Factors affecting rural women's participation in animal husbandry activities in Charuymaq County/Iran

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors affecting the rural womens’ participation in animal husbandry activities. The statistical population consisted of all rural families (N=6571) in Charuymaq County which 135 were selected through a multistage randomised sampling method based on Cochran sampling formula. The validity of the questionnaire was verified by a panel of experts in related fields and to check its reliability, the Cronbach's Alpha coefficient was computed which were larger than 0.7 for different parts. The results showed that the participation level of rural women was low and animal product processing, gathering eggs, feeding and watering the birds were ranked 1st to 3rd in terms of their participation type. Correlation analysis showed that rural womens’ participation had a significant negative correlation with variables e.g men number in family, womens’ education, education of their wife, but a significant positive correlation with variables e.g number of visits to town and the extent of wifes’ consultation. Multiple regression analysis revealed that four variables of men number in family, womens’ education, the number of visits to town and the extent of wifes’ consultation were explained 29.6 percent of rural womens’ participation level.