Analysis of the effects of targeting subsidies on rural sustainability in central district of Zabol Township

Sustainability is a collection of ecological, economic, social and spatial-physical dimensions in which the contrast and interaction among these aspects leads to Sustainability or instability. In this approach, clarifying the status of rural communities, structure, problems, the development process and especially the welfare level of inhabitants in rural areas has a significant importance. Therefore, recognition and understanding of the current situation and prevailing conditions in the local, regional and national systems along with getting information about sustainability of the rural communities has a unique significance in decision-making processes. Hence, it is necessary to know which factors affect the sustainability of the villages. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of targeting subsidies on the sustainability of the villages located in the central district of Zabol Township. In this research has been used a combination of field method and descriptive–analytical method. The samples consist of 52 villages in the central district. Due to the number of households living in these villages and Cochran formula, 254 of heads of households in villages were selected to complete the questionnaire. The number of the questionnaire of each village for completing was calculated according to the proportion of people who have directly received the subsidies in their accounts. In these questionnaires, 25 indicators have been emphasized. These indicators are related to the four dimensions of sustainable rural development. In this research, using the AHP approach in Expert Choice and ArcGIS software, it has been attempted to analyze the effects of targeting subsidies on the rural sustainability. The results of this study confirm that after implementing this project, the rate of sustainability in 50 villages has lowered 96% of the studies villages). Moreover, the research findings show that the rate of popular Participation in the studied villages has decreased during this project. Therefore, due to the negative effects of targeting subsidies on the living conditions of rural households and considering that the households in the villages are mostly lower income decides, thus increasing their share in cash payments of subsidies should be considered.