African Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development

ISSN 2375-0693

African Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development ISSN 2375-0693 Vol. 6 (5), pp. 638-646, May, 2018. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

A study of sustainable development among leaders of rural community in Malaysia

John Murugan1, Iyer Nayar,1 Singh Sivakumar1 and David Aziz2

1Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

2Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].

Accepted 04 April, 2018

Abstract

Rural development researchers have identified a number of factors that affect sustainable development among the rural community. Nevertheless, mix results were reported in literature. Hence, this study was conducted to investigate on the constructs that affect sustainable development among members of Village Development and Security Committee (VDSC) under the Vision Village Movement (VVM). A total of 235 respondents from 18 villages were involved encompassing three states in Malaysia. The final model derived from this study showed that four pertinent constructs that fit into the sustainable development model are spirituality, leadership, beautification, and education. It is believed that the findings of this study would add new perspective in understanding the complexities associated with sustainable development among the rural community.

Key words: Village development and security committee (VDSC), vision village movement (VVM), sustainable development, rural community.