In rural development topics, it is expected that the government s efforts in allocating agricultural credits will result in the stabilization of the rural population. This applied and quantitative study aimed at investigating the role of agricultural credit in stabilization of rural population of rural settlements in Kashan area of Iran. The methodology was inductive and it was a descriptive-analytical study with a comparative approach. The statistical population included the rural people of the area. The sample size consisted of 574 people. The required data were collected through questionnaires and analyzed in descriptive and inferential statistical methods. The study results showed that the difference in averages between the two concerned groups of people (those having credits and those having no credits) was statistically significant in terms of the four variables including improved agriculture, increase in satisfaction, improved economic conditions, and increase in employment opportunities; but these two types of independent variables (i.e. the credits and the above-mentioned four variables) had no significant relation with the dependent variable of migration. Thus, it could be concluded that there was a weak relationship between the stabilization of rural population and the agricultural credits allocated in rural settlements of Kashan area

This study aimed mainly at investigating the factors affecting the rural youth tendency to employment in agricultural sector in Beyranshahr region of Lorestan province in Iran. It was a survey and correlational study, exploring the relation between rural youth tendency and the studied independent variables. The required data were collected through a questionnaire. The statistical population included 1404 people of 15-24; among them, 181 individuals were determined as sample size through Cochran formula. Questionnaire’s reliability and validity were confirmed respectively by computing Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (more than 0.7) and content validity. The data were analyzed by SPSS. The study results showed that the tendency of rural youth to employment in agricultural sector was at a medium level; and based on the results of path analysis, the effective variables could be respectively prioritized as follows: knowledge in the field of agriculture, attitude toward agricultural jobs, use of information resources to increase knowledge in the field of agriculture, social characteristics, economic characteristics, individual characteristics and examples of successful and productive activities in the village.

The kind of architecture of neighborhood center in historical villages can attract tourists to the prosperity of rural economy and provide the areas of development. Recently, strategic planning has also been emphasized in the role of local neighborhoods as the main focus of development. This study aimed at investigating the role of the neighborhood center of Mianraz village in Fuman County of Iran in promoting the rural tourism. There were posed three questions: What are the characteristics of a rural sustainable tourism? How will the development of sustainable tourism be effective in the sustainable rural tourism? What are the capacities of the rural tourism in sustainable tourism? The research method was an applied one; and based on its nature, it was a descriptive-analytical study. The data were collected in library and field study methods through interviews and questionnaires, and the data analysis was based on SWOT and AHP techniques. In the final assessment, the total score of the internal factors indicated that the strengths were greater than the weaknesses; in addition, the total score of the external factors indicated the more effectiveness of the neighborhood development opportunities, compared to the threats. The study results showed the significant role of the community in the development of tourism through economic development, population participation, increased social welfare, feeling of security and promotion of educational and environmental issues that would be realized by balancing the biological, social and economic dimensions. To achieve this, adopting an aggressive strategy, strengthening and maintaining the strengths and benefiting from the available opportunities, such as expanding the service units, improving the residential units and enhancing the quality of riding paths, might guarantee the development of neighborhood centers in the villages.

Since rural cooperatives play an important role in rural economic development, their performance evaluation is of great importance as well. Accordingly, the main objective of this research was to evaluate the technical efficiency of the rural cooperatives in Sistan and Baluchestan province of Iran, using the Fuzzy Data Envelopment Analysis (FDEA) technique and compare it with the classical DEA method. For this purpose, the required data of 52 rural cooperatives operating in the studied province in 2016.were collected and analyzed. The indicators used in this study included three inputs (i.e. capital, current costs, and number of vendors) and one output (i.e. profit). The study results showed that there were three efficient rural cooperatives identified in FDEA model while nine ones in the classical DEA method were found efficient; in addition, the mean efficiency score was evaluated 55 percent in the traditional DEA method while 32 percent in FDEA method, indicating low efficiency rates for the rural cooperatives in both methods though the FDEA method had a higher resolution. Therefore, as suggested by the study, comparing inefficient and efficient companies could provide a suitable platform for better utilization of resources so as to improve the technical efficiency of companies.

Tourism is known as the number one and the largest industry in the 21st century. Over recent decades, the residents quality of life has attracted the attention of planners. Given the importance of the concerned issue and the lack of related scientific research as well as the great importance of increased knowledge about positive and negative impacts of tourism on the quality of life in rural areas, this research aimed at conducting a comparative study of subjective quality of life in the historical cultural tourism target and nontarget villages in Marvdasht County of Iran. For this purpose, a descriptive analytical method was used. The data gathering tool was a valid researcher made questionnaire (Cronbach s alpha coefficient ranged from 0.78 to 0.89). Based on the findings, the average score of residents subjective quality of life in the tourism target villages in the factors including property, local livelihoods and cost, and nutrition and health were significantly higher and in the local community and physical factors were significantly lower than that of the residents of tourism nontarget villages. Totally, the tourism target villages were at higher levels in terms of the economic and social dimensions of subjective quality of life and at a lower level in terms of the environmental dimension, compared with those of the tourism nontarget villages. However, in general, the residents subjective quality of life in the tourism target villages experienced a more favorable situation than the residents in the tourism nontarget villages.

In Iran, the subsidy policy, in December 2010, changed from a public approach to a targeted approach. Obviously, this policy change affects the food poverty status in the rural community. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of this policy change on the food poverty in rural community of Fars province in Iran. For this purpose, the food pyramid was used as a balanced food program guide; and the food poverty indices in the framework of the multidimensional poverty approach were used to calculate the food poverty rate and the food poverty gap indexes. The required data were extracted from the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) for rural households of Fars province, covering 2008, 2010, 2011, and 2014. The results indicated that subsidy policies (irrespective of their types) were effective tools in reducing the rate and depth of rural food poverty as far as the food items were considered; in addition, the change in subsidy policy led to an increase in the rate and depth of food poverty of the fats group by 10.98 and 23.02 percent, respectively and an increase in the rate and depth of the sugars group by 10.10 and 29.31 percent, respectively as well as a decrease in the rate and depth of food poverty in cereals group by 31.03 and 38.17 percent, respectively. Accordingly, in order to enhance the effectiveness of the targeted subsidy policies to tackle the food poverty, focusing on the complementary policies such as compensatory measures and increasing the nutritional literacy of households are recommended.

In the last few decades, due to the importance of rural development in national development process, Iran’s villages have experienced relatively significant changes in the life of their residents and theirs as well, thus, there were introduced different approaches to achieve the rural development goals, one of the most important of which was the implementation of Rural Guide [Hadi] Plan. Despite initial objectives and programs for rural development projects in different parts of the country, according to the evidence, the preparation and implementation of the plan faced several problems in various aspects, in effect. This study aimed at investigating and analyzing the implementation obstacles of the Rural Guide [Hadi] Plans in rural areas of Tabriz County in Iran. The statistical society included all the heads of rural households residing in the villages with more than 300 households where the concerned plans had been completed by the end of 2011. Among the statistical society, 362 household heads were selected as sample by using Cochran’s formula. A stratified random sampling method was used to obtain the sample and questionnaire. After validating the questionnaire, a pre-exam was conducted to establish its reliability, and the Cronbach s alpha was 0.71. To identify indicators of factors related to “the problems of Guide [Hadi] Plan in rural areas of Tabriz County”, an exploratory factor analysis was used. The study results showed that five factors of managerial-planning, physical, environmental, knowledge-information, and technical explained about 73.71 percent of the total variance. Prioritizing the problems of the plan also showed that lack of rural people’s participation in the project management process, the mismatch between the needs and the main issues of the rural people, and unfamiliarity of project managers, contractors and consultants with rural areas were placed at the first to third ranks, respectively.