Analysis of factors affecting livelihood sustainability in rural areas of Sari County

Introduction A review of studies in developing countries shows that economic programs in developing countries to achieve sustainable livelihoods and economic issues have failed to reduce poverty and a sustainable economy in rural areas. Therefore, today, one of the biggest challenges of planning rural communities and undermining the poverty in developing countries is providing livelihood. A approach that has emerged in the last decade is the sustainable livelihood approach, first proposed by Chambers in the 1980s; and recognized by the World Development and Environment Commission. Among development theories, thus, attention to sustainable livelihood approach, for empowerment and capacity building in rural areas in order to change the pattern of life has become a desirable method, and it is one of the important tools to achieve sustainable development.  Therefore, this approach emphasizes comprehensive and integrated framework about poverty reduction and rural development. Therefore, the present study seeks to answer this fundamental question; What are the most important factors affecting the livelihood sustainability of villagers in the study area?   Methodology This research is descriptive-analytical according to the purpose. In the descriptive part, to analyze the factors affecting the sustainability of villagerschr('39') livelihoods, documents and statistical methods have been used.  The statistical population of the study is more than 20 household villages in the mentioned rural area of Sari County, which includes 30 villages. The sample size was calculated according to Cochranchr('39')s formula about 377 and was randomly distributed among the villagers. The validity of the questionnaire was obtained from face validity method (opinion of professors and experts after several stages of correction and revision). To determine the reliability of the questionnaire, a pre-test (with 30 questionnaires) was performed and Cronbachchr('39')s alpha coefficient was 0.698, which indicates the validity of the questionnaire. To analyze the data, descriptive statistical methods such as central tendency indexes (frequency and percentage), and inferential (factor analytical) indicators have been used.   Discussion and conclusion Poverty is one of the most important challenges for all society, especially rural communities. Thus, various approaches have been proposed to reduce and eradicate poverty. One of these popular ones is the sustainable livelihood approach, which was introduced in the 1980s. Since this is based on the theoretical approach of development and consists of various indicators, achieving sustainable livelihood is not possible without considering all the influential aspects of livelihood. Therefore, in order to recognize the effective indicators in sustainable rural livelihood, the process of policy-making, planning and rural management should consider all indicators holistically and interconnected. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the factors affecting the sustainable livelihoods of villagers in the mentioned rural area of Sari County.  The attitudes of local people were surveyed in 30 villages of this district, and factor analysis was used to answer the questions raised in the research. Therefore, KMO value for factors affecting livelihood stability was 0.924 and Bartlett value was 9764.279, which was significant at 99% confidence level. Findings showed that 15 factors were identified and a total of 53.908% of the total variance explained the variables. So that the first factor, i.e. income and job creation with a specific amount (15.35), explained more than 15.50% of the total variance and the fifteenth factor i.e., cultural core with a specific amount of 1.384 and the amount of variance 53.908 is the last factor. In a general, it can be said that all the factors explain 53.908% of the total variance of the variables, and 47.002% of the remaining variance is related to other factors that have not been predicted. The results of the analysis show that the impact of the index is different from the perspective of local people, which should be considered. The first factor, namely employment and income, which has an important and vital role in the sustainability of rural livelihood, is one of their basic needs, should be given special attention. It measures to optimize agriculture and activities related to local and regional capabilities.  Therefore, initiatives can be proposed to strengthen sustainable rural livelihoods in the study area. First, according to the economic needs of people living and active in rural areas via diversification of activities and income generation means, and moreover through this approach create a variety of job opportunities and creating wealth and improving the living standards of the villagers, especially those whose predominant livelihood is agriculture. Second, paying attention to the indicators that were considered the first priority by the local people, as well as to prioritize other indicators used in the research, which were ranked first to fifteenth.