Rural women's knowledge and social needs for the integrated watershed management in the Ghezel Tape AliGholi Village in the Zanjan Province

Rural women have an important role in supporting their rural household's livelihoods and can significantly contribute to the sustainable natural resources management programmes. The purpose of this research was to investigate rural women's livelihood activities and their related needs for enhancing their knowledge and social capacities. The study was conducted using a case study through participatory rapid appraisal techniques in the Ghezel Tape Aligholi Village located in the Zanjan Province of Iran. Rural women contributed to their household's livelihoods through various livelihood strategies, comprising non-agricultural activities including carpet weaving; agricultural activities dependent on rangelands, specially collecting naturally medicinal and edible plants; and agricultural activities with low dependency on rangelands, particularly product harvest and local processing. Assessing rural women' needs showed that they mostly needed updated knowledge and skills regarding proper harvest, processing and packaging of horticultural and dairy products, natural resources conservation methods, new agricultural and non-agricultural activities, and higher literacy. The necessity to improve rural women's environmental attitude, particularly about rural waste management was also recognised to be an important need. Moreover, they need to strengthen their social capacities, particularly in regard to influencing agricultural markets, relations and trust in rural communities and with external actors, and strengthening rural women organisations. These needs imply the necessity of developing agricultural extension and natural resources management programmes for human and social capacity building of rural women.