فصلنامه اقتصاد فضا و توسعه روستایی
سال نهم شماره 4 (پیاپی 34، زمستان 1399)

Poverty is a multi-factorial and complex phenomenon. The complexity of this phenomenon is due to the various dimensions and the multiplicity of its causes. Thereby, different social sciences have approached this phenomenon with different approaches. It has been tried to eliminate this unwanted phenomenon so far, but it has not yet been able to eradicate this problem from society. Since the late 1970s, and especially the early 1980s, poverty and support the vulnerable groups have received growing attention due to the adoption of structural reform, liberalization, and privatization programs by many countries. Attention to the issue of poverty alleviation was a global issue and Iran as well. The issue of poverty is one of the most important issues and internal problems of all societies, both rich and poor. Poverty can spatially be observed and studied in urban and rural areas.  Poverty in rural areas is broader than poverty in cities.According to the new definitions of regionalism, poverty reduction depends on the activation and promotion of local human and natural capacities in order to improve sustainable livelihoods and reduce rural and urban poverty. One of the deprived and poor places of the country is Kuhdasht County in Lorestan Province. according to the latest census of the Statistics Center, the population of Kuhdasht County is 166,658, 64,373 of which live in rural areas and 102,285 in urban areas. Considering unemployment as one of the indicators of poverty, its rate in Kuhdasht County in 2016 was 16 percent, which is higher than the national average. This unemployment rate is visible in urban and rural areas of the county.  Also, the net migration rate of this county is more than 600 people. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the factors affecting poverty reduction with emphasis on new indicators of regionalism in Kuhdasht. This study seeks to identify and analyze the impact of factors affecting poverty reduction in Kuhdasht County, for which statistical and structural analysis is used.

This research is applied in terms of purpose and based on a descriptive-analytical research design. Field and documentary methods are used to collect the required data. The statistical sample of the research is to complete the questionnaire of all people over 18 years old living in Kuhdasht County. Cochranchr('39')s formula has been used for sampling. According to this method, based on 116,254 over 18-year-old population in 2016 (census results of the Statistics Center of the country in 2016), the calculated sample number is equal to 383 people. The tools used in this research to analyze the data are: SPSS, GIS and Excel software.

The first way to reduce poverty from a Neo-regionalism perspective is neighborhoodism, which causes problems to be rooted out of the smallest units to larger dimensions. When problems are addressed on a small scale, it increases social trust and a sense of belonging to the residents. This type of planning, which is a bottom-up type of planning, uses small dimensions of political issues to solve problems effectively. These will increase the efficiency of planning because even the smallest issues are considered in planning and it is planned properly, on the other hand, neighborhoodism and planning, makes the local community last and creates a sense of responsibility for residents.The results show that changing the Regionalism approach to Neo-Regionalism in dealing with local economic development and disadvantaged areas can lead to the emancipation of social and human capacities and will lead to social and local action. Based on the data analysis, the results indicate that the city of Kuhdasht in terms of Neo-Regionalism indicators is in a good position that can be strengthened and by directing social capital in the form of social partnerships and production cooperatives in urban and rural areas.  Thus, in order to improve the economic situation and deprivation in urban and rural areas of Kuhdasht County, it is necessary to pay attention to the relevant indicators. This can be done by enhancing entrepreneurial capacity. In fact, the process of converting social, economic, physical, natural, financial and infrastructural capital through entrepreneurship is possible by implementing strategies of industrial clusters, sustainable rural systems, completing the supply chain and value. In general, in order to reduce poverty in rural areas with a Neo-Regionalism approach, the following is suggested: Development of rural and urban small business environment; Creation of rural micro-funds; Development of local participatory projects based on the advantages of the area; Strengthening production and marketing cooperatives in urban and rural areas; Establishment of knowledge-based companies in the county to improve production and processing processes.

According to the theoretical frameworks in the spatial analysis, every "structure" in space has a specific "function". To study phenomena and to identify the relationships between them, these two concepts are of particular importance, especially in the "structural-functional dynamism" approach. The basic premise of this approach is based on the existence of a link between the structure and function of phenomena, the output of which represents the capabilities of that system. If a watershed can be considered as a spatial structure, then the existing wells in the area would represent one of its functions in form of groundwater exploitation.During the last three decades, the rapid increase in the population of urban centers adjacent to the Mahidasht watershed along with the change of cultivation pattern has led to the uncontrolled expansion of irrigation cultivation pattern, which in turn has led to excessive use of groundwater. For this reason, in the last four decades, the number of wells drilled in the study area has increased 23 times compared to the four decades before, from about 70 wells to more than 1,593 wells. Excessive exploitation of groundwater resources has led to an increase in the depth of wells and this, in turn, has led to lowering the groundwater level in the study area. Nowadays, this process has created some kind of zones that can be called critical zones in terms of increasing the depth of wells and water abstraction. In the present study, in order to determine and draw the map of such zones, the two main bases of spatial analysis, namely "position" and "distance" were applied, and common techniques and tools of GIS were used to analyze data related to wells in the study area.

Study area: Mahidasht watershed with an area of 1506.64 square kilometers and a perimeter of 239.9 kilometers is located in Kermanshah province, west of Iran. The area contains 132 springs, 14 Qanats (aqueducts) and 1593 wells.  Data: The data applied in the present study include seven layers namely; Digital Elevation Model (DEM), wells, rivers, country divisions, catchment divisions, urban and rural settlements. They were obtained from the US Geological Survey (USGS), Kermanshah Regional Water Company and the Governor Office of Kermanshah, respectively. For spatial analysis based on the location and distance of wells, the following data were applied: year of drilling, depth, type of consumption, annual discharge rate, annual performance, discharge of each well(litters per second), location of settlements in the study area and their attributes. In terms of techniques, the following ones were applied: point in polygon, spatial join, buffering and spatial interpolation.Techniques: In the present study, a table containing the coordinative and descriptive features of 1593 wells drilled in the Mahidasht watershed was converted into a point layer in ArcGIS. This layer, in addition to showing the distribution of wells in the region, was the basis for all other following analysis in this study. Mosaic, Extract, Hydrology, Thiessen Polygon and Natural Neighbor techniques and tools have also been applied to show and draw the final map of critical zones.

The results of the present study indicated that in a chain process the following events have occurred in the study area:Rapid increase in the population of the region during the 1980s and 1990s led to the increasing use of various resources, including groundwater resources,The number of wells in the study area increased with unusual speed,Increasing the number of wells led to increasing the depth of wells over time, especially during the 2000s.Increasing the average depth of wells in Mahidasht watershed led to over-depletion of groundwater aquifers and lowering its level.All of the above have led to the creation of zones known as critical groundwater abstraction zones. The result of the present study is the calculating, determining and mapping these zones based on common techniques in spatial analysis. These critical zones are located in the lands of 61 villages and cover an area of 20,000 hectares.However; despite the increase in the number of wells, the population of villages in the region has decreased. It means that the increase occurred in income due to the change of cultivation pattern from rain-fed to irrigated has not been invested in the villages of Mahidasht but has been transferred outside the region. Therefore, it can spatially be concluded that increasing the number of wells and high consumption of groundwater not only did not cause economic growth and prosperity in the villages of the region, but also has disturbed the ecological balance of the area. The last point is that; if no developmental measures are considered to improve and repair the conditions governing the critical zones in the study area, according to the structural-functional dynamism approach, it should be expected that change in a part of the spatial system will alter and even destroy the functions, structures and living space of the area. Thus, it can be concluded that, this problem can take the region away from the desired (and even minimum) conditions for a rational life and cause the destruction of other components of the system.

Today, the rise of the global economic system, which has created great wealth and the spread of economic contradictions such as the gap between rich and poor, has brought about wide-ranging social changes and has led to the introduction of entrepreneurial ideas in the field of social issues. In recent years, social entrepreneurship has been identified as an important source of social, economic, cultural and environmental wealth. Due to lack of resources and facilities and remarkable population growth, communities, nowadays, are facing many problems, among which is the problem of unemployment. Because the employment situation of women in Iran, like in many developing countries, is not favorable, women always have fewer job opportunities and often work in the informal sector with low wages.Given that half of people in any society are women, womenchr('39')s participation in various jobs and entrepreneurship is necessary for the growth and development of society. Womenchr('39')s participation in various economic, social and other fields is one of the indicators of the countrychr('39')s production. One of the main issues in development is the proper use of the capabilities and talents of human resources in society.In the suburban area of ​​Chabahar, there is a traditional view and disbelief in the abilities of women. Most of the women in this area are divorced or heads of households and do not have a good economic situation. Since the situation of women in each region is reflecting the social and economic improvement of the regions, and also, due to the appropriate commercial and economic situation of Chabahar region, there are many opportunities for job creation and empowerment of women in this region. It seems that one of the ways to discover these opportunities and empower women in this region is to regard and implement social entrepreneurship. So far, domestic research with a social entrepreneurship approach has not examined the empowering factors of rural women. Therefore, this study aims to provide a model of social entrepreneurship in order to empower women in the suburban region of Chabahar in a comprehensive way, to extract effective indicators and answer the research questions.
1. What factors affect the empowerment of women in Chabahar suburbs?
2. What is the impact of each of these factors on the empowerment of women in Chabahar suburbs?
3. What is the framework to implement the drivers of empowerment for women in Chabahar suburbs

This research is mixed in terms of purpose, application and in terms of data type. The qualitative part uses the Meta synthesis method. For data analysis, the software used in the quantitative section was SmartPLS2 for the first questionnaire and Expert choice software for the second questionnaire. The statistical population of the study is all Baluch women living in Chabahar.

Calculation of final weight and prioritization of effective indicators on womenchr('39')s empowerment in Chabahar suburban areas based on AHP method shows that among the identified indicators, womenchr('39')s self-confidence with a final weight of 0.457 has been identified as the most important effective indicator on womenchr('39')s empowerment, and motivational indicators, job creation and education with the final weight of 0.423 and 0.387, are, respectively, in the second and third place. Existence of social support for female heads of households and quality of life with a final weight of 0.030 has been identified as the least effective indicator among the indicators.By meta-synthesis method, 21 indicators, 4 components and 2 dimensions were identified. The results showed that all variables except the variable of having sufficient skills, lead to empowerment of women in the suburban area of Chabahar. Also, all environmental variables lead to the empowerment of women in this area.The most important indicators of womenchr('39')s empowerment in the Chabahar suburbs is self-confidence. Furthermore, the indicators of job creation motivations, level of education, elimination of labor market discrimination, and government support policies are ranked second to fifth, respectively, with regard to the importance of empowering women in this region.

Rural Entrepreneurship is a process of emerging actions and value creation in geographical places. If planned and rationally managed, it can be an investment in the development of social and geographical space in rural areas. Rural entrepreneurial streams, the formation of micro-enterprises and the reflectivity and role-playing of entrepreneurs in the development of areas around large cities, can cause spatial-local changes in development. Accordingly, the present article was designed with the aim of analyzing the effects of rural entrepreneurship in the development of suburban spaces in Kermanshah based on the process method of multidimensional entrepreneurial attitude.

The present study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. The statistical population is those rural settlements that have a history of agricultural activities and water and land capacities and under the demand pressure and condition went through changes such as replacing the cultivation of new crops instead of traditional ones, patterns of cultivation and more intensive cultivation. A total number of 21 entrepreneur villages of urban peripheral spaces located in Baladarband and Miyandarband Rural Districts in the central district of Kermanshah city in the period of (2016-2017) was included 38 active entrepreneurs less than 20 km away from Kermanshah metropolis. Since the number of rural entrepreneurs in the city was limited, in order to increase the accuracy of the research, a complete enumeration was used. A process approach to entrepreneurship in suburban areas is a multidimensional approach. In this view, entrepreneurship is a multidimensional and complex framework that emphasizes the individual, the environment, the organization, and the process of the economic project. According to Kuratko and Hodgest 2004, this type of process shifts entrepreneurship from a fragmented school of thought to a dynamic and interactive process approach that constitutes the variables and items measured in this study. The method of data collection was field method (questionnaire); its face validity was confirmed and its validity and reliability were obtained by using Cronbachchr('39')s alpha test for the variables of external and internal environment of entrepreneurship in the suburban area of ​​0.72, which indicated the appropriateness of the research tool. For this purpose, first the dimensions and concepts of identifying the suburban areas of the central district of Kermanshah city are inferred and determined according to the typology of the suburban areas. Then, correlation and multiple regression tests in SPSS20 software were used to analyze the effects.

Findings indicate that entrepreneurship in the central district of Kermanshah, from a spatial perspective, is the space of functions such as some agricultural and industrial activities (such as production sites) organic fertilizers, cut flowers, production of new crops instead of traditional crops, etc.), tourism and recreation that cannot be placed in Kermanshah due to lack of sufficient space. Conceptually, it has been associated with rapid social and economic growth. From an institutional point of view, it is very complex and sometimes confusing in the field of management due to the presence of formal and informal stakeholders, and this complexity has often led to the failure of economic activities in this region. In other words, from the perspective of the urban peripheral entrepreneurship, the entrepreneurial areas of the central district of Kermanshah city are structurally-physically in the category of rural urban peripheral spaces (rural places with urban awareness and thinking), which are not close to the city center and distance from the city (maximum 20 km). However, due to the presence of entrepreneurs and the spatial connection with the metropolis of Kermanshah, they have caused changes and are experiencing a kind of urban life. The results also showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between the variables of entrepreneurial spirit of individuals, economic and environmental process in rural areas and the development of suburban spaces at the level of one percent error. The results of regression analysis showed that the variables of rural entrepreneurship (entrepreneurial spirit of individuals, economic process and environment (external and internal) governing the village), have a significant effect on the development of suburban spaces and have the ability to explain 96% of changes in suburban spaces. The most important influential variable was the environmental variable. In this study, among the multiple dimensions of entrepreneurship, the most important variable in the development of suburban spaces was identified as the internal and external environment of rural space, Entrepreneurschr('39') role in the environment includes the currents and peripheral spaces that govern entrepreneurship, such as people, experiences, social, economic, political, technology and related constructive interactions between the entrepreneur and the environment, can be concluded external elements affect the entrepreneur and his personality and in some cases create ideal conditions in which the entrepreneur can discover opportunities and take advantage of them. Therefore, it is proposed to control the flows and forces (economic, social, technological and political) that impact the entrepreneurs and their businesses from the external environment of the villages over time.

For decades, various policy initiatives have been planned to achieve food security. However, the number of malnourished people is growing, especially in rural areas of developing countries. Due to the increase of extreme weather events, such as droughts, and significant depletion of water resources, achieving food security is not an easy task. Therefore, an investigation of rural households’ food security in drought prone areas is of great concern. On the other hand, it has been estimated that at least one third of the produced food would be wasted and half of the food waste originates at household level. However, considerable gaps exist in our understanding of how drought incidents affect the food waste management behaviors of farm families. Thus, addressing the factors influencing household’ food waste reduction efforts is crucial.

In order to investigate food security and food waste control pattern of the farm families under drought a survey study was implemented on eastern regions of Fars province (i.e. Kherameh County). Kherameh has suffered from 9 continuous years of meteorological and hydrological droughts. Farm families of Kherameh County were the target population. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select a sample of families who suffered from drought. The formula of Scheaffer et al. (2012) was used to determine the sample size (n= 219). Food security questionnaire which was developed by the United States Department of Agriculture was applied to investigate food security of farm families under drought. Also, household-level food waste questionnaire (van Harpen et al., 2016) was used to assess food waste behaviors of farm families during drought. Moreover, a questionnaire was developed to explore the main determinants of food security and food waste control under drought. Its face validity was confirmed by panel of experts. A pilot study was also conducted to evaluate the instrument.

The findings revealed four different food security groups including 1) food secure (24.6%), 2) food insecure without hunger (22.9%), 3) food insecure with moderate hunger (23.7%) and 4) food insecure with extreme hunger (28.8%). The regression analysis was conducted to determine drivers of food security under drought. The results indicated that the specified variables explained 62% of the total variance in food security. The standardized regression coefficients illustrated that income was the main predictor of farm families’ food security. Families with higher income loss had more problems ensuring food security than the smaller ones. The results indicated that crop yield played an important role in determining food security. It suggested that farm families who experienced crop yield loss consumed lower amounts of food than usual. On the basis of the findings, food prices had a significant effect on food security of farm families. This implies that the cost of food was the major constraint and the majority of food insecure families had to lessen their food quantity and quality at a survival level. The results revealed that employment ratio, water scarcity and financial capital had important influences on food security, too.The findings illustrated that drought stimulated food waste control. So that, food insecure families with moderate and extreme hunger had significantly reduced their food wastes. Moreover, food waste was significantly related to bread, rice, fresh vegetables and fresh fruit. This is while dairy and meat products’ waste were negligible. Analysis of the Bayesian network and partial least squares (PLS) path model illustrated that attitude exerted the maximum influence on the food waste control. Previous studies confirmed a positive effect of attitude on the food waste control behavior. The results revealed that income was negatively associated with food waste control behavior. Farm families who attempted to develop off-farm income sources and those who earned more money from agriculture were less likely to reduce food waste. Moreover, food waste control of farm families was significantly influenced by perceived food accessibility. This implies that higher access to food supply centers reduces the probability of food waste management. Also, findings illustrated that perceived food quality was associated with food waste control behavior. This shows that food quality was believed to be effective in reducing the food wastes. The results revealed that water scarcity, food prices and knowledge were associated with food waste control behavior, too. Overall, the model explained 34% of the variance in food waste control.To ensure food security and minimize food waste under drought conditions, development of climate smart agriculture that allow increasing food production while using fewer water resources, promoting drought-risk reduction solutions and knowledge and information systems, and enhancing social, financial and human capitals are imperative.

One of the major and fundamental issues in the field of spatial planning is balanced development, which can be raised in the form of balanced development of sectors or regions. In line with the social justice policy, as the central aim of the countrychr('39')s development plans, it is necessary to study the situation of different regions in terms of distribution and the extent of having different environmental indicators and consider the shortcomings and inadequacies for future development plans. Such studies can show the situation of different geographical areas from a comparative point of view and classify them in terms of development facilities and bottlenecks, also, determine their development priorities. In this way, by assessing the potential level of the regions, their facilities and capabilities can be presented from different perspectives and the necessary tools can be provided to ascertain the decision for allocation of different resources in the territory. The aim of this study is to level, classify and spatial zoning of rural poverty in Hormozgan Province using environmental indicators and combined indicators. These indicators have been used to rank the rural areas of Hormozgan Province based on the level of environmental potential. The results of this study can be effective for decision-making officials and ultimately, the development of social justice.

The present research applied-developmental in terms of purpose. In respect of the type of methods it is a combination of descriptive-analytical and correlational methods. The data used were collected through statistics and information published from the identification of settlements and statistical yearbook published in 2016, meteorological data, topographic maps, geology and faults, etc. For data analysis, McGranhan method or correlation coefficient method was used. Furthurmore, calculating the sum of points has been used to weight the indicators. The fuzzy scaling method is one of the most common and important methods for normalizing stability indices, which is the basis of many other methods and is also mentioned in the sources with titles such as deprivation coefficient. Indicators with a positive aspect (ascending) and indicators with a negative aspect (descending) have different computational bases. This method has also been used to determine deprivation coefficients and the Combined Human Development Index in the UN Human Development Report. This method also uses Spearman correlation coefficient. Kramer correlation coefficient has been used to express the degree of correlation between the two variables studied independent variables (environmental factors) and dependent variables (economic development).

Based on the calculated combined environmental index score, 92 villages of Hormozgan province are located in 5 classes and zones. In 13.04% of the rural areas, the combined index score is less than 0.913 and in these rural areas, the environmental potential for development is very low. In 9.78% of the rural areas, the combined index score is between 0.914 to 1.095 and in these rural areas, the environmental potential for development is low. 38.04% of the rural areas in terms of environmental potential are in the range of 1.096 to 1.279, which is at an average level. Combined environmental index score in 28.26% of rural areas is between 1.280 to 1.462 and these rural areas have great potential in terms of environmental indicators. In 10.87% of the rural areas, the score of the combined environmental index is 1.463 and more. These rural areas have a great environmental potential. Among the rural districts of Hormozgan Province, Koukherd and Fatoueh Rural Districts are from Koukherd and central district of Bastak County, Gafer, Darabsar, Jakdan and Sardasht Rural Districts of Gaofroparmon, Gohran and central district in Bashagard County; Bandar Charak Rural District of Shibkuh District in Bandar Lengeh County; Rovidar Rural District of Rovidar District in Khamir County; Faryab Rural District of the central district in Rudan County and Cheragabad, Karian and Gorband Rural District of Tokhoor and central districts of Minab County are among the rural districts that are in a low situation of environmental capabilities and potentials. As the results suggest, the highest percentage of frequency is related to the level of moderate and low environmental poverty and the lowest percentage is related to rural areas with high environmental poverty and very low environmental poverty. That is, out of 92 rural areas in Hormozgan Province, 12 villages are very high in poverty, 9 villages are very poor, 35 villages are moderately poor, 26 villages are low in poverty and 10 villages are very low in poverty.The results suggest that there is a direct and significant relationship between environmental variables and rural economic development. The significant level (0.000) indicates the relationship between independent variables (environmental factors) and dependent (economic development). Rainfall, water resources, climate, land potential and natural hazards (earthquake and flood) are the most important environmental indicators that can play a role in limiting the economic development of rural areas in Hormozgan Province.The main natural environmental limitations for rural economic development in Hormozgan Province are the following:Low precipitation with unfavorable time and space distribution, hence lack of water resources, as a result, it is difficult to regenerate the natural forests and pastures and return to normal balance.Extension and multiplicity of saline formation along with alkalinity, which has made a large part of the provincechr('39')s water and soil resources saline and inutile.  Risks caused by natural disasters, the influx of dunes and desertification with a negative inclination in pasture production and lack of investment to protect forests and pastures, water and soil and rural fuel supply.Continuation of drought and its negative consequences in agriculture, urban and rural development.Existence of unfavorable weather conditions that cause severe depreciation of material capital and machinery compared to other regions of the country. Also, the biggest problem in rural employment is the inadequacy of income from economic activities (mainly agriculture and maritime). One of the most important strategies in the field of agriculture is the development of greenhouse cultivation due to the conditions of water resources and shortages in this sector.

Animal husbandry and livestock raising as the most important agricultural sub-sector reduces poorest peoplechr('39')s vulnerability all over the world by providing them a "food safety network". In this regard, ranchers are facing key challenges such as low yields of cattle, lack and fragmentation of pasture, water shortage and need to irrigate pastures and meadows, competition for land due to growing demanding for farming lands. The rural cattle farming units have the least competition for global food supply, and production in these types of units is being done on small and limited farms in terms of resources. The other characteristics of rural cattle farming units are dependence on pastures, grazing, mixed production and individual ownership. In modern and industrial farms, by continuous monitoring and control the production, welfare and health of animals and environmental conditions are improved and they are able to detect heat stress, infection, or air quality problems and take immediate action in response to them. Given the future global demand for food supply, undoubtedly, traditional systems will not be able to meet these needs; and one of the logical solutions to solve this problem is to accelerate the conversion of traditional husbandry systems to semi-industrial and industrial systems. Undoubtedly, this conversion can increase the amount of food in the country and the province in the future. Therefore, for development of rural cattle farming units, it is necessary to identify the development factors of these units so that by awareness of these factors, decision makers in the husbandry and agriculture sectors would provide appropriate and efficient strategies to achieve the important and fundamental goal of increasing livestock production through principled planning.

This research is practical, done in descriptive-analytical methodology and field survey method is used for data collection. The statistical population of this study consists all of beneficiaries of rural cattle farming units in Khorramabad in 2018 (N = 4762). From 4762 ranchers, 185 were selected using the Cochran formula as sample size in this studied community. Then, ranchers were selected by multi-stage sampling method and the required data were collected by a researcher-made questionnaire. The visual and conceptual narrative validity of the research instrument was confirmed by surveying faculty members of the Department of Rural Economics and Development of Lorestan University. To assess the reliability, pre-test and calculation of Cronbachchr('39')s alpha reliability coefficient were used. In descriptive statistics section, statistics such as frequency, mean, standard deviation and minimum and maximum were used to describe the characteristics of ranchers. In the statistical inference section, the correlation coefficient, independent t-test and Mann-Whitney test were used to compare the average views of traditional ranchers and managers of semi-industrial farms in the development of rural cattle farming units. Also, the classification of factors affecting the development of rural cattle farming units was done through exploratory factor analysis. The above cases were done using SPSS software.

According to the obtained results, the tendency of rural cattle farming units to development, among more than half of the ranchers, is in low and relatively low level (72.2%). There is also a positive and significant relationship at 1% level between variables of number of cows, income and land area in rural areas with tendency to development of rural cattle farms. According to the results of exploratory factor analysis, the factors that affect development of farm dairy units in Khorramabad were categorized into six factors: 1) price-credits, 2) services-supportive, 3) infrastructure, 4) veterinary and breeding services, 5) educational-promotional and 6) supportive. These factors were able to explain 76.93% of the total variance. According to the results of the research, these suggestions are provided: government support through the payment of low-interest facilities, needs assessment, holding special meetings for rural ranchers, improving rancherschr('39') attitudes toward livestock insurance and increasing their satisfaction with insurance services.

Failure to recognize the state and bottlenecks of agriculture is a serious obstacle to the balanced distribution of resources and the comprehensive planning to address less developed areas. Understanding these issues and developing appropriate programs to eliminate or reduce them include: improving agriculture, optimizing the potential of the agricultural sector, increasing production, increasing farmerschr('39') incomes, consolidating rural populations, and promoting the agricultural development of the region. This requires determining the developmental levels of the studied area in terms of agricultural development indicators in order to analyze the agricultural situation in the region. Therefore, in order to be more precise in planning and achieve sustainable agriculture development, it is necessary to identify agricultural areas regarding development and inadequacy. Hence, measuring the level of agricultural development in different areas, with regard to natural capacities and institutional constraints and management conditions, is of particular importance in recognizing the regional differences in development, special talents, deprivations and inequalities. In this way, agricultural development planning is orientated appropriately in terms of area urgency, volume of investments, types of programs and actions, thus, balanced management and planning of agricultural development requires recognition.

The type of research is applied and developmental and its method is descriptive-analytical. The statistical population is 8 counties in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Provinces based on the census of 2016. The required information is collected from the Statistical Yearbook (2016), the organization of Agriculture-Jahad, the Agricultural Census and the Organization of Statistics. The studied indicator is agricultural in this research which consists of 34 variables. Also, the selection of variables in a way that emphasizes all aspects of the agricultural index (manpower, infrastructure, mechanization, health, etc.) are emphasized. The weight of each of the variables is determined by the AHP method (Pair-wise copmarison). In this research, SPSS, Excel and quantitative programming models (VIKOR, TOPSIS and SAW) were used to analyze the data of agricultural development in the provinces of the region. Given the fact that the results of these three models were not consistent in some cases, a general consensus was used for the Copeland method. Finally, in order to proper understanding of the development situation in the county, development maps are drawn using the GIS software.

The results of this study indicate that in the TOPSIS model there is no county in the province with a very high development status. Bahmei and Boyerahmad counties are in relatively agricultural developed condition, Kohgiluyeh, Cheram and Dena in the situation and finally 37/5 percent of the counties, namely, Basht, Gachsaran and Landie counties are relatively deprived and undeveloped in terms of the agricultural index. The analysis of the results of the Vikor model showed that Boyerahmad with a value of 0/091 is in the first rank of agricultural development and in a fully developed state, Kohgiluyeh and Bahmei counties ranked second and third with respectively 0/245 and 0.296 scores and their situation is relatively developed. The most of the counties Charm, Dena and Lange, are numerically equal to 0/409, 0/487 and 0/584 respectively, ranked fourth to sixth, Gachsaran county with the score of 0/712 is ranked seventh and the development status is relatively deprived, and eventually the county of Basht with a numerical value of 1 is ranked 8th and a very unfavorable condition (completely deprived). Also, the results of the SAW model indicate that Boyerahmad County (rank 1) is in a very high development status.The present study was carried out using agricultural index in the form of 34 variables that were not included in any of the researches done in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad Province, while presenting realistic findings on the state of development of the agriculture, rational realism for planners - urban and regional, both at provincial level and at country level. A review of the research background and research findings suggest that the results of the study are credible and confirm the results of previous surveys. The findings of the research indicate the agricultural development gap among counties of the province. The results of this study homogeneous with other researches of Fotros & Baheshti Far (2009), Kohnalsal and Rafiee (2010), Jamshidi (2011), Tavakoli (2012 and 2014), BabaeiAgdam et al (2016).The study of the development condition of agricultural areas of the county using the integrated model showed that in the counties of the province, there is no one with a very high agricultural development status. The county of Boyer Ahmad has a score of 0/797 in the first rank (relatively developed) and the county of Basht with a difference of 0/653 and a combined index of 0/44 in the eighth place (the state is totally deprived of development). Also, 37.5% of the counties (Boyerahmad, Bahmei and Kohgiluyeh) were relatively developed, 25% of the counties (Dena and Chram Counties) were in moderate development, 25 percent (Gachsaran and Lande Counties) were relatively deprived, and, finally, 12.5% ​​of the them (Basht) are totally deprived.

Reduction of inequality and poverty has always been one of the topics discussed by scholars and has been considered as part of the main aims of rural development. It has increasingly become one of the important topics in development literature.   Different strategies to reduce poverty by different scholars such as; funding micro-credit and increasing the quality of life and empowerment of women, small-scale agricultural development as an essential component of food security, strengthening social capital in the form of local organizations, global economic integration and globalization, increasing public participation and creating grassroots organizations including rural cooperatives, diversification of economic activities, etc.,  has been proposed. However, due to the dependence of the villagers on the agricultural sector, not compatibility with the culture of the villagers, none of these solutions has not completely succeeded in reducing poverty and eradicating it from rural communities. Similarly, in Miandoab County, the agricultural sector, due to limited water resources, reduced productivity, job creation, mechanization, etc., has undergone a declining trend and is not able to attract the available labor. Furthermore, given that the study area has been severely affected by the Lake Urmia drying up in recent years, leading to a decrease in income, employment, investment, labor productivity and agricultural land, and hence, an increase in the number of underprivileged people in rural areas and migration of youth and depopulation of a number of villages in the area. Therefore, seeking solutions to reduce rural poverty are crucial such as, reviving the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors according to the strengths and obstacles of the region, increasing labor productivity in all economic sectors and enhancing rural population sustainability and stability, employment, income and food security.  The main issue of the present study is to investigate rural poverty reduction strategies, emphasizing the rural economic diversification approach and the effects of economic diversification in reducing rural poverty in Miandoab County.

The purpose of this study is to investigate poverty reduction strategies with an emphasis on rural economic diversification in Miandoab County. The research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method.  Field and documentary methods were used to collect data and information. This study includes two parts: quantitative and qualitative. In the qualitative part, theoretical saturation was achieved by conducting 24 semi-structured interviews, and in the quantitative part, 120 local informants, rural managers and staff of Miandoab County were selected as a sample. The reliability level of the research questionnaire was obtained using Cronbachchr('39')s alpha method of 0.701.  Purposeful sampling (snowball and sequential method) was used.  Grounded theory, regression, path analysis and influence diagram were used to analyze the information.

The most important strategies identified to reduce rural poverty in Miandoab are: Funding micro-credit to villagers and farmers, crops insurance and government support, economic diversification in agricultural and non-agricultural sectors (changing the pattern of cultivation with water-resistant species such as saffron, Damask rose, pistachio, livestock development, developing industries), construction product processing factories, industrial town establishment, handicraft, tourism development and expansion, creation small businesses, creation of local markets and services, etc., enhancing educational quality of villagers, using indigenous knowledge, increasing social capacities, improving infrastructure, increase research, change government support policies, reform rural management and belief system.  Among these, one of the most important strategies to reduce rural poverty in this area according to the study is to pay attention to the "rural economic diversification" approach. Accordingly, the diversification of the rural economy has positive effects on increasing income, employment, production, investment and hence reducing rural poverty in Miandoab County.  The index of non-agricultural (non-agricultural) diversification and the creation of jobs that require less water, such as development of rural industries (manufacturing units for processing livestock, agricultural, horticultural products, etc., handicrafts, carpet weaving units, metal industries, wood industries, food industries, etc.), development of service sector in most villages and expansion of rural tourism (religious, sport, nomadic) is of great importance in reducing rural poverty in the study area. Thus, long-term diversification alters the income opportunities for rural households and reduces their income vulnerability to economic and environmental changes. In general, diversification of jobs can be considered as an indirect insurance for the security of income of villagers who have low productivity or have been damaged due to unexpected natural disasters.

Agriculture is the main axis of economy and development of rural areas of Azna County, which has an important role in the performance of the village and the rural environment. Regarding to natural environment and climatic factors, performance evaluation of agricultural products is one of the important pillars of sustainability of food supply and rural economy. Climatic hazards such as frost cause damage to agricultural products and the economy of rural areas. Freezing and lowering the temperature in mountainous areas is very important. Because precipitation in these agricultural areas plays a key role in the regionchr('39')s economy.Azna is one of the counties of Lorestan Province, whose rural areas, like most villages in the country, have an economy based on agricultural activities. In the villages of this city, in addition to the cultivation of conventional crops such as wheat, the cultivation of crops such as beans is common, as this city is the center of bean production in the province and the country. The climate of this region, which is partly affected by the geographical location of Azna County, has positive and negative effects on agricultural products such as beans. The occurrence of spring frosts has caused damage to this crop in recent years. In this regard, this study seeks to investigate the relationship between spring frost and bean crop yield and its effect on rural economy. Another goal of modeling is frost alternations and its relationship with crop yields.

Pearson correlation test was used to investigate the relationship between spring frost and bean cultivation performance. Two models of K-NN and artificial neural network were used to model the behavior of frost and its effect on frost in bean crop. For this purpose, 15-year statistics (2004-2008) of Azna meteorological station were used, which includes information on minimum temperatures and sub-zero temperatures and tolerance thresholds in different stages of bean plant phenology.The nearest neighbor K-NN method is one of the most popular nonparametric regression methods. In this method, the prediction value distribution function is obtained using the nonparametric distribution of the kernel function. This model is formulated in such a way that whenever conditions similar to the historical conditions observed in the present occurrence, the probable conditions in the future will be similar to the conditions that occurred on that date.Neural networks are actually mathematical models for the rapid and accurate processing of information that are able to communicate between the inputs and outputs of a physical system, connected by a network of nodes. In other words, the artificial neural network is a computational mechanism that is able to provide a series of new information by capturing and calculating information.

This research consists of two main stages. In the first step, the relationship between bean harvest rate and the phenomenon of freezing and frost is evaluated, and in the second step, using the K-NN algorithm and neural networks, the effects of freezing on bean cultivation are predicted based on observational data Based on the data extracted from the minimum daily temperature of Azna station., which indicates the long frost season in this region. The mild frosts occur mostly in October (6 cases) and the rest in December (8 cases). The earliest date of frosts is on the 20th of October and the latest date of frosts is on the 18th of December.The results of Pearson test showed that there is a correlation coefficient (42%) between bean harvests in Azna villages with spring frosts. In other words, the occurrence of spring frosts reduces bean yield by up to 42%. As a result, the level of farmerschr('39') incomes decreases and farmers whose source of income is heavily dependent on annual crops experience severe economic fluctuations. Other objectives of the study were to model the temperature drop and frost damage in crops and bean yield in Azna County using two approaches K-NN and artificial neural network. The results of Nash-Sutcliffe and RMSE statistics in the K-NN model are (76.4%) and (0.0785), respectively, while the same statistics in the artificial neural network model are equal to (81.5%) and (0.0688).Therefore, in the same condition, the artificial neural network model predicted the actual data better, based on computational data. Thus, in agricultural economics development plans, this model provides a merrier estimate of the state of frost and its effect on bean crop yield. Lowering the production, crop frost will affect other indices such as employment rate, income shortage, savings and investment by reducing production. Because cultivated area of this crop is higher than other crops, frost in beans has caused great economic losses.