Sustainability of Livelihoods among Farmers Community in Kermanshah Province, Iran: A Comparison of Farmers’ Attitude Based on Their Characteristics

Sustainable livelihoods approach is one of the new analytical approaches in the arena of rural development, and is considered much in recent years in order to achieve rural development and poverty reduction. The purpose of this study was to assess the sustainability of livelihoods of rural households from the perspective of the householders whose main occupation and source of livelihoods was agriculture and to identify those factors that could predict the accuracy of the classification of farmers with different perspectives of their livelihoods sustainability. Survey technique was used to collect data. Statistical population of the study included the farmers of Kermanshah Province, Iran. By using two-stage stratified sampling and determining selected counties, 250 householder farmers were chosen as a sample. Face validity of the data collection means was approved by an expert panel, and through the implementation of a pilot study, its reliability was approved. The results indicate that the study group felt insecurity and instability: about three-quarters of them assessed their livelihoods as unsustainable, and only one-quarter of them assessed their livelihoods as sustained. Statistical analysis showed that environmental, individual, and socio-economic factors have relationship with farmers' perspective toward their livelihoods sustainability. According to discriminate analysis, six variables were able to predict farmers' attitude toward their livelihoods sustainability and that prediction would be accurate with a probability of 70 percent.