Factors Affecting The Low Performance of Food Processing and Complementary Industries: a Case Study, Zanjan Province

Processing industries with the aim of and increasing the added value reducing the waste of agricultural products, promotion of productivity, employment, non oil exports, food security as well as sustainable development in agriculture has started to develop in Iran since 1998. The objective of the present study is to examine the main factors affecting physical progress of those processing firms that had been awarded business permits in Zajan province. Required data were collected from a survey of 20 food processing firms in Zanjan province during 1998-2010. A number of related statistical tests were applied to determine the factors affecting performance of the processing firms involved in the study area. The results indicate that such factors as a lack of credit facilities, lack of the needed machinery, shortage of currency, lack of specialized in the field experts, low related knowledge of managers as well as high inflation rates were some of the main factors that have had their significant impact on failure of the processing firms to have their operations begun.