Meet the New Mexico towns where less connectivity is more

Anita, Iowa faced many of the same challenges as other small towns when the last local grocer closed amid competition with large chains like Costco and Walmart. But when its residents realized the value of a local "mom-and-pop" food purveyor to the town's economy, they created the Anita Grocery Cooperative and a board to oversee it. The Coop marks a testament to collective action, resilience, and sustainable, locally-sourced solutions.

The failure of India's Zero Energy Cool Chambers to gain farmer adoption reveals that effective post-harvest storage solutions must match farmers' immediate cash needs, work across diverse climates with minimal maintenance, and points toward community cold storage with flexible rentals as a more promising approach.

A computer literacy training program has trained over 50 individuals, both young people and adults, in information communication technology from rural Siaya County in Kenya. The program is free and is open to anyone fifteen years old and above. It is crowd funded by a network of donors and graduates have access to more professional and personal growth opportunities.

The Rural Broadband Cooperative took matters into its own hands after local and state politicians failed to provide high-speed internet for their rural Pennsylvania county. Telecommunications companies did not consider Huntingdon County a priority so community members who include carpenters, welders, and crane operators all came together to find a solution for a problem that affected everyone from children to business owners and realized all they needed was a radio tower on a mountaintop. The group built and installed it themselves, spending only $50,000 and providing internet for 1,000 locals.

With investor backing, the utility company Nuru built a 1.3-megawatt minigrid that, due to its interconnectivity with a hydropower grid, can power streetlight, phone, and internet services, plus a private company that pumps, treats and distributes water to the Congolese community of Goma. Residents report financial savings and greater feelings of safety.

A number of new amenities and businesses in Boone County are the result of fundraising and community development. Local leaders have brought nearly two dozen new major projects to completion in the past ten years. Almost all of the money has been raised by local residents as a result of a “years-long effort to educate residents about the importance of keeping some of their money in their hometowns.”

Small towns in Ohio are turning to a developer to revitalize their main streets in order to bring residents and businesses back. Small Nation is the brainchild of a local developer who put his struggling town back on the map as a tourist attraction. The company is taking its methods to more than a dozen towns that are benefitting from his expertise.

Small, rural grocery stores around the country keep their doors open by using creative, cross-sector financing, recruiting local volunteers, and thinking outside the box as many residents move closer to urban areas. One such store in Wimbledon, North Dakota re-organized as a non-profit and applied for government funds as well as opened a community cafe within the store to boost traffic and revenue.

Voices for Rural Resilience is an organization that spurs collaboration amongst rural farmers on addressing issues of climate change. Anna Claussen, the founder, says that there are misconceptions of rural America and that a space is needed for people to have these conversations with those who disagree with them. The group identifies local issues and solutions to those issues, and they present them to local, state, and national policymakers. Participants also testify to the power of the conversations and learning new things.

Close collaboration between stakeholders in a community allows rural health centers to remain in operation. With the failure of many rural hospitals across the United States, medical providers, nonprofit organizations, and even city governments are coming together to invest and save institutions crucial to their communities. From placing faltering hospitals under municipal control, to expanding services through nonprofit donations, many rural communities are finding solutions that fit.