Analizing the Carpet Producers’s Network of Access to Silk Thread in the Rural Areas of Zanjan County

In this study, the supply, access and use of high-quality threads required for production of silk carpets is discussed as one of the crucial issues that rural carpet weavers or producers deal with. This is the process that affects their production, productivity and income. The purpose of this study is to understand the sources and methods that rural carpet weavers apply to get an access to various threads used in silk carpets. The data were collected using a case study methodology through techniques focusing on groups, semi-structured interviews, diagramming, document analysis and observation. The participants were 90 rural household silk carpet weavers in 23 villages of Zanjan county and the market actors in the cities of Zanjan, Qom, Esfahan, Tabriz and Kashan. According to the results, access of the rural weavers to threads for producing carpets is different in terms of production methods. Investigating the methods of supplying handmade silk carpet threads in Zanjan county showed they depend on the methods of carpet production. Rural carpet weavers produce carpets through a self-production method and an entrepreneurial wage-based production method. The silk threads required for carpet production are used in different types including, thick weft, wrap threads and knots. In the self-production method, all the production inputs including threads are provided by carpet weavers.