Investigating the Contexts, Causes, and Consequences of Underdevelopment in Kurdistan Province (A grounded theory in the field of agriculture)

The purpose of the current research is to investigate the areas of underdevelopment in Kurdistan province in the field of agriculture based on the theories of socio-economic underdevelopment, local development and contextual theory, as well as providing solutions based on local development to activate the areas that drive the development of the province and remove obstacles from them. The method used in the current research is Grounded theory, the data collection tool is semi-structured interview with experts, elites, activists and officials in the field of agriculture in Kurdistan province, and the data analysis method is thematic analysis. The results of this research show that the province of Kurdistan is underdeveloped in the field of agriculture; The paradigmatic model of agricultural underdevelopment in Kurdistan province is the main achievement of this research. According to this model, the underdevelopment of the province's agriculture is caused by the direct and two-way relationship between subsistence and traditional activities with modern activities, as well as the lack of attention to the province's agricultural capacities and the lack of coordination between the organizations in charge of development. The reasons for the underdevelopment of agriculture should be found in factors such as the law of inheritance and division of land and the traditional agricultural system. According to the findings of the research, weakness in continuous training, lack of educational and promotional workshops, weak financial ability of the private sector and people in the province to invest in this area, strict conditions in providing loans and facilities to farmers, lack of cooperative culture and investment in the industry sector. Especially agricultural and transformation industries play an important role in the process of underdevelopment in the field of agriculture among the intervening factors. The consequences of this situation have been the lack of attention to the transformation industries and branding of agricultural products of the province, the non-propulsion of this sector in the development of the province, and ultimately the marginalization of the capacities of the agricultural sector in the process of the development of the province. The most important strategies to get out of this situation will be the adoption of development policies and programs (not slogans) in order to increase production efficiency and diversify agricultural products and activities.