Analysis of Limitation in Rural Economy Diversification Case: Upper Ashkevar in Rudsar County

Introduction In economy structure of rural districts in different countries, agriculture is considered as the main source of livelihood. The most important characteristic of this structure is lack of diversification for economic contexts and job opportunities, especially for the increasing number of people in the villages which is almost the result of attitude toward the village and government policies and internal factors in the village. The consequences that are the results of dependency of the users to the environment out of the village and external markets, obvious and unobvious unemployment, decrease in return of investment, destruction of basic natural resources, rural economy vulnerability, and instability of income sources include weakening economy and culture of the village, rural migration and marginalization. The country's villages have a weak economy and they are vulnerable because of their severe dependency on agriculture and its income and lack of employment sources and non-farm income sources. Agriculture section is not capable of increasing the level of income because of limitation of land areas which cannot be increased. Therefore, it seems necessary to search for another income source regarding the capabilities and limitation of each region of the country for rural economy diversification in order to increase the population stability in the villages. Upper Ashkevar rural district is located in a mountain region and therefore it has limitation in land area, it has agriculture -based livelihood, a limited capacity for employing workforce and no diversification. Because of population growth and increase of the number of young workforce, unemployment rate is growing every day and it seems to be extremely important to find alternative strategies for villagers' employment and income earning in this region focusing on population stability and saving the remained population. Therefore, diversification approach for rural economic activities as a useful strategy is one of the most important strategies which is presented for reducing the negative impacts of unsustainability in different environmental, economic and social aspects on rural contexts and in accordance with sustainable development pattern which is confirmed by most of international organizations including Global Bank and by most of theorists. High vulnerability of agriculture activities in the region has increased the necessity of diversification in agriculture activities. This study aims to answer the following question: "What are the most important limitations in diversification of rural economic activities in Upper Ashkevar"? Methodology This survey is a practical one, regarding its aim and it is done by descriptive-analytic method. The population includes villages of Ashkurat district in Rudsar which is determined according to field studies in the region and exploratory studies. For assessment of studied variables, we used survey methods and documentary research methods to obtain the information needed. In documentary part, we collected data by reviewing the literature and theories and in quantitative part we analyzed data which were collected through field study and also by the information provided from some organizations. The study population includes villages of Upper Ashkevar rural district (53 villages) in Rudsar County. To determine the number of households, we used Cochran Formula and according to that, samples are 285 households. Alfa Cronbach coefficient is calculated 0.786. To analysis the impacts of infrastructural and basic variables, natural factors and social factors which are effective on the lack of diversification in rural economy activities, we used step by step multi regression analysis method. The studied region is located in Rahimabad district in Rudsar County, north of Iran. Its elevation is 1500 to 2000 meter above sea level. Its population has decreased from 2478 people in 2006 to 1619 people in 2011. Agriculture is the basic occupation for the villagers in this region. Environmental limitation especially droughts in recent decades and climate changes in most years have threatened the agriculture production in this area. Discussion and Conclusion One of the most effective factors to describe the presence of increasing unemployment, low income, migration from rural districts to cities, low level of production, and inefficient use of resources is lack of diversification in economic activities in rural settlements. This issue has a fundamental role in economic instability. Rural settlements in this region are affected by many factors including unevenness of the soil surface, weather, water resources, soil and vegetation, limitation of slope, cold weather, geographical isolation and lack of infrastructures. As a result, there is a sever instability in economy and population of this region; in a way that during two censuses in 85 and 90, population of this region decreased by 30%. Increase of unemployment, poverty, income inequality and as a consequence pressure on basic resources have resulted in environmental problems including soil erosion. The obtained results show that among all the different factors which were studied, the impact of infrastructural and basic factors is more than other variables. Then, environmental factors, economic factors and social factors are effective in lack of rural economy diversification respectively. Regarding this, providing and implementing development plans for expansion and improvement of infrastructure levels such as suitable road, supporting services for production and alternant industries can be effective in rural economy diversification of the region.