DIRECTIONS OF AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE REGIONS OF THE RUSSIAN RURAL PERIPHERY

Abstract

The relevance of the study is determined by the fact that in recent decades, peripheralization of rural spaces in Russia has intensified in the form of the expansion of abandoned agricultural lands, disappearance of rural settlements, and a general long-term social-demographic depression. Concerning the spatial and food security of Russia, the re-development of peripheral rural territories is the most important condition for the viability and sustainable development of the country. The study aims at presenting a typology of models of rural development and rural differentiation in the peripheral territories of Russia as based on regional resources and the potential of local territories – in order to integrate them into the all-Russian programs of rural development. The subject is specific Russian cases of the development of rural peripheral territories and general trends in the revival of the depressed rural periphery. The methods combine the elements of the quantitative (statistical data, secondary analysis) and qualitative (expert semi-formalized interviews) approaches within the case study. Based on the results of the study, the paper describes the latest trends in the peripheralization of even the old-developed Russian regions, i.e., measures for the centralization of spatial development often exacerbate the depth of peripherization. The paper concludes with the main indicators of the rural periphery viability (ability to cope with systemic shocks and uncertainty, ability to radically change the trajectory of one’s development) and the features of the sustainable peripheral rural system. The novelty of the study is determined by an attempt to develop a typology of rural periphery and by a systematic analysis of its problems within both the agrarian re-development strategies and projects of ecological-recreational and cultural-historical types. The paper provides some recommendations on the development of rural periphery: more diverse economic activities of rural residents; more market-oriented institutions to ensure a transition from informal economic interactions to the formalized ones; stronger social capital in order to more easily mobilize internal and external resources.

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