Assessment of the Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Assets in Langroud County

Abstract

 The present descriptive survey aims to analyze sustainable rural livelihood in Langarud County of Guilan province, Iran. The statistical population was composed of all rural people in this county (N=37904). Convenience sampling used to determine sample size (n=180). They were selected by proportionally allocated random sampling method. The research instrument was a self-designed questionnaire whose face and content validity was confirmed by a panel of experts. The reliability of the questionnaire was estimated by Cronbach’s alpha to be 0.76, implying its reliability. Results showed that among five capitals of sustainable livelihood, social, human, physical, natural and financial capitals were ranked from the first to fifth, respectively. Accordingly, rural people were in the best condition in terms of social capital compared to other capitals. Concerning the level of sustainable livelihood capitals, it is recommended that rural development policies should spur livelihood diversification as a core strategy. In addition, attempts should be made to enhance rural people’s awareness of what they have and to change their attitude towards what they feel in their life and/or they see in nature.