Factors Affecting the Livelihood of Farmers: A Case Study of Shazand County

Sustainable livelihood has been one of the best ways to address poverty and empowerment of the poor over the past years. It is also one of the most innovative approaches to rural development. The general objective of this research is to identify and analyze the factors affecting the sustainable livelihood of farmers in Shazand. The statistical population of the study consists of the heads of rural families in Shazand city, N = 22101). The sample size with a sampling error was 0.05, and, using the Cochran formula, 377 households were calculated. To determine the villages and to select the sample of households, the cluster analysis method was applied to the classification of villages, and the sample villages were randomly selected. Finally, sampling from each village was done in proportion to its population. The data collection method was library, and the field study tool was a questionnaire. In order to analyze the data, SPSS software was used, and the statistical operations included single-sample T-test and linear regression.The results of the research showed that the sustainable livelihood of rural households is not desirable, and structures and processes are the most important factors in the sustainability of rural household livelihood.