درخت حوزه‌های تخصصی

Purpose- During recent decades, rural settlements in developing countries have undergone significant changes in global development and in pursuit of development, in accordance with the geographic conditions governing them. The intensity and direction of these changes have been different. The study of functional changes of rural settlements located in the central district of Ravansar County is the main objective of this study. Design/methodology/approach- This applied research is a qualitative research that has been carried out using Grounded Theory Method. The methodological approach of the dominant theory in this research is the Glaser’s (1978) approach. Finding- The findings of the research indicate that during a systematic process, rural subsistences have progressed towards gradual economic development through the two concepts of agrarian reforms and mechanization of the agricultural sector. This positive trend, with institutional interferences and inefficient rural development policies, the economic downturns of villages have finally provided the ground for the functional development of villages through the implementation of inheritance law, poor management of environmental resources, cross-sectoral supportive policies, and targeted subsidies. This functional development of villages has many symbols, including a strong tendency towards service activities, the prevalence of consumerism, the formation of affiliated villages, a strong market dependence, and so on. It should be noted that in the present research, "inefficient rural development policies" have been identified as a central issue. Research limitations/implications- Low familiarity of the rural population with Persian language (due to the fact that the inhabitants of the study area are Kurds), the high cost of commuting to the villages, the difficulty of establishing trust with villagers, and the lack of welcoming support from institutions related to rural affairs for the researchers in the various stages of the research were the most important limitations of this research. Practical implications- A fundamental revision of rural development policies in view of the changes that have taken place in rural settlements, in accordance with the geographic conditions governing them, is the most important scientific solution of the present research. Originality/value- In the current research, for the first time in Iran, functional changes in villages have been deeply studied through Grounded Theory Method.

Purpose - Several models of rural development have been proposed but they have failed to adequately explain why development stagnates in certain regions. To fill this knowledge gap, this qualitative research was conducted. Design/methodology/approach- Based on focus group interviews with farmers and semi-structured interviews with rural managers and experts from two sub-counties in Kherameh, Fars province, the barriers of rural development under drought were investigated. Finding- Various adaptation strategies, such as changing cropping pattern, developing greenhouses and rising mushroom, quail and ostrich, have been applied by farmers in order to reduce the negative impacts of drought and water scarcity. However, different barriers including climate variability, quantitative and qualitative reduction of water resources, unemployment and lack of sustainable job opportunities, limitation of financial resources and investment, inefficiency of institutional supporting policies, limitation of budgets and loans, and uncertainty about future of agriculture have prevented rural areas from development. Practical implications - Continuous monitoring of drought and developing early warning systems, consensus about distribution of common water resources, water conveyance from other regions and considering water subsides, local participation in development planning, encouraging research institutes to focus their research on investigating and producing water resistance crops, improving drought management information through effective extension services and linking urban-based businesses with small-scale crop producers are offered to improve rural development in this drought prone area. Originality/value- Given that a similar study has not been conducted about rural development traps under drought, the findings of this study can be used by rural development planners and practitioners.