Participatory Appraisal of Land fragmentation, renovation and development plane in Miandarband plain, Kermanshah Province on farmers view

Small farm landholdings couples with scattered plots have created a major challenge in agricultural development in Iran. Land fragmentation provides an appropriate strategy to overcome current problems in Iranian farming systems. Therefore، the purpose of this qualitative study was to shed light on development pathologies in terms of land rehabilitation، reconsolidation، and improvement in Miandarband region in Kermanshah Township. Using purposeful sampling، rural farmers in Jelogiresofla، Safieabad، and Sarabshele villages were interviewed through focus group sessions. A grounded theory approach as suggested by Strauss and Corbin was used as a frame of the study. Open coding، axial and selective coding was utilized as a basis of data analysis. The summary of findings was presented through visual techniques such as problem tree and matrix ranking. Results revealed that land improvement in Miandarband region is faced with the following challenges: environmental problems such soil degradation، technical problems inherent in land improvement، lack of attention to traditional beliefs among farmers، a reductionism view to rural development among policy-makers، lack of farmers’ participation، weak human resources، lack of commitment among project administrators، and economic loss. The result of this study has implications for rural development projects. Land improvement pathologies pointed out in this study can be used as a basis for future projects in Kermanshah Township.