Factors Affecting Multiplicity of Non-Farm Activities among Kavar Township Rural Housholds in Fars Province

Non-farm economy is one of the newly presented concepts in rural development literature. Numerous studies have reviewed evidence and theories towards improving the concept of rural non-farm economy. However, there is not enough empirical studies in this field, especially in the developing countries. The aim of this study is to investigate factors affecting multiplicity of rural non-farm activities in the Kavar Township in the Fars province. Archival research was carried out for conducting this study as research method. Totally, 225 active rural households in various non-farm activities were selected using simple random sampling. The results showed that gender, annual household farm income, and the number of migrated members of household have a positive and significant effect on the dependent variable. The effect of benefiting from government loans on the number of non-farm activities was negative and significant. The prominent role of women in non-farm activities represents the importance of social and cultural dimensions of such activities. The results revealed that multiplicity of non-farm activities is not dependent on education. Therefore, it is not necessary to focus on education in development of rural non-farm activities. Some applicable recommendations have been presented at the end of the manuscript based on the research results.