ABSTRACT
The producers in the rural economy (both agro- and non-agro-based, including art and craft productions) are placed far away from urban transaction sites. This distance, both physical and informational in nature, to a great extent isolates and hinders rural production. This chapter locates multiple entities in the rural economy within which information asymmetry exists and subsequently proposes measures to overcome this asymmetry. While the chapter justifies this articulation by providing a case study pertaining to the market performance and hindrances faced by Indian craft producers due to lack of information, it simultaneously provides an in-depth account of the measures taken in the developing countries to equip rural marginalized with relevant information. However, the chapter concludes by tracing the inadequacy of the extant schemes to their inability in cultivating knowledge capability among rural target group. Information alone cannot lift the status of the rural marginalized, if they are not knowledgeable to process the acquired information. It is information literacy coupled with processing abilities that in combination attempt to enhance the knowledge base of the rural target group: a precursory measure to achieving holistic rural empowerment.
