Conversation so far:
what was Horace Plunkett trying to accomplish?
Cooperatives and Plunkett were denounced for supposedly ruining the dairy industry but the movement caught hold, with the mass of farmers benefitting.
what did he do to help the movement?
Plunkett and his colleagues including the poet and painter George William Russell (AE) made a good working team, writing widely on economic and cultural development.
what project was he involved in?
As early as 1894, when his campaign reached a size too big to be directed by a few individuals, Plunkett founded the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society (IAOS).
what did this society do?
Robert A Anderson acted as secretary, with AE and PJ Hannon his assistants.
IAOS soon became the powerhouse of co-operation, with 33 affiliated dairy cooperative societies and cooperative banks.
how was this beneficial?
introducing co-operation among Irish farmers by proving the benefits obtainable through more economical and efficient management.
did it create more positive changes?
Four years later there were 243 affiliated societies.
Within a decade 800 societies were in existence, with a trade turnover of three million pounds sterling.
what is an interesting fact regarding his success?
He was a pioneer of the concept of systematic rural development, who, in spite of his role in Irish affairs being often overlooked, influenced many international reformers.

Question: what did this concept change?
Self-contained rewrite: what did the concept of systematic rural development change?