A rural
area is an open swath of
land that has few homes or other buildings, and not very many people. A rural areas population density is very low. Many people
live in a city, or urban area. Their homes and businesses are located very
close to one another.
We studied rural development in Nigeria. In this article, we are going to
study rural communities. The following unit objectives indicate what you should
accomplish at the end of this unit. At the end of this article, you should be
able to explain what a community is, describe the community life process ·
identify the characteristics of a community.
Definition of a Community
A community is an aggregation of families habitually living together within
a definite geographical location, more or less rooted on the soil they occupy,
living in a state of mutual interdependence, supporting some basic social
institutions and having some measures of political autonomy in relation to
other communities.
The term “community” has been used equally to denote something both
psychological and geographical. Psychologically, it implies shared interests,
characteristics or association as in the expression “Community of interests”,
“the business community”, “the academic community” or “a farming community”.
Geographically, it denotes a specific area where people cluster. However,
the sociological definition of a community combines the two meanings and
denotes a people within a common locality having shared interests and behavioral
patterns.
Such shared interests and behavioral patterns show mainly in the areas
of:
1. Production, distribution and consumption of good
2. Socialization
3. Social control
4. Social participation
5. Mutual supports.
The community is particularly characterized by the organization of these
functions on a locality basis. A locality group, the community is made up of
families living together within a definite location and interacting on a
face-to-face basis.
However, in large communities, all members may not know each other to
interact on a face-to-face and effective manner, but members interact in the
use of common institutions and facilities, and maintain a consciousness of
oneness through the sharing of common values, norms, traditions, prejudices and
sentiments.
Farm people live in village communities; some of these are small while
others are large. In either case, they interact and affect each other’s behavior
in a manner which is different from the way they affect those who do not belong
to these communities.
5 Characteristics of a Community
1. Shared Bonds of Fellowship:
This is a feature that distinguishes some people from others. It may be
typified by the demand of obligations from citizens and the conferment of
benefits upon them.
2. Set Standards or Patterns of Behavior:
This refers to the psycho-social situation that arises when people perform
mutual actions and reactions upon one another. Such interaction is incessant,
and no citizen can wholly cut himself off from such social relations.
3. A Common Culture: This is
the aggregate of the social, ethnical, intellectual, artistic, governmental and
industrial attainments of a community, and by which it can be distinguished
from any other community.
4. Shared Territory: A
community occupies a territorial area, within which its members live and
develop the ways of life that give the community the different features that
tend to make its identity easily recognizable.
5. Shared Beliefs: Shared
beliefs are nurtured and cherished by the people in the development of their
common ideals, objectives, attitudes and values.
Community Life Process
This is the process in the life of a community, by which the people plan
and act together for the satisfaction of their felt needs.
Its primary purpose is to bring about change for better living, through
the willing cooperation of the people. Its aims are:
1. To educate and motivate people for self-help
2. To develop responsible local leadership
3. To inculcate a sense of citizenship and a spirit of civic
consciousness
4. To initiate self-generative, self-sustaining and enduring process of
growth
5. To introduce and strengthen democracy at the grassroots level
6. To enable people to establish and maintain cooperative relationships
7. To bring about gradual and self-chosen changes in the life of a
community.
Its significant components are:
1. Agriculture
2. Irrigation
3. Education-including literacy
4. Rural industries
5. Health programmes
6. Housing programmes
7. Social welfare programmes
8. Youth programmes
9. Women’s programmes
10. Cooperative
11. Training of village leaders
12. Employment programmes.
Conclusion on
This article has introduced you to the concept of a community and the
process in the life a community by which people plan and act together. It has
also exposed you to the various characteristics of a community.
You are expected to have learnt from this article, the meaning of a
community, the life process of a community and community traits or
characteristics. It is expected that you would be able to comprehend some
issues in rural communities.
Also read: Political Institution in Nigeria: Meaning, Features and Rural Political Participation
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