Identification of Economic and Social Sustainability Indicators of Small-scale Family Farming

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD student in Agricultural Development, Department of Extension and Rural Development, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz

2 Associate Professor, Department of Extension and Rural Development, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz

3 Professor, Department of Agricultural Management and Development, Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Development, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran

Abstract

One characteristics of gricultural sector of Iran is the number of small-scale family farming, that the most important activity of these systems is production of crops. The sustainability of these sectors is related to the sustainability of agricultural sector and the rural community. Since the indicators are the main tool for measuring sustainability and key criteria for programming and evaluating of sustainable agricultural development projects, identifying appropriate indicators for measuring the economic and social sustainability of small-scale family farming is necessary. In this exploratory and evaluation study, Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) was used. The statistical population consisted of experts from universities, research institutes and executive agencies of the country, of which 15 experts were selected by purposeful sampling. The research tool was a semi-structured questionnaire in the first round and a structured questionnaire in the second and third rounds of data collection, and the conversion of verbal phrases to fuzzy numbers was done using common fuzzy spectra. The results showed that among 36 economic indicators and 51 social indicators, respectively 11 and 14 indicators were more approperiate for measuring the sustainability of small-scale family farming. They can be used in studies, as well as policy-making and planning related this system.

Keywords

References

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Iranian Journal of Agricultural Economics and Development Research
Volume 49, Issue 1
February 2018
Pages 165-177

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