analysis of rural economic empowerment and its determinants (case study: rice producers in rasht county)

purpose: despite growing interest and increased investments in empowerment, the development of instruments and indicators with which to monitor and evaluate empowerment processes and outcomes are still at an early stage. the main goal of this study was to introduce and test the world bank empowerment model for assessing the economic empowerment of rural people and to identify contexts and factors affecting it. methodology: a survey was conducted through questionnaires. the required data was collected from the rice producers of rasht county, of whom 185 were selected using multistage cluster sampling. face and content validity of the questionnaire were confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability for various items, using cronbach's alpha, was estimated between 0.69 and 0.88. findings: the results showed a positive and significant effect of structure of opportunities on economic empowerment. access to production inputs, markets and credit, opportunities available for learning and participation will improve desirable outcomes and economic empowerment. but opportunities created by government policies and programs do not have statistically significant impact on empowerment. in addition, available resources include economic, social and human assets as well as the direct effect on the economic empowerment, have indirect impact on the dependent variable through structure of opportunities. practical implications:due to farmer's weakness, results suggest a capacity development program for marketing. moreover, improving access to credit, especially for small scale farmers, through creation and development of rural credit cooperatives and microfinance institutions ,which provide small loans to rural poor with little income or collateral, is strongly suggested. regarding the low level of beneficiary participation, it is recommended to encourage their participation in agricultural development projects to ensure the success and effectiveness of such plans. original/value: this study applied world bank empowerment model to assess contexts and necessities of people empowerment. using this framework, people degree of empowerment is related to their effective choices. capacity to make an effective choice is primarily influenced by two sets of factors: agency and opportunity structure.