Agricultural Extension and Education
Hamid Rastegari; Zakaria Mohammadi Tamari; Maryam Sharifzadeh
Abstract
Nowadays, expanding entrepreneurship culture which depends on nurturing skills, abilities and entrepreneurial capabilities in societies and providing appropriate ethical business setting is regarded as one of the main factors for the economic development of societies. Thus, identifying entrepreneurial ...
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Nowadays, expanding entrepreneurship culture which depends on nurturing skills, abilities and entrepreneurial capabilities in societies and providing appropriate ethical business setting is regarded as one of the main factors for the economic development of societies. Thus, identifying entrepreneurial traits, skills, and abilities and particularly rural entrepreneurial competencies can be of great help to advance this issue. Therefore, the main objective of the present descriptive study is to identify and prioritize rural entrepreneurship skills. Key informants who participated in this research study were seven academic rural development experts who were selected based on Judgement (or Purposive) sampling to achieve theoretical saturation. The archival research technique was used to elicit and specify rural entrepreneurial skills, and then the structured protocols were used to collect information regarding the importance of the elicited skills. Data processing was done using the Artificial Neural Network technique in the MATLAB software. The results showed that social relationships, marketing and customer management skills, strategic planning, business startup and administration, and risk management ranked first to fifth, respectively. Among the five categories of entrepreneurship skills, “opportunity skills” and “management skills” ranked first and last, respectively. Some suggestions are provided in order to develop rural entrepreneurial skills based on the results obtained in this research study.
Maryam Sharifzadeh; Mahboube Shahrekie
Abstract
Domestic fuel forms a significant part of the total energy demand and providing adequate and sustainable fuel is considered as a pivotal foundation for development. This survey study aims at investigating domestic fuel consumption patterns of rural areas in central district of Zahedan County, Eastern ...
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Domestic fuel forms a significant part of the total energy demand and providing adequate and sustainable fuel is considered as a pivotal foundation for development. This survey study aims at investigating domestic fuel consumption patterns of rural areas in central district of Zahedan County, Eastern Iran. The sample was consisted of 250 household heads resided in rural areas with more than 25 households. The validity of questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts and its reliability was measured by using a pilot study. Findings revealed that, only 43 percent (n=102 household) revealed an efficient energy use behavior. The efficient energy consumers were significantly different with respect to their education level, age, income, and the other household characteristics. Results from the structural equation modeling which was used to confirm adequacy of the reasoned action model of fuel consumption behavior, showed that 0.24 percent of fuel consumption behavior was determined by attitude, intention and subjective norms towards fuel consumption. The paper presented applied suggestions regarding fuel consumption with special consideration on health and ecosystem and indoor sanitation issues.
