Charles W. Fluharty, President Emeritus Rural Policy Research Institute http://www.rupri.org

1. A Global Perspective on US Rural Policy: Lessons for Rural IndianaPresented to the 2007 Indiana Rural SummitIndianapolis, INNovember 14, 2007 Charles W. Fluharty, President Emeritus Rural Policy Research Institute http://www.rupri.org

2. Four Considerations • The New Rural Policy Framework: An Emergent Global Consensus • The Current U.S. Rural Policy Context • A Comparative Rural Policy Scorecard: Global Lessons Worthy of Consideration • What All This Means for RISE 2020, OCRA, and the Future of Rural Indiana!

3. I. The New Rural Policy Framework: An Emergent Global Consensus • Realigning, and better integrating, agriculture and rural economic development • Moving from sectoral, through multi-sectoral, to regional considerations • Addressing the asymmetry between top-down and bottom-up “workings” • Building local evaluative frameworks which actually influence central government action • Valuing participatory process concerns as well as cost effectiveness considerations

4. II. The Current U.S. Rural Policy Context

5. “The social and economic institutions of the open country are not keeping pace with the development of the nation as a whole . . . ” - President Teddy Roosevelt’s Country Life Commission

6. Critical Components in the Current U.S. Rural Policy Context • Federalism and Regional / State / Local Policy Dynamics • Rural / Urban Constituency Convergence • New Governance, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Systems • Landscape, Culture, Heritage and Arts as Asset-Based Development Drivers • Defining and Driving a New Rural Vision • Global Rural Futures

7. Rural / Urban Constituency Convergence • Definitions Matter! • As an Example, Regional and Local Food Systems • The Omnivores Dilemma • Poverty / Community Capacity (CDBG/CSBG- Micropolitan Areas) • Difficult Dialogue Support

8. New Governance, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Systems • Overcoming the Rural Community Capacity Disadvantage • Leadership Development / Public Entrepreneurship • Cross-Sectoral Integration Approaches • LEADER+ Model

9. Landscape, Culture, Heritage and Arts as Asset-Based Development Drivers • Core of Rural, Place-Based Investments • Immigration qua Asset • Exemplifies Rural Diversity, and the Necessity of Flexible, Locally Controlled Policy Programs • Sustainable Landscapes

10. Global Rural Impacts • WTO / Trade Dynamics in Domestic Policy • Globalization: Knowledge-Based Global Market Competition Defining and Driving a New Rural Vision • Creating a “Public Presence” for this National Dialogue

11. A U.S. Rural Policy Renaissance: Regional Rural Innovation • Federal Departmental Collaboration / Funding Alignment • Federal / State / Regional / Local Cooperation (Programs / Funding) • Incent Public / Private / Philanthropic Investment Cooperation • Regional Framework • Innovation / Entrepreneurship Focus • Attention to Diversity, Gender, Poverty and Immigration Concerns

12. Support Key Operational Principles • Asset-Based Development • Flexibility / Local Input • Research / TA: Public Decision Support Tool • Investment in New Intermediaries: Community Colleges, Faith-Based Organizations, etc. • Attention to the Importance of Working Landscapes • Natural Resources • Arts / Heritage / Culture • Renewable Energy and Entrepreneurial Agriculture

13. III. A Comparative Rural Policy Scorecard: Global Lessons Worthy of Consideration • The U.S. Farm Bill vis a vis CAP Reform • The necessity of regional approaches to Rural Development • E.U.’s Leader+, as a bridging model

14. The U.S. Farm Bill vis a vis CAP Reform

15. Percent of Farm Household Income from Off-Farm Sources by ERS Farm Typology, 2005 Source: USDA, ARMS Data not presented for limited resource, retirement, and residential type farms Farming is no longer a stand-alone economic activity. Farm families depend on healthy local and regional economies for their very survival on the land. • Nationally, 82% of all farm household income comes from off-farm sources. Even large family farm operators rely on off-farm sources for up to 30% of their household income.

16. Percent of Farm Household Income from Off-Farm Sources, by Farm Resource Region, 2005 Northern Crescent 85.2% Northern Great Plains 69.3% Basin & Range 83.7% Heartland 66.7% Eastern Uplands 96.0% Southern Seaboard 94.9% Fruitful Rim 77.0% Prairie Gateway 85.4% Mississippi Portal 90.1% Source: USDA, ARMS • The reliance on off-farm income accounts for at least two-thirds of household income in all regions, ranging from 67% in the Heartland to 96% in the Eastern Uplands..

17. Percent of Farm Household Income from Off-Farm Sources by ERS Farm Typology, 2005 Iowa Indiana Source: USDA, ARMS Data not presented for limited resource, retirement, and residential type farms • Off-farm household income reliance varies across states, i.e. 56.7% in Iowa, 83.6% in Indiana, 87.0% in Georgia, and 88.1% in Arkansas.

18. A CAP Reform Perspective: • “With regard to rural development policy, gone are the days of ‘accompanying measures.’ The ‘second pillar’ of the CAP is real and worthy of the name. We can see this in several ways: • A significant budget for rural development • 88 billion Euros, 2007-13 (21% of total CAP funding by 2013) • A single fund, separate from agriculture

19. A broad and deep range of Rural Development measures • A strategic approach, through strategy plans, and a balanced approach (46% of all RD funding will be spent on access to) • “Overall, rural development policy has clearly established itself. It is now unthinkable that we could return to a world in which the CAP was a purely ‘agricultural’ policy period.” --Mariann Fischer-Boel, EU Commissioner, Agriculture and Rural Development; September 19, 2007, Brussels, Belgium

20. Key drivers which offer the potential to “kick-start” this new U.S. approach: • WTO dynamics • New Farm Bill • Conservation programs • Renewable energy and bio-emphasis • Nutrition/regional food system

21. Rural Development Title • Senate Bill--$400 million new mandatory funding • Microenterprise development • The Rural Collaborative Investment Program (RCIP) • National Board • National Rural Investment Plan • Rural Philanthropy Initiative • Regional Strategy Grants • Regional Innovation Grants

22. The Necessity of Regional Approaches to Rural Development

23. The impact of globalization is greater for regions than for nations. 6.2% range

24. The impact of globalization is greater for regions than for nations. 17 % range

25. EU’s Leader+,As A Bridging Model

26. IV. What All This Means for RISE 2020, OCRA, and the Future of Rural Indiana!

27. Celebrating the Way Forward! • Lessons learned, given this new global rural policy framework • Challenging the naysayers • Process as destiny • Keeping on, keeping on!

28. Defining Governance: “We define ‘governance’ as the means by which people come together to identify key problems and opportunities, craft intelligent strategies, marshal necessary resources, and evaluate outcomes.” -- RUPRI / CFED Rural Governance Initiative Governance is about the process of making decisions regarding the distribution of public and private resources and responsibilities, across multiple stakeholders.

29. The National Drivers: “The federal government is not going to stop pushing responsibilities down to the states and localities, states are not going to stop pushing responsibilities down to the localities, and localities are not going to stop pushing responsibilities out to nonprofits. Nor are federal, state, and local governments going to stop contracting out to private firms. Driven by unrelenting pressure to stay small, governments at all levels have created an ever-growing shadow of private and nonprofit employees that produce many of the goods and services once delivered in-house.” -- Paul C. Light, The New Public Service

30. Defining Effective Outcomes! • Effective participatory governance: • is interactive, • is strategically driven, • comprises joint working, • is multi-dimensional in scope, • is reflective, • is asset-based, • champions authentic dialogue.W. Robert Lovan, Michael Murray, Ron Shaffer Participatory Governance

31. Good governance engages people in a democratic process. It maximizes the potential for all people to have a say in what happens in their community – how decisions are made and put into action. Good rural governance has the following characteristics: • Creates policies that give voice to the people who are invisible, • Crosses geographic, political and/or ideological boundaries, • Builds and nourishes sustainable collaboration, • Achieves meaningful economic and social outcomes for rural people, • Reflects on what works and doesn’t work; makes changes based on that learning. -- RUPRI / CFED Rural Governance Initiative

32. The Critical Role of Intermediaries “Intermediaries are people and institutions that add value to the world indirectly, by connecting and supporting – i.e., by enabling others to be more effective. Intermediaries may act as facilitators, educators, capacity builders, social investors, performance managers, coalition builders, and organizers of new groups.” Xavier de Souza Briggs The Art and Science of Community Problem-Solving Project Kennedy School, Harvard University, June, 2003.

33. Five Types of Intermediaries Promoting Public Interest: • Government as intermediaries • Civic intermediaries • Funder intermediaries • Issue-focused intermediaries • Capacity building intermediariesXavier de Souza Briggs The Art and Science of Community Problem-Solving Project Kennedy School, Harvard University, June, 2003.

34. Five Strategic Challenges for Public Intermediaries • The most useful specific functions of an intermediary will often be ambiguous and will likely change over time. • Intermediaries may have to develop the market for what they wish to provide. • A given community may be home to multiple intermediaries with diverse and overlapping functions. • Broad community change – social, economic, political – shifts the “market” for what intermediaries should contribute, how, and with what support. • Showing value added – credibly demonstrating the intermediary’s contribution – is an ongoing challenge.Xavier de Souza Briggs The Art and Science of Community Problem-Solving Project Kennedy School, Harvard University, June, 2003.

35. Celebrating the Way Forward! • Lessons learned, given this new global rural policy framework • Challenging the naysayers • Process as destiny • Keeping on, keeping on!

36. What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. Ralph Waldo Emerson

37. Rural Policy Research Institute214 Middlebush HallColumbia, MO 65211(573) 882-0316Fax: (573) 884-5310http://www.rupri.orgThe Rural Policy Research Institute provides objective analysis and facilitates public dialogue concerning the impacts of public policy on rural people and places.