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Agriculture
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Depopulation of Rural Areas: Social, Economic, and Environmental Issues
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Depopulation of Rural Areas: Social, Economic, and Environmental Issues

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Economics, Policies and Rural Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 January 2025) | Viewed by 8662

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Roberto Furesi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Interests: industrial organisation; development economics; econometrics; farming; agricultural policy; farm management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Fabio A. Madau

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, University of Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy
Interests: agricultural economics; rural development; agro-environmental economics; farm management; productivity and efficiency estimation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Depopulation is one of the main problems plaguing rural areas. The United Nations estimate that the population living in rural areas will decrease from the current 45% to 30% in 2050. In the EU, only one fifth of the population live in rural areas. Moreover, this type of area has experienced an annual rate of decline in inhabitants of 0.1% between 2015 and 2021. In the United States, between 2010 to 2020, 73% of rural counties experienced a population loss of more than 5%. China's rural population in 2020 is 28% lower than in 2000.

Rural depopulation induces many negative effects on the economic, social, and environmental balance of rural areas. From an economic perspective, the production capacity tends to shrink and, consequently, the abilities of rural areas to generate income, to promote trade flows, and to attract investment are reduced. The tax revenues of these territories decrease, while the average costs per inhabitant of public services, such as the construction and management of local infrastructure, increase (OECD, 2021). Emigration from rural areas affects the solidity of families and weakens social ties in the community.  Population loss increases the likelihood of environmental degradation, the risk of fires, and the disappearance of local agricultural and livestock production.

This Special Issue intends to collect papers examining the multiple aspects that, on an economic, social, and environmental level, characterise the issue of rural depopulation. Interest will be reserved for papers that, with reference to rural areas, address issues such as poverty, social structure, rural–urban relationship, technological innovation, costs and benefits of public services, economics of farms, institutional and land management problems, and policy measures. Papers addressing general topics as well as analyses of case studies will also be appreciated.

Prof. Dr. Roberto Furesi
Dr. Fabio A. Madau
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • depopulation
  • rural development
  • rural demography
  • territorial and local policies
  • rural–urban relationship

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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23 pages, 8249 KiB  
Article
Digitalisation as a Challenge for Smart Villages: The Case of Poland
by Łukasz Komorowski
Agriculture 2024, 14(12), 2270; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14122270 - 11 Dec 2024
Viewed by 567
Abstract
Rural areas face several development challenges. Some lead to rural decline—such as depopulation—and others are intended to counteract this by revitalising the countryside—such as digitalisation. These two processes are on the agenda of the European Union’s new rural development concept, smart villages. The [...] Read more.
Rural areas face several development challenges. Some lead to rural decline—such as depopulation—and others are intended to counteract this by revitalising the countryside—such as digitalisation. These two processes are on the agenda of the European Union’s new rural development concept, smart villages. The study aims to identify the spatial differentiation of the digitalisation challenge in Polish rural areas. An attempt was made to operationalise two aspects of this challenge—access to fast Internet and digital competence. The subject of the analysis covered rural areas in Poland at the municipal level. The temporal scope of the study is defined by two approaches—static and dynamic. The first aims to show the state of the ‘here and now’, while the second aims to identify the change intensity. Methods of multivariate comparative analysis were used, resulting in hierarchical classifications of municipalities. The results show significant regional differentiation. Municipalities with predominantly ageing populations face greater difficulties in adopting new digital technologies. Overcoming these disparities will be key to improving the quality of life and resilience of rural communities. The study results provide evidence to justify the need for place-based targeted digital investments under the smart villages programmes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Depopulation of Rural Areas: Social, Economic, and Environmental Issues)
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24 pages, 5961 KiB  
Article
Spatial Analysis of Intercity Migration Patterns of China’s Rural Population: Based on the Network Perspective
by Yihu Zhou, Huiguang Chen and Tingting Fang
Agriculture 2024, 14(5), 655; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14050655 - 24 Apr 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1917
Abstract
Since entering the 21st century, many developing countries around the world have begun to enter a stage of rapid urbanization; large-scale “rural-urban” population migration has become a typical social phenomenon in these countries. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to elucidate the spatial [...] Read more.
Since entering the 21st century, many developing countries around the world have begun to enter a stage of rapid urbanization; large-scale “rural-urban” population migration has become a typical social phenomenon in these countries. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to elucidate the spatial migration characteristics of rural populations and to discuss future rural–urban development strategies. For this purpose, this paper takes China as a case and employs methods such as spatial autocorrelation analysis, hotspot analysis, and network analysis to construct an intercity migration network of rural migrants and analyze its spatial characteristics and internal structure. The results indicate that the migration pattern of the rural population exhibits notable spatial clustering features. Cities in the eastern and central regions are, respectively, hotspots for the inflow and outflow of rural populations, with internal migration dominating in western cities and relatively inactive rural population movements in northeastern cities. Municipalities directly under the central government, sub-provincial cities, and provincial capitals show a significant tendency to attract rural populations, while prefecture-level and county-level cities mainly radiate rural populations outward. Cities nationwide form seven major clusters in the migration network, and these clusters exhibit distinct structural characteristics. Rural population migration is influenced by various factors. In the future, considerations should focus on the county as the primary unit, attracting rural populations for local employment, and promoting rural revitalization and agriculture development. The findings of this paper are of reference significance not only to China but also to many developing countries with similar national conditions in the world. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Depopulation of Rural Areas: Social, Economic, and Environmental Issues)
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19 pages, 529 KiB  
Article
Institutional Pension Insurance in Sustainable Development of Urban–Rural Intergenerational Support
by Chen Kang, Mingwang Cheng and Xinyu Wei
Agriculture 2024, 14(3), 430; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14030430 - 7 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1304
Abstract
Parental downward support plays an important role in urban and rural sustainable development. It is of great significance to study parental downward transfers and their motivation. However, there is no consensus on the motivation behind parental downward transfers in China. This study examines [...] Read more.
Parental downward support plays an important role in urban and rural sustainable development. It is of great significance to study parental downward transfers and their motivation. However, there is no consensus on the motivation behind parental downward transfers in China. This study examines the timing and monetary impacts of social pensions on parental downward transfers and assesses the motivations behind them. We found that pension insurance encouraged rural parents to provide time and monetary support to their children. Unlike rural parents, pension insurance increased the monetary support of urban parents but inhibited their time support. Because of the higher income level of urban parents and the better organization of the domestic service market, parents have the motivation and conditions to reduce their time support and increase monetary support. Our findings highlight the importance of parental downward transfers in urban and rural sustainable development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Depopulation of Rural Areas: Social, Economic, and Environmental Issues)
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Review

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17 pages, 1505 KiB  
Review
Perspective of Water-Use Programs in Agriculture in Guanajuato
by Jesús Hernández-Ruiz, Paula C. Isiordia-Lachica, Ilse A. Huerta-Arredondo, Ana M. Cruz-Avalos, Arturo Ángel Hernández, Ricardo A. Rodriguez-Carvajal, Jorge E. Ruiz-Nieto and Ana I. Mireles-Arriaga
Agriculture 2024, 14(8), 1258; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14081258 - 31 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1358
Abstract
Integrated agricultural water management (IAWM) encompasses multiple factors, necessitating the evaluation of performance across programs and involved entities and local consideration in different regions. This study analyzes the relation of allocation budgets and government agency programs in relation to the average annual availability [...] Read more.
Integrated agricultural water management (IAWM) encompasses multiple factors, necessitating the evaluation of performance across programs and involved entities and local consideration in different regions. This study analyzes the relation of allocation budgets and government agency programs in relation to the average annual availability of groundwater in Guanajuato State. Documentary investigation was conducted on public programs, aquifer availability, and agricultural land types over the period from 2017 to 2023. In the last six years, the amounts allocated to government programs from subsidies and donations have increased by 40%, leading to enhanced agricultural productivity in the state. Considering the agricultural types (rain-fed, irrigated, and protected) as separate variables, simple linear regression explains 97.8% of the variability in the DMA, indicating a decrease of 78.2 million m3 and an increase in irrigated agriculture. The estimator for the budget allocated to public programs is −2.21 × 10−7, indicating that even if the resources allocated to government programs related to the use and exploitation of water in the agricultural sector increase, the DMA will continue to decrease. Regarding the agriculture area type, the estimator has a value of −0.00237, indicating that each rain-fed or irrigated agriculture unit established would result in an approximate reduction of 2370 m3 of water in the DMA. Taking this into account, it is imperative to formulate strategies that consider intersectoral links, with a focus on prioritizing essential actions in rain-fed areas for water capture and/or irrigated agricultural areas for food production, which comprise 52% of the total land dedicated to the agricultural sector, and specifically targeting actions that promote groundwater management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Depopulation of Rural Areas: Social, Economic, and Environmental Issues)
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