Spatial analysis of obstacles and limitations of economic and social empowerment of rural households (a case study of beneficiaries covered by the relief committee in Sistan region)

Dissertation for Master's Degree in Geography and Rural Planning

Abstract

Given that today, empowerment has become one of the main concepts of sustainable development and its relationship with sustainable development is in such a way that it is either considered as one of its components or as a factor or as a result of sustainable development, therefore achieving sustainable development is not possible without empowering the weaker sections of the society. Considering the importance of the topic, in this research, an attempt has been made to explore the obstacles and limitations of economic and social empowerment of rural households covered by the Sistan Relief Committee through spatial analysis. The statistical population of the research includes villages with more than 50 households covered by the relief committee, which was calculated as the sample size of 40 villages using Cochran's formula. The current research method was descriptive-analytical and based on the review of documentary sources, field surveys and completion of the questionnaire. Analytical Hierarchy Model (AHP) with the help of Expert Choice software and spatial and statistical analysis through ArcGIS and SPSS software have been used in data analysis. The results of the research based on the ANOVA test showed that dependence on Hirmand river water with an average of 0.5020, organizational problems with an average of 0.4900, personality and individual characteristics of the head of the family with an average of 0.4365 and participation with an average of 0.4179 were recognized as the highest factors in the obstacles or limitations of the economic and social empowerment of households covered by the relief committee. In this regard, other research results indicate that, based on statistical analysis, there is a significant difference between the severity of the effects of economic and social obstacles or restrictions of households living in border villages and other villages in Sistan.

Key words: households covered by the relief committee, village, empowerment, spatial analysis, Sistan.

Chapter 1

1- Introduction

Poverty is one of the important topics in development literature. Eliminating poverty from a society is one of the main goals of economic development (Khaldi and Permeh, 2014: 57). The World Bank considers the causes of rural economic poverty in factors such as low per capita income, low land productivity, and limited job opportunities, and the causes of rural social poverty in the low level of literacy and the high size of the household, which leads to a reduction in savings and huge spending on health, education, food consumption, and housing (Rahimisoureh and Razavi, 1375: 281). Therefore, providing social welfare is one of the most important goals of any economic system, and providing suitable conditions for the life of all sections of the society is considered the main duty of economic agents and officials of the country. This is why the change in social welfare or the change in poverty at the same time is considered as one of the areas of evaluation of economic systems (Farajzadeh, 1382: 10). The process of development always involves the action of the government. In writings on the development of third world countries, there is a general agreement about the importance of the government to advance the development process, and it is considered as one of the forces that plays a large role in the change processes of these societies, including in the field of rural change (Dofoumieh, 1373: 18). Therefore, the nature of governments, political and ideological philosophy and their structure play a fundamental role in the development process, including rural development (Shakuri, 1384: 51).

Rural development is one of the development programs of every country, which is used to transform the socio-economic structure of rural society. These programs are implemented by the government and its agents in rural areas. Governments use different tools to achieve these goals, which is also the case with the Iranian government.

In Iran, the government has used different tools and implemented many measures to achieve rural development. Among these measures after the revolution, we can mention the formation of institutions such as construction jihad, the Islamic Revolution Housing Foundation, and the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee. The purpose of creating these civil institutions was to improve the backward areas of development and to help the disadvantaged sections of the society, especially the rural areas without facilities. Meanwhile, the aid committee is known as an institution that empowers the deprived and vulnerable households in the society, both in urban and rural areas, and its role in rural areas is more colorful due to the socio-economic nature of these areas.

In view of the importance of the subject in this thesis, the effort is to examine the obstacles and limitations of the economic and social empowerment of rural households under the aid committee, in order to finally provide suitable solutions to strengthen and empower this segment of the society. This research is organized in the form of five chapters:

in the first chapter; The framework of the research along with the problem plan, the necessity and objectives of the research, the assumptions of the research and some past experiences are stated in the form of the background of the research.

In the second chapter; The theoretical topics of the research around the research subject have been examined in the form of theories and perspectives.

In the third chapter; The methodology and methods used in the research as well as the study area from natural and human aspects have been examined and the perspective of the current situation has been drawn and expressed.

In the fourth chapter; The obstacles and limitations of economic and social empowerment of rural households covered by the relief committee have been analyzed and the hypotheses of the research have been tested.

In the fifth chapter; Finally, the summary, conclusions and suggestions are presented.

1-1- Designing and stating the research problem

Many years have been spent in implementing various growth and development models and many failures have happened in this matter. The share of rural communities not benefiting from growth and development in this stream is perhaps more than other strata. The environmental and human conditions governing the villages are such that they are isolated and have less benefit from the activities related to development. The most important manifestation of this is the lack of employment, instability and lack of job diversity in the villages, which leads to the migration of villagers abroad (Taherkhani, 2011: 50 and Falihi, 2019: 203). But in the meantime, new development programs introduce a new model of rural development that is based on the principle of empowering villagers. Empowerment is one of the new components of development and is at the center of new concepts of development and strengthening poverty alleviation strategies, especially in rural areas.

The concept of empowerment was formed in the 1950s and reached its peak in the 1970s. In the 1990s, the theory of rural development took over, and in the new concept of empowerment, the people themselves have the role of the main actor. Empowerment is a qualitative and promotional discussion and includes this definition: Empowerment as a process through which people gain more control over their affairs and work, and by gaining high power, control over resources, trust building, capacity building and active participation, they can guide their life path correctly. Empowerment strategies are helping people to have an active role in their knowledge (Rifkin, 2003: 170). In this regard, Thomas Slater [1] has provided the following definition of empowerment: Empowerment is the process of expanding existing capabilities and capacities to participate in dialogue, negotiation, and bringing under the influence and control of institutions and organizations that have an impact on the life of rural communities (Rizvani et al., 1389: 128).

In empowerment, four important key elements are: 1- Access to information; 2- Getting involved and participating; 3- Responsibility and accountability; and 4- the capacity of local organizations (Rizvani et al., 1389: 128). In this regard, in the new rural development programs, which are based above all on the two principles of empowering villagers and poverty alleviation, at least three organizational processes are considered: 1- Administrative and managerial organization of agents and officials of relevant government agencies and institutions in order to coordinate and integrate government measures in villages; 2- Economic organization of village people to implement income-generating activities through low-interest and no-interest loans; and 3- social organization of the village people in order to plan social development and modernization at the local level and join efforts to implement priority projects (Zahedi Mazandarani, 2017: 271-280). Therefore, it can be expected that these three types of organization can ensure the real participation of the people in the process of empowerment and planning of rural development by strengthening the spirit of self-help, self-reliance and financial self-sufficiency, and in this way, while reducing the limits of government intervention and undertaking, the goals of expanding employment in the village, increasing production and added value in the village economy, reducing poverty and improving the living standards of the villagers, and provide the basis for the impact of the role of the villagers in the process of rural development (Rizvani, 2013: 108).