The role of handicraft value chain in rural development and tourism (Case study: Asherstaq Villages in Behshahr)

Handicraft value chain is an economic system that includes a set of actors and business activities that trade with each other to evolve and trade the product from the primary producer to the final consumer and create economic value for each actor in the network. . . . In this research, the position of the value chain of handicrafts in the indicators of rural development and the state of tourism, as well as the preservation and revival of the rural identity of Ashrestaq village, Behshahr city, has been investigated. This research was conducted by distributing 210 sample questionnaires among local people and local experts related to research variables in the form of 3 questions and hypotheses, and the results were analyzed in SPSS software and with t-test. The results of the surveys show that the structure of the value chain of handicrafts has not had a great impact on the rural development of the studied area, but among the indicators, it has had the greatest relative impact on migration from village to village. This city also has a handicraft value chain that leads to the promotion of rural tourism indicators, but due to the relatively low average, its impact is not high. The value chain structure of handicrafts has also been effective in maintaining and revitalizing rural identity, but due to the relatively low average of some variables according to the respondents, it has had a negative impact on some indicators of rural identity preservation.