Rural Electrification is Still Needed.

Rural Farmers in India, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/india-s-rural-crisis-slowed-farm-growth-may-hurt-7-5-gdp-dream/story-OfW6MAu0VBPKW90nkmTQ2N.html 

           Taking time to research the Rural Electrification Administration has been eye-opening. I had no idea how much farming was changed with the expansion of electricity to rural areas. It changed the lives of the people who lived in rural communities, but it also changed the productivity of each farmer. Technology continues to transform agriculture in ways that are increasingly important. With a growing planet, efficient agriculture is the only way we will be able to continue providing food for increasing populations.

            The quality of life was drastically different from the American people living in cities versus the people living on farms. Farmers couldn’t see their crops or animals after the sun set, without using fire. Women had significantly shorter life spans due to their impossibly hard lives. Washing clothes by hand, building fires during the hot summer months, and other relentless chores were made much simpler and for the first time, people started having free time. With more free time, women had more time to start thinking about things outside of the home, and more women attended college and worked outside of the home. Children, who once had to stop attending school to help on the farm, were allowed to stay in school.

            As I read through articles that showed the hope and excitement electricity brought to rural communities, I kept thinking of the many places in the world that still don’t have electricity. In these places, the women still have shorter life spans. Oftentimes children have to help on farm and are therefore unable to complete school. According to Inder et all, the adults on rural farms cannot produce enough on their own, so the children are needed on the farm and kept from school.

            So, what now? We need to continue to advocate to bring electricity, clean water, and technology to rural communities. Just because 99% of people living in the United States have access to electricity, doesn’t mean the fight to get electricity to rural farmers is over. We need to pay fair prices for small farmers, so these people can afford to continue farming and taking care of their families. By bringing electricity to people living in rural areas, such as India, we will be able to decrease poverty and improve living conditions.

            And of course, just as farms in the United States are now producing more, these rural areas in third world countries will continue to increase their capacity. The Rural Electrification Administration changed farming in the United States, and similar policies can continue to change farming in the world.

References

Haq, Z and Choudhury, G. (2015). "India’s rural crisis, slowed farm growth may hurt 7.5% GDP dream." hindustantimes. Retrieved from https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/india-s-rural-crisis-slowed-farm-growth-may-hurt-7-5-gdp-dream/story-OfW6MAu0VBPKW90nkmTQ2N.html.

Inder, B., Kabore, C., Nolan, S., Cornwell, K., Contreras Suarez, D., Crawford, A., & Kamara, J. K. (2017). Livelihoods andChild Welfare among Poor Rural Farmers in East Africa. African Development Review, 29(2), 169-183. doi:10.1111/1467-8268.12248