ABSTRACT
The panel looked at four separate, but interrelated, themes: land and water use rights, rural financial institutions, farm structures, rural communities and rural/urban interaction. Given that there has been considerable improvement in water supply, control of certain mass communicable diseases and containment of infections, we cannot rule out the possibility that nutritional status may improve in spite of the stagnation of reported gross food intake. Johan van Zyl and Johann Kirsten argued that reforms of land and water rights are necessary for sustainable, broad-based rural development in South Africa. Richard L. Meyer and Geetha Nagarajan showed that a paradoxical situation has recently emerged in rural financial markets in low-income countries. Floor discussants were critical, suggesting that, although the panellists had shown a strong agreement in their assessment of the past, their attitude towards future diversification and resource management in rural economies was not clear.
