Investment in Public Services and Infrastructures

50. Alongside the establishment of services and infrastructures of direct interest for farm production, agrarian reform programmes must also envisage large-scale investment in health, education, public transportation and the supply of drinking-water.

In the rural areas of poor countries, these social services and infrastructures are seriously deficient in both quantity and quality. Their development prospects are poor owing to the fact that the population of these areas has little ability to influence political choices and that a major part of the costs would have to be met either directly or indirectly — in other words, through some kind of taxation — by large landowners.

These services are fundamental for a modern way of life, and are also an indispensable component and factor in the growth of material well-being. They are therefore a key factor in sustainable development.

Their utility is not confined to farmers and their families, but benefits the entire population by creating the conditions for a differentiation in production activities, a growth in overall locallyproduced income, and a consequent stemming of the rural exodus.

The dependable provision of these services is therefore a necessary condition for the battle against rural poverty and for containing the economic and social costs of urbanization. In the context of agrarian reform, every effort must therefore be made to ensure that public services and infrastructures of public utility in the rural areas are as accessible, available, acceptable and economic as possible.

This applies particularly to health: access to basic health structures and hospitals, widespread health education and availability of simple, inexpensive remedies are vital in order to reduce mortality and morbidity.

51. With regard to services, maximum priority must be given to steps aimed at guaranteeing equal access to elementary schooling and the extension of education to secondary and higher levels for both young men and women.

Under such conditions, education and professional training would not only offer each individual the means for maximum development of his or her own potential, but also become determining factors in bringing about the change in attitudes and behaviour needed to face the complexity of the modern-day world without excessive costs. The idea that education is a purely consumer expense and not a social investment would thus be overcome.