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Mozafari F, Nazari A, Rostami S, Shahinifar M. Explaining the economic role of home businesses on the sustainable livelihood of rural households with an emphasis on the role of the government in Ilam province. serd 2022; 11 (41) :19-40
URL: http://serd.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3862-en.html
URL: http://serd.khu.ac.ir/article-1-3862-en.html
1- PhD student of Geography and Rural Planning, Payame Noor University (PNU), Tehran, Iran.
2- Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Payame Noor University (PNU), Tehran, Iran ,Ah.nazari.204@pnu.ac.ir
3- Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Payame Noor University (PNU), Tehran, Iran
4- Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Payame Noor University (PNU), Tehran, Iran
2- Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Payame Noor University (PNU), Tehran, Iran ,
3- Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Payame Noor University (PNU), Tehran, Iran
4- Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Payame Noor University (PNU), Tehran, Iran
Abstract: (2933 Views)
Introduction:
One of the current plans of the Iranian government is the "Home Business Organization Plan" to solve the problem of unemployment, which started in 2010. Even though home businesses are generally neglected in the economy, they are essential to creating employment, increasing income, improving the quality of life, reducing poverty, and perpetuating the population in rural areas. Unemployed, low-income or no-income villagers have welcomed the "home business organization plan" in Ilam province due to the following issues: geographical isolation, mountainous nature, distance from industrial and service centers, incompatibility of water and soil resources, lack of facilities for water control and transfer, the predominance of micro-agricultural exploitation units, the low level of mechanization, the severe financial weakness of the private sector, migration and the weakness of the economic foundations of rural society and in general the traditional and livelihood structure of production. In the present study, the issue has been discussed only from the economic viewpoint. Its purpose is to explain the role of economic dimensions of home businesses in the sustainable livelihood of rural households. Therefore, the central question of the present paper is: to what extent has the creation and development of home businesses in terms of job creation and diversification, increasing income and empowering and reducing poverty affected improving the sustainable livelihood of rural households?
Research Methods:
The current research is descriptive-analytical, and its statistical population includes 1476 households receiving loans in-home businesses who live in 287 villages in Ilam province. Considering the number and dispersion of villages, their selection was made by the sampling method. First, the number of villages was limited to 56 using cluster sampling (considering the homogeneity of four factors: altitude, distance from the city center, number of households and loan receivers). Then, the number of sample households was estimated to be 200 according to Cochran's formula and selected by simple random method. Finally, the data was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire after confirming its validity and reliability. After confirming the data's normality through the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, one-sample t-tests and confirmatory factor analysis were used to evaluate the hypothesis.
Results and Discussion:
The conceptual basis of the current research is based on the strategy of "sustainable livelihood". Sustainable livelihood is not a "theory" but a strategy discussed in the scientific and executive circles of development programs in the framework of "sustainable development theory". This strategy has four environmental, economic, social and institutional dimensions. The first principle of the sustainable livelihood strategy emphasizes "focusing on people" and achieving sustainable development is considered an endogenous and bottom-up motivational movement. Nevertheless, according to the general structure of the organization and planning system of Iran, in which the "government" has a central role in carrying out any plan, and in terms of sustainable livelihood strategy, it is considered an external intervening factor with a top-down orientation, this paradox should be considered more seriously. The results showed that the creation of home businesses from the economic aspect in the job creation indicators, primarily the increase of women's jobs and the diversification of activities, had positive effects, which indicates its alignment with the standards of sustainable household livelihood strategy. Although the plan has been relatively successful in increasing income, it has not been very successful in terms of empowerment, especially poverty alleviation of the lower strata of society. The evaluation of the effectiveness of creating home businesses on the sustainability livelihood by the target community showed that the factors of job creation and diversification of activity with a particular value of 2.743 and variance percentage of 31.509, income generation and empowerment with a special value of 1.192 and the variance percentage of 13.263 and poverty alleviation with the value of 1.043 and the variance percentage of 11.249 are ranked first to third, respectively. In general, the performance of the mentioned plan can be evaluated as successful in creating jobs and diversifying the activities of the studied households. According to the indicators in the area of income increase, there is an unbalanced distribution of resources, income and investment power, which shows the weakness of the economic foundations and the undesired livelihood of the villagers of Ilam Province. In the field of poverty alleviation, the plan has not been very successful. The results of this research are fundamentally different from similar international studies and have some similarities with some similar national studies.
One of the current plans of the Iranian government is the "Home Business Organization Plan" to solve the problem of unemployment, which started in 2010. Even though home businesses are generally neglected in the economy, they are essential to creating employment, increasing income, improving the quality of life, reducing poverty, and perpetuating the population in rural areas. Unemployed, low-income or no-income villagers have welcomed the "home business organization plan" in Ilam province due to the following issues: geographical isolation, mountainous nature, distance from industrial and service centers, incompatibility of water and soil resources, lack of facilities for water control and transfer, the predominance of micro-agricultural exploitation units, the low level of mechanization, the severe financial weakness of the private sector, migration and the weakness of the economic foundations of rural society and in general the traditional and livelihood structure of production. In the present study, the issue has been discussed only from the economic viewpoint. Its purpose is to explain the role of economic dimensions of home businesses in the sustainable livelihood of rural households. Therefore, the central question of the present paper is: to what extent has the creation and development of home businesses in terms of job creation and diversification, increasing income and empowering and reducing poverty affected improving the sustainable livelihood of rural households?
Research Methods:
The current research is descriptive-analytical, and its statistical population includes 1476 households receiving loans in-home businesses who live in 287 villages in Ilam province. Considering the number and dispersion of villages, their selection was made by the sampling method. First, the number of villages was limited to 56 using cluster sampling (considering the homogeneity of four factors: altitude, distance from the city center, number of households and loan receivers). Then, the number of sample households was estimated to be 200 according to Cochran's formula and selected by simple random method. Finally, the data was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire after confirming its validity and reliability. After confirming the data's normality through the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, one-sample t-tests and confirmatory factor analysis were used to evaluate the hypothesis.
Results and Discussion:
The conceptual basis of the current research is based on the strategy of "sustainable livelihood". Sustainable livelihood is not a "theory" but a strategy discussed in the scientific and executive circles of development programs in the framework of "sustainable development theory". This strategy has four environmental, economic, social and institutional dimensions. The first principle of the sustainable livelihood strategy emphasizes "focusing on people" and achieving sustainable development is considered an endogenous and bottom-up motivational movement. Nevertheless, according to the general structure of the organization and planning system of Iran, in which the "government" has a central role in carrying out any plan, and in terms of sustainable livelihood strategy, it is considered an external intervening factor with a top-down orientation, this paradox should be considered more seriously. The results showed that the creation of home businesses from the economic aspect in the job creation indicators, primarily the increase of women's jobs and the diversification of activities, had positive effects, which indicates its alignment with the standards of sustainable household livelihood strategy. Although the plan has been relatively successful in increasing income, it has not been very successful in terms of empowerment, especially poverty alleviation of the lower strata of society. The evaluation of the effectiveness of creating home businesses on the sustainability livelihood by the target community showed that the factors of job creation and diversification of activity with a particular value of 2.743 and variance percentage of 31.509, income generation and empowerment with a special value of 1.192 and the variance percentage of 13.263 and poverty alleviation with the value of 1.043 and the variance percentage of 11.249 are ranked first to third, respectively. In general, the performance of the mentioned plan can be evaluated as successful in creating jobs and diversifying the activities of the studied households. According to the indicators in the area of income increase, there is an unbalanced distribution of resources, income and investment power, which shows the weakness of the economic foundations and the undesired livelihood of the villagers of Ilam Province. In the field of poverty alleviation, the plan has not been very successful. The results of this research are fundamentally different from similar international studies and have some similarities with some similar national studies.
Keywords: Home business, Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Livelihood, Rural households, government's role, Ilam province.
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