Strategies for Zagros Nomadic Organization Development: Application of Grounded Theory

The purpose of this qualitative research was to analyze the development strategies of Zagros nomadic organizing based on Grounded Theory. The Data were collected by semi-structured interviews and purposive sampling methods with 30 specialists, managers and experts in the field of nomads. The theory extraction and coding process was performed by MAXqda18 software. The study findings indicated that categories such as failure of previous projects, lack of attention to environmental sustainability, lack of attention to human capital, natural and ecological potential of nomadic areas, lack of socio-cultural pathology and lack of attention to upper-level documents as causal conditions affecting the development of the Zagros nomadic organization were identified; also, grounded conditions included categories such as lack of coordination in planning and implementation, lack of financial resources, cultural barriers, lack of specialized manpower, technological and natural barriers; meanwhile, constantly changing the pattern of life, lack of investment and marketing, disregard for the potentials in the region, implementation of parallel development policies and inconsistencies between the provinces of the Zagros area were also identified as intervening conditions. Besides, in order to develop the nomadic organization of the Zagros area, strategies such as decentralized and regional planning, participatory management system, local (tribe) management system, establishment of nomadic cooperatives, nomadic ecotourism and the creation of local markets were identified. Finally, it was found that the development of the Zagros nomadic organization would have consequences such as environmental sustainability, establishing social justice, permanent job as well as restoration of forest and rangeland ecosystems, food security and productivity among the studied population. Accordingly, the study findings can be exploited by the concerned policy makers, planners and managers while paying more attention to the nomads of the region in supporting decisions in order to achieve sustainable development.