Analyzing rural women’s entrepreneurial competences: case study of MENARID project in Kermanshah province

Empowering and diversifying rural household income are recognized as vital strategies to protect of natural resources and decreasing environmental degradation, which can be achieved through fostering entrepreneurial competencies among stakeholders. Accordingly, the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) implemented the MENARID project to achieving this goal. One of the grate target communities of the project were rural women. However, the question of what entrepreneurial competencies have been developed in the target stakeholders has not yet been answered. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyzing the entrepreneurial competences of the rural women in Bilavar district, Kermanshah, Iran. 17 entrepreneurs were selected as sample using purposeful sampling method until achieving to theoretical saturation. Internal and external validity respectively were achieved using triangulation process and maximum variation technique in sample selection. Findings showed that the expanded entrepreneurial competencies could be classified into three central themes: environmental competencies, personal competencies, and resource acquisition capabilities. Finally, the relationships between the extracted triple competences were presented in the form of a theoretical model as well as suggestions were presented for fostering entrepreneurial competencies in rural women.