to feed the nation. Canadian government having realized the importance of the rural economy in food security has always given more focus to rural economies. This has included giving subsidies and protection of unnecessary competition through importation of food items that Canada has capacity to produce efficiently. Fourth, increase in rural amenities has added pressure on federal and provincial government to develop social amenities in the rural areas. As a result, this has the government has had to invest in roads, hospitals, schools, electricity and education in rural areas. To minimize rural urban migration this has meant that the investment in the social amenities have to be significant and of comparable quality as well as their spread across the rural areas. Conclusion From the above discussion, it’s evident that increase in national and rural population under changing land tenure system posits a challenge to rural development specialists as they have to sustainably manage the land resources, workforce and guarantee food security to the large population living in urban areas. Farmers have to align farm productivity in tandem with agricultural industries and support industries requirements. References Berkes, F., & Davidson-Hunt, I.J. (2007). “Communities and social enterprises in the age of globalization”, Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, 1(3), 209-221 Charlebois, S. (2008). “The gateway to a Canadian market-driven agricultural economy: A framework for demand chain management in food industry”, British Food Journal, 110(9), 882-897. DOI: 10.1108/0007070081900594 Gigsby, B. (1999). “Aboriginal people, spiritual and the traditional ownership of land”, International Journal of Social Economics, 26(26), 963-976. Rushton, M. (2001). “Economics, Equity and Urban Rural Transfers.” Rural Canada: Moving Forward or Left Behind Conference Held on 22-24 November, 2001. SIPP Public Policy Paper No.7. Retrieved from www.uregina.ca/sipp/documents/pdf/ruston.pdf Statistics Canada (2012). Canada’s rural population since 1851. Statistics Canada. Reterieved from www.12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/ Stiles, D. & Cameron, G. (2009). “Changing paradigms?: Rural communities, agriculture, and corporate and civic models of development in Atlantic Canada”, Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, 3(4), 341-354. DOI:10.1108/17506200910999093 Read More