


































African Journal of Agricultural Marketing Vol. 2 (2), pp. 101-108, February, 2014. Available online at 
www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Full Length Research Paper 
 

Factors affecting sustainable development among 

leaders of rural community: A case study of 

Malaysia 
 

Maggos Ari, Paul Manding and Jubillee Oyibo* 
 

Laboratory for Rural Advancement and Agriculture Extension, Institute for Social Science Studies, Universiti of Putra, 

Malaysia. 
 

Accepted 24 January, 2014 
 

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. 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
In line with globalization and modernization, the 
Malaysian government has implemented numerous 
efforts to develop rural community so that it would enable 
this community to successfully enhance their quality of 
life similar to the urban community. Development strategy 
in Malaysia has started since 1957 whereby this strategy 
emphasized on planned development. Rural develop-
ment is one of the key areas placed in this strategy 
whereby the government had initiated Village Vision 
Movement (VVM) program launched in 1996 by the ex-
Prime Minister of Malaysia to expedite rural development 
in this country. The main focus of VVM is to cultivate 
consciousness and positive attitude among rural com-
munity so as to be in tandem with government’s effort to 
create villages that are more beautiful, developed, and 
competitive. Koharudin (2005), in his study concluded 
that VVM has the ability to create positive attitude and 
 
 
 
*Corresponding author. E-mail: hayrol82@gmail.com. 

 
 
 
 
paradigm shift among the villagers towards develop-
ment. However, the success of VVM is very much 
dependable on the committee members of Village Deve-
lopment and Security Committee (VDSC) since they are 
the change agents that would be able to cultivate 
competitive and succcessful rural community (Shamsul, 
1998), through rural sustainable development.  

Sustainable development is an important element that 
has a wide array of views under its umbrella. In the 
1980s, increasing concern on the effects of economic 
development on health, natural resources and the envi-
ronment led the United Nations to publish the Brundtland 
Report. This report defined sustainable development as 
"development which meets the needs of the present 
without compromising the ability of future generations to 
meet their own needs." In June 1992, the Rio Earth 
Summit declared that "the right to development must be 
fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and 
environmental needs of present and future generations." 
Sustainable development is not just about the environ-
ment, but also encompasses the economy and society at 



Maggos   et al.              101 
 
 

 
large (The Brundtland Report, 1987). 
 
 
Literature analysis 
 
There is extensive research done that portray constructs 
which contribute to rural sustainable development. 
Studies implemented by Shiblaq and Fielden (2008), and 
Hopkins and McKeown (2002), concluded that Informa-
tion and Communication Technology (ICT) and education 
will improve rural community economically, socially and 
academically while according to Ngcobo and Herselman 
(2007), ICT and education will empower rural poor people 
and community to lead their own development. On top of 
it, beautification and health are also important factors that 
contribute toward sustainable development whereby 
Hazell and Lutz (1998), stressed that rural community 
should be exposed to the importance of beautifying their 
environment and focusing on the cleanliness of their 
village since their conciousness towards environment is 
degrading. Moreover, a study done by Day (1998) identi-
fied that the attainment of sustainable development in 
rural areas depends upon effective leaders that would 
create social and institutional networks that would boost 
economic activities in villages besides enabling the 
villagers to enhance on agricultural skills. Adil et al. 
(2005), on the other hand, emphasized on the aspect of 
spirituality that should not be ignored in the context of 
sustainable development so that the interests of every 
member in the rural community is being taken care of and 
more efforts toward creating a culture of collaboration and 
teamwork can exist in villages.  

In spite of the above stated facts, the question that 
arises is whether the VDSC members perceive all the 
aspects mentioned above as important dimension of sus-
tainable development? Thus, the main aim of this study is 
to determine the significant higher order constructs that 
significantly explain the factors of sustainable develop-
ment among the VDSC members in their respective 
villages. It is hoped that this study would contribute to the 
existing literature by examining different variables that 
might have been neglected previously. Consequently, this 
would add to the body of knowledge pertaining to rural 
sustainable development. 
 
 
MATERIALS AND METHOD 
 
This study used a descriptive framework. The items for the instru-
ment of this study were developed by the researchers based on 
previous literature. Pre-test was carried out among 13 VDSC 
members located in the VVM village in the area of Kajang, Selangor 
and the value of cronbach alpha was 0.6 - 0.9 indicating that the 
instrument is valid and reliable. Respondents were interviewed 
using a questionnaire for the purpose of getting the data needed. 
The sample (list of VVM village) was gained from the Department of 
Community Development (DCD) based on the selected states. The 

sample framework was then strengthened by only selecting the 
members of VDSC that were listed in the VVM villages. Those who 
were selected were from three districts from each state and from 

 

  
 
 
 
every district selected, six VVM villages will represent each district. 
A total of 235 respondents who were members of Village Develop-
ment and Security Committee (VDSC) from three states were ran-
domly selected. The three states were Selangor, Negeri Sembilan 
and Pahang.  

The research instrument used in this study consisted of three 
parts. The first part seeks information on the respondents’ socio-
demographic profiles: gender, zone, grade of village, job category, 
level of education, position in VDSC, age, income per month, period 
of staying in VVM village and period of holding a position in VDSC. 
The second part of the instrument measured the sustainable 
development of respondents’ in terms of social, environment and 
monetary elements. The third part of the instrument measured the 

constructs that influence sustainable development. These con-
structs consisted of seven dimensions: 1) Beautification, 2) Econo-
my, 3) Leadership, 4) Information and Communication Technology, 
5) Education, 6) Health and 7) Spirituality. Overall, these seven 
dimensions consisted of 70 items or statements.  

The data collection process involved a group of trained enume-
rators and was conducted for a period of two months from April 
2008 until May 2008. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS and 
AMOS software. SPSS was used to reveal the frequency, percen-

tage, and Cronbach Alpha, while AMOS software was used for 
analysis of CFA. The CFA analysis will enable to utilize a suitable 
method to measure the construct validity and to determine the 
“goodness of fit” of a model determined. 
 
 
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 
 
Table 1 and Table 2 depict the socio-demographic profile 
of respondents. As in Table 1, data revealed that men are 
still the main dominant force of village administration 
accounting 86.0% of the respondents. Majority of 
respondents stayed in central zone (38.3%), followed by 
southern (31.9%) and only 29.8% respondents represen-
ted east coast zone. Nearly half of the respondents lived 
in VVM grade C village (46.4%). Results gained also 
showed that respondents who work on their own are 
involved in village administration matters compared to 
other job groups (43.8%), There is a possibility that this 
group of respondents were less tied to job committments 
unlike those who work in public and private sector. In 
terms of level of education, more than two fifth (44.7%) of 
the respondents had SPM (Malaysia Certificate Educa-
tion) / SPMV (Malaysia Vacational Educational certificate) 
certificate. Table 1 also signals that only a minority of 
respondents had pre-university and tertiary level of 
education (13.6%). Besides, more than three quarter of 
respondents (78.3%) are holding the position of 
committee members of VDSC.  

The data obtained as in Table 2 showed that “senior 
villagers” still dominate village administration based on 
the respondents age mean score recorded which was 
52.61 years. More than one third of respondents (37.9%) 
were among those whose age were 56 years and above.  

More than four fifth of the respondents gained income 
less than RM2,000 per month. Majority of the respon-
dents had stayed in the VVM village for a period of 26 - 
45 years (41.2%) . The mean score for staying period in 
VVM village was 37.1 years while the mean score for 
holding a position in CVD was 7.33 years. Slightly more 



    

  Table 1. Respondents profile (n = 235).   
     

  Respondents profile Frequency Percentage 

  Gender   

  Male 202 86.0 
  Female 33 14.0 
  Zone   
  Central 90 38.3 
  Southern 75 31.9 
  East coast 70 29.8 
  Village grade   

  Grade A 57 24.2 
  Grade B 69 29.4 
  Grade C 109 46.4 

  Job category   

  Public sector 57 24.3 
  Private sector 33 14.0 
  Work on their own 103 43.8 
  Unemployed 32 17.9 
  Level of education   

  Primary school 55 23.4 
  PMR/SRP/LCE* 43 18.3 
  SPM/SPMV/MCE/Certificates 105 44.7 
  Pre-University/ University 32 13.6 
  Position in VDSC   

  Chairman/ Vice chairman 19 8.1 
  Secretary 17 7.2 
  Treasury 15 6.4 
  Members 184 78.3 
 

*Malaysia Lower Education Certificate. 
 

 
Table 2. Respondents profile. 

 
Respondents profile Frequency Percentage Mean S.D 
Age (n = 235)     

<45 years 67 28.5 52.61 10.38 
46 - 55 years 79 33.6   

>56 years 89 37.9   

Income per month (n = 213) (Value in Ringgit Malaysia)   
     

<RM1,000 85 39.9 1663.08 1239.85 
RM1,001-RM2,000 86 40.4   

>RM2,001 42 19.7    
Period of staying in VVM village (n = 221)  

 <25 years 57 25.7 37.10 15.10 
 26 - 45 years 91 41.2   

 >46 years 73 33.1   

 Period of holding A position in VDSC (n = 209)    

 <5 years 106 50.7 7.33 6.09 
 6 - 10 years 62 29.7   

 >11 years 41 19.6   

102      Afr. J. Agric. Mark. 



Maggos  et al.              103 
 
 

 
than half of the respondents held the VDSC position for 5 

years. 

 
Instrument development 
 
AMOS software was used to conduct the Confirmatory 
Factor Analysis (CFA) in determining instrument that 
measure constructs of sustainable development. In CFA 
analysis, Chi Square, GFA Index Value, CFI and RMSEA 
were applied. An instrument is considered reliable if the 
Chi Square value is low and its significance value is high 
(larger than 0.05), GFI index and CFI value must be 
larger than 0.9 and RMSEA value must be lower than 
0.08. Analysis conducted involved two phases. For the 
first phase, it involved testing on model of measurement 
for each dimension and for the second phase to test on 
the constructs of sustainable development model. 
 
 
Beautification 
 
The five items listed for this construct were: 
1) Emphasize on the beauty of the village was made.  
2) Initiative to enhance the beauty of the village was 
taken.  
3) Involvement in the majority of programs conducted for 
the beautification and cleanliness of the village.  
4) VDSC organization encourages all villagers to 
enhance beauty in VVM villages.  
5) Unhappy response to those who do not care about the 

cleanliness of the village.  
 
From these five items only four were selected based on 

the result of CFA ( 
2
 = 0.318, p = 0.853, GFI = 0.999, NFI 

= 0.999 and RMSEA = 0.000), which are items number 1, 
2, 3 and 4. 

 
Economy 
 
A total of ten items consisted the economy dimension 

which are: 
 
1) There are undeveloped land in this village.  
2) Generally, the villagers economy status has been 
uplifted out from the poverty level.  
3) Every household in this village has their own transport 
like bicycle, motorcycle and car.  
4) Establishing strategic coorperation with number of 
government and private agencies.  
5) Agriculture, industry and services are the main 
activities of the villagers.  
6) There are a number of entreprenuership courses 
conducted in this village for the purpose of enhancing this 
local economy status.   
7) Agriculture, industry and services provide job 
opportunities for the villagers.  
8) Entreprenuership / commercial activities increase the  

 

  
 
 
 
number of rural entreprenuers. 
9) There are new/ unique sources and products that can 
be commercialized.  
10) There is zero unemployment rate in this village  
 
However, from the CFA analysis conducted, only four 

items were included in the dimension of economy ( 
2
 = 

1.971, p = .373, GFI = 0.996, NFI = 1.00 and RMSEA = 
0.000). The four items identified were items number 2, 5, 
7 and 8. 
 
 
Leadership 
 
There are 16 original items used to measure leadership 

which are: 
 
1) VDSC has initiative to overcome issues regarding 
social problems, family problems, drug addict problems 
and community unity problem.   
2) Members opinion are accepted by all VDSC members 
in any discussion or meeting.  
3) CVD leaders take care of members charity.  
4) Team spirit in this village CVD is high  
5)  Generally,  there  is  a  satisfaction  in   the  VDSC 
leadership in this village. 
6) The way of this village CVD administration can be 
accepted by any party.  
7) There are cooperation between CVD and government/ 
private / NGO agencies  
8) CVD is alert on changes in government policy.  
9) Satisfaction with the relationship among VDSC 
members.  
10) All CVD members have equal chances of attending 
training and courses.  
11) There are scheduled program/activity conducted by 
CVD for the purpose of changing the mindset and attitude 
of the villagers.   
12) There are effective information disseminations to the 
villagers.  
13) This village leadership provides complete and 
useable village profile and action plan.  
14) There are management of emergency issues such as 
unexpected programs that must be conducted instantly.  
15) There are complete and useable village activity 
schedule.  
16) There are unhealthy relations in CVD organizations.  
 
After conducted CFA, only four items supported the 

leadership model ( 
2
 = 1.223, p = 0.542, GFI = 0.996, NFI 

= 1.00 and RMSEA = 0.000) . The four items selected 
were items number 1, 2, 6 and item number 9. 
 
 
Education 
 
A total of ten items were prepared to calculate 

sustainable level from the education aspect which are: 



104      Afr. J. Agric. Mark. 
 
 

 
1) There exist the concept of one house/one degree 
in this village.  
2) There are increasing numbers of this villagers son/ 
daughter who gain the opportunity to continue their study 
at university level.   
3) Villagers are open to any program conducted to 
increase the education level of this village.  
4) There exist information on villagers son or daughter 
who are successful.  
5) Villagers education level is at a good level.  
6) There exist life-long education programs such as 
reciting Yaasin, fardu ain class and others.  
7) There are no kids in this vilage who do not go to 
school.  
8) There are villagers who have illiteracy problem.  
9) There exist annual educational visit organized by 
VDSC.  
10) There exist contribution of succesful villagers to the 

village, to conduct community , motivational and other 
beneficial programs.  
 
CFA analysis conducted revealed that five items have the 

ability to construct the education model ( 
2
 = 9.374, p = 

0.095, GFI = 0.985, NFI = 0.974 and RMSEA = 0.061). 
The five items selected were items number 1, 4, 6, 9 and 
10. 
 
 
Information and comunication technology (ICT) 
 
The original number of items included for ICT was 12. 

The items included were: 
 
1) There exist courses/ trainings regarding ICT usage for 
the villagers provided by VDSC.  
2) VDSC encourages its members to enhance their 
knowledge and skills concerning ICT  
3) This village has its own website.  
4) Villagers are easy to get information regarding 
development happening outside Malaysia through ICT.  
5) Villagers were able to get lots of information through 
ICT devices provided  
6) Majority of the youth in this village know how to use 
computer.  
7) There exist computer training regarding computer 
management and computer software.  
8) Possesion of at least a computer per home at the VVM 
village.  
9) VDSC members and villagers follow computer classes 
and computer literacy programs.  
10) CVD and the community were able to join computer 
learning class that was conducted.  
11) ICT gave negative impact to the villagers.  
12) Internet services were used widely by the villagers  
 
From the CFA analysis done, it was identified that only a 

total of four items have been included in the ICT dimen-

sion ( 
2
 = 0.318, p = 0.853, GFI = 0.999, NFI = 0.999 and 

 
 

 
RMSEA = 0.000) which were items number 1, 3, 7 and 9. 

 
Health 
 
Under this construct ten items were identified for the 

purpose of measurement which were: 
 
1) The Ministry of Health frequently conducts free health 
check and monitor the cleanliness of the village.  
2) Emphasizes on health care aspect to avoid any 
infectious disease in this village was made.  
3) Satisfactory level of cleanliness and health of this 
village.  
4) The village drainage system has been serviced 
systematically.  
5) Septical toilet is used in this village.  
6) There are rural clinics in this village for free treatment 
for the villagers.  
7) Total of the villagers that have chronic disease is low  
8) This village waste management has been managed 
systematically  
9) This village has won ”the most clean village” award at 
the state level.  
10) There are cleanliness campaign and tasks to beautify 
the road, alley, ditch and public places.  

CFA analysis towards the ten original items measuring 
health aspect has resulted in a total of only four items 

being included in the health model ( 
2
= 1.445, p = .486,   

GFI=.997, NFI =.996 and RMSEA=.000) and the items 

were items number 1, 4, 5 and item number 10. 

 
Spirituality 
 
Seven items were prepared to measure this construct: 
 
1) Emphasizes that the spirituality aspect should be 
cultivated among the community especially among the 
youths in the village.   
2) The believe that the good and bad that happened to 
one is determined by God.  
3) There are a number of religious activities being 
conducted by VDSC and mosque commitee members for 
the villagers.   
4) There are percentage of involvement from gender 
generations in the program conducted.  
5) There are document on scheduled 
planning/implementation of spirituality/ religious 
programs.   
6) Emphasize on the importance and good deeds of other 
people in various matters were made.  
7) Organizing safety campaign and good deeds such as 

working together and overcoming crimes in village.  
 
From the seven original items prepared for the dimension 
of spirituality, only four items were found to be significant. 

CFA analysis had produced the following outcome: 
2
= 

2.828, p = .243, GFI=.994, NFI =.992 and RMSEA = .042 



Maggos  et al.              105 

 
 
 
Table 3. CFA analysis result for sustainable development dimension. 
 

Instrument/ Items  
2
 p GFI NFI RMSEA 

Beautification  0.318 0.853 0.999 0.999 0.000 
I emphasize on the beauty of village. 0.55      

I take initiative to enhance the beauty of village. 0.79      

I get involve in majority of programs conducted for 0.88      
the beauty and cleanliness of village.       

VDSC organization encourages all villagers to 0.80      

enhance beauty in VVM village.       

Economy  1.971 0.373 0.996 1.000 0.000 
Generally, the villagers economy status has been 0.28      
uplifted out from the poverty level.       

Agriculture, industry and services are the main 0.73      

activities of the villagers.       

Agriculture, industry and services provide job 0.89      
opportunities for the villagers.       

Entreprenuerhip/commercial activities increase the 0.67      

number of rural entreprenuers       

Leadership  1.223 0.542 0.996 1.000 0.000 
VDSC has initiative to overcome isues regarding 0.79      
social problem, family problems, drug addict       

problems and community unity problem.       

Generally, I’m satisfied with the VDSC leadership in 0.83      

this village.       

I’m satisfied with the relationship among VDSC 0.66      

members.       

Members opinion are accepted by all VDSC 0.67      
members in any discussion or meeting.       

ICT  2.309 0.315 0.999 0.995 0.026 
There exist courses/trainings regarding ICT usage 0.72      

for the villagers provided by VDSC.       

This village has its own website. 0.68      

There exist computer training regarding computer 0.94      

management and computer software.       

VDSC members and villagers follow computer class 0.84      

and computer literacy programs.       

Education  9.374 0.095 0.985 0.974 0.061 
There exist the concept of one house/ 0.70      

one degree in this village.       

There exist information on villagers son 0.75      

or daughter who are successful.       

There exist life-long education programs such as 0.60      

reciting Yaasin, fardu ain class and others       

There exist annual educational visit organized by 0.75      

VDSC.       

There exist contribution of succesful villagers to the 0.62      
village to conduct community, motivation and other       

beneficial programs       

Health and Cleanliness  1.445 0.486 0.997 0.996 0.000 
The village drainage system has been serviced 0.65      
systematically        
The Ministry of Health frequently conduct free health 0.77 
check and monitor the cleanliness of the village.  

  



         
 

  Table 3. contd.        
 

             
 

  Septical toilet is used in this village 0.66       
 

  There are cleanliness campaign and tasks to 0.86       
 

  beautify the road, alley, ditch and public places        
 

  Spirituality  2.828 0.243 0.994 0.992 0.042 
 

  I’m emphasizing that the spirituality aspect to be 0.84       
 

  cultivated among the community especially among        
 

  the youths in the village.        
 

  There are a number of religious activities being 0.72       
 

  conducted by VDSC and mosque commitee        
 

  members for the villagers.        
 

  I emphasize on the importance and good deeds of 0.78       
 

  other people in various matters.        
 

  Orgnaizing safety campaign and good deeds such 0.59       
 

  as working together and overcoming crimes in        
 

  village.        
 

   Table 4. The instrument reliability.        
 

             
 

     
Instrument 

 Number of Items   
Cronbach alpha value 

 
 

      
Previous Current    

 

            
 

     Beautification 5 4   0.837   
 

     Economy 10 4   0.710   
 

     Leadership 16 4   0.836   
 

     ICT 12 4   0.868   
 

     Education 10 5   0.810   
 

     Health and Cleanliness 10 4   0.813   
 

     Spirituality and Civic 7 4   0.813   
 

     Overall  29   0.922   
 

     Sustainable Development Model  17   0.902   
 

 

 
The significant items were items number 1, 3, 6 and item 

number 7 

 
Instrument reliability 
 
The instrument will be considered as reliable if Cronbach 
Alpha value = 0.70 or more. Seven dimensions which 
were analyzed using CFA analysis, then was once again 
analyzed in order to reveal its reliability level. Data 
gathered is presented in Table 4. Based on the obtained 
data, all the seven dimensions were found to be reliable, 
the Cronbach Alpha value exceeding the minimum of 
0.70. The economy dimension proved to be the lowest 
dimension (0.710) while the ICT dimension was found to 
be the highest dimension (0.868). Overall, the seven 
dimensions which consisted of 29 items produced 
Cronbach Alpha value of 0.922. 
 
 
The Malaysia sustainable development model for 

rural community 
 
This study was designed to develop a firm model to mea- 

 

 
sure sustainable development from the seven dimensions 
that have been identified. CFA analysis was applied for 
this purpose and the result obtained from Table 3 is 
presented in Figure 1.  

From the seven original dimensions, only four 
dimensions were found to be fit into the sustainable 
development model. In order for a data to fit the model 
the requirements that must be met are GFI INDEX and 
CFI = > 0.9 and RMSEA = < 0.8. After CFA was run, only 
four dimensions were found to fit the models which were 
beautification, leadership, education and spirituality. This 
result is in tandem with what have been done by Hazell 
and Lutz (1998), Ngcobo and Herselman (2007), Adil et 
al. (2005) and Day (1998) where all of them agreed that 
all of these items are the key for rural development  

success. Not only will these four dimensions develop 
the area but also those who lived in that area. From the 
previous studies it was also proven that these four items 
have the ability and power to enhance the quality of life 
among the rural people especially on the aspects of 
economy, social and academic. The standardized estima-
ted value for each was 0.72, 0.72, 0.60 and 0.84. The 
statistic estimation of fit model indicate that this model 

106      Afr. J. Agric. Mark. 



Maggos  et al.              107 

 
 

 

   .36 
 

 
.60 

Education e1 
 

  

.51 
 

 

.72 
 

 

 
Beautification e2  

  
 

Sustainable 
.72 

 
.52  

Development  
 

 

Leadership e3 
 

 
.84  

   
 

   .70 
 

  Spirituality e4 
 

 
Figure 1. Malaysia rural sustainable development model.  
Chi-Square = 1.801, DF = 2, p = .406, CFI = 1.000, GFI =.996, AGFI = .981, NFI = .994, TLI 

= 1.002, RMSEA = .000 
 

 
had failed to be rejected, which means that a model that 

consists of this four dimensions fit the data ( 
2
 = 1.801, p 

= 0.406, GFI = 0.996, NFI = 0.994 and RMSEA = 0.0001. 
 
 
Conclusion 
 
The findings of this study imply that rural community 
leaders perceive the dimension of spirituality as an impor-
tant element towards sustainable development. This is an 
important factor that needs to be taken into serious con-
sideration by policy makers. It is vivid that rural people do 
not wish to sacrifice their lives by the tidal waves of 
unfettered materialism that would lead them to live in a 
world that can best be described as a dystopia. It 
becomes a surety that rural people would lucratively 
accommodate development if it is packaged with the 
component of spirituality as they believe that acknow-
ledgement of spiritual worth would lead to creating 
responsible sustainable development that would be 
beneficial and bring true happiness to a greater number 
of people.  

Secondly, the study implies that rural community lead-
ers perceive leadership to be imperative towards 
sustainable development. The study identified that to 
ensure sustainable development among rural community 
effective leadership helps villages to develop through 
times of peril to overcome numerous social and commu-
nity problems and to accommodate the wishes of the 
people in the community. Thus, it is of utmost importance 
that sustainable development is accompanied by visio-
nary leaders that would help to conquer obstacles and 
implement decisions that are timely, complete and 
correct. Without good leadership, sustainable develop-
ment might be hindered as the activities in villages would 
be moving too slowly, stagnate and might lose their way.  

Further implication that can be drawn from this study is 

that beautification too is an important factor towards 

 

 
sustainable development. The study depicts that the 
realization on the need to take care of the environment 
has been imprinted in the minds and souls of rural com-
munity. It is clear that rural leaders feel that sustainable 
development should be accompanied with the factor of 
beautification as they believe that this will increase the 
quality of life and economic development in rural areas. 
Moreover, developing a safe and clean environment 
apparently seem to create an awesome feeling for rural 
people as this would help them to preserve their heritage 
and make their village to look stronger than ever.  

It is also undeniable that education plays an important 
role towards sustainable development. The traditional 
way of having rural community with good manners but 
poor education is considered as antiquated. The study 
suggests that rural people believed on the importance of 
education as an important tool to lift them out of the state 
of chronic poverty, and their focus is on two main areas - 
having their children educated till the tertiary level and to 
equip themselves with relevant knowledge and skills. The 
rural leaders believe that via education rural people would 
be instilled with a long- term vision and they will be more 
responsible in utilizing the resources available in villages. 
 

In conclusion, it is recommended that policies on sus-
tainable development among the rural community would 
need a different approach from the policy makers since 
this community does not wish to live a disintegrated life at 
an insidious pace. Future research is recommended to 
encompass a wider scope of constructs pertaining to 
sustainable development that incorporate socio-political 
sustainability and cultural diversity. 

 
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