An Ordinal factor analysis of requirements and challenges of information and communication technology system to train private agricultural insurance brokers in Iran

This study was conducted to identify challenges and requirements of an information and communication technology (ICT) system to train brokers. Using the ordinal factor analysis, the challenges and requirements have been classified into six factors (Human, Organisational, Technical,Social, Financial, and Legal) and four factors (instructional,technical, organisational, and cultural) respectively. Finally a conceptual framework is presented for the challenges and requirements of the ICT training system

Designing a Model of Rural Ecotourism Entrepreneurship Development with a Qualitative Approach

Today, ecotourism entrepreneurship is presented as a strategy for sustainable rural development by creating job opportunities based on the use of local resources in a sustainable way and emphasizing on the internal development of the village. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to design a model for rural ecotourism entrepreneurship development in Dezful township. This research is of qualitative type and in terms of implementation method, it is a mixture of qualitative content analysis and Delphi technique. At first, concepts were extracted using theoretical foundations and research background using qualitative content analysis method. Then, using the Delphi technique and the opinions of experts about these indicators, a consensus was reached. The Delphi panel consisted of 30 academics, organizational, and local experts selected by snowball sampling. After three rounds of Delphi, experts agreed on 87 indicators in the form of 11 components and the rural ecotourism entrepreneurship development model in Dezful township was theoretically approved. The results show that the combination of social responsibility, environmental responsibility, growth and development through ecotourism and ecotourism innovations and creativity provide the development of rural ecotourism entrepreneurship. Also, physical-infrastructural factor, economic factor, educational and information factor, institutional factor, environmental factor, socio-cultural factor and individual factor were identified as the most important factors affecting the development of rural ecotourism entrepreneurship

Rural women and ecotourism: modeling entrepreneurial behavior in Iran

Abstract Fars province, as one of the most susceptible ecotourism regions of Iran, has paid attention to the establishment of ecotourism residences with the priority of rural women through ecotourism entrepreneurial training in recent years. In this regard, the present study investigates the effective factors on entrepreneurial behavior with Fars rural women ecotourism approach in Iran. The participants of the study were 431 of rural women in Fars and 205 were decided by Cochran formula. It is inferred from the results that step-by-step procedure of changing norms towards the acceptance of rural women entrepreneurs as well as the acceptance of ecotourism culture through the establishment of local and regional institutions and organizations in a context of family support with strong bonds of commitment, solidarity, environmental and infrastructural foundations will lead to a strong desire to constitute ecotourism residence by rural women

Rural women and ecotourism: modelling entrepreneurial behavior in Iran

Abstract Fars province, as one of the most susceptible ecotourism regions of Iran, has paid attention to the establishment of ecotourism residences with the priority of rural women through ecotourism entrepreneurial training in recent years. In this regard, the present study investigates the effective factors on entrepreneurial behavior with Fars rural women ecotourism approach in Iran. The participants of the study were 431 of rural women in Fars and 205 were determined by Cochran formula. It is inferred from the results that step-by-step procedure of changing norms towards the acceptance of rural women entrepreneurs as well as the acceptance of ecotourism culture through the establishment of local and regional institutions and organizations in a context of family support with strong bonds of commitment, solidarity, environmental and infrastructural foundations will lead to a strong desire to constitute ecotourism residence by rural women.</jats:p

The Requirements of Establishing Innovative Rural Organizations to Improve Food Security from Rice Grower's Perspective

Rural innovative producing organizations can increase farmers' incomes and improve food security by providing services to farmers. The specific objectives of this paper were to identify the economic, social-cultural, infrastructural, political, educational, and technical requirements for innovations in rural institutions to improve food security of farmers in Mazandaran Province, Iran. The total population of this study was 113,141 farmers in Mazandaran Province and by using Cochran formula 216 were selected through cluster random sampling method. The Delphi method was used for qualitative part of analysis, which was done in a three-phase distribution of questionnaires and interviews with rice experts. For each of the requirements, items of interest were added and removed, and a table of items including the most points (to a maximum of70%) was extracted. A Bayesian analysis was used for by using AMOS16and SPSS16 software. Based on the results of Bayesian analysis the economic requirements had the greatest impact on establishing innovative rural institutions to improve food security of rice growers. It was also found out that socio-cultural, political, infrastructural, educational, and technical requirements, respectively could play an important role in helping rural institutions to enhance food security in rural areas