Effective Extension and Education Strategies on Empowering Rural Women in Commercialization of Agricultural Products (Case Study: Buein Zahra)

The agricultural extension and education are to provide opportunities for women to develop the competencies they need to become successful contributing members of their communities. Empowerment can be one of the most effective strategies for providing women with opportunities to develop competence. Over the past decade "empowerment" has become the practice in business, evaluation, and women's development. Therefore, the purpose of this descriptive study was the role of agricultural extension and education on the empowerment of rural women (case study: Buin Zahra). The population of this study was all rural women who were working directly with the agricultural extension and education department (N=120). Using table Krejcie and Morgan, 92 of whom were selected as a sample and stratified sampling method was used with appropriate attribution. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire and by using SPSS (16) were analyzed. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to evaluate the reliability (0.85). The results showed that respondents with statements by creating employment opportunities in the economy, improve the health status of women in the social sector, and increase women's political participation and the cultural-political sectors in the most express consent. Results of the independent t-test showed that women who have participated in training courses, membership in rural cooperative production, membership in microcredit fund, membership in extension employment projects, and the women who used the internet are enabling more than other women.