Challenges and solutions for rural entrepreneurship development in Bahar county

Unemployment, poverty and rural migration are among the current challenges of rural communities. Entrepreneurship development, by create job opportunities and reduce unemployment, can pave the way for reducing poverty and migration of rural youth and achieving sustainable growth and development. In the present era, entrepreneurship, especially in rural areas and creating a suitable environment for its development is one of the tools of economic development of countries, especially developing countries. In this regard, the present research analyzes the challenges of entrepreneurship in the villages of Bahar county and offers solutions that lead to the development of rural entrepreneurship. The statistical population includes rural households living in Bahar county (122254 persons). The studied sample size were 280 persons. Stratified sampling method with proportional assignment based on population size of each rural area was used to select the samples. The required data were collected through researcher-made questionnaire. To analyze data both descriptive and inferential (confirmatory factor analysis based on partial least squares approach using SmartPLS software) methods were used. The results of this study showed that in general, the high production costs including energy and labor (0.368) was the most important challenges of rural entrepreneurship. Also, among the various solutions, economic solutions loans (0.687) include finantial facilities and low-interest and then educational solutions (0.664) such as increasing self-confidence and self-belief, and supportive solutions (0.650) include encouraging and supporting new ideas are respectively among the most effective strategies for entrepreneurship development in Bahar rural areas.