Identification and Analysis of Strategies for the Development of Sustainable Agricultural Activities in the Provinces of West Azerbaijan and East Azerbaijan in order to Revitalize Lake Urmia

In recent decades, unsustainable development of agricultural activities in the Lake Urmia (LU) catchment area has led to drying up of a significant part of the lake. In addition to the negative impacts on the quality of life of local communities around the lake, this issue has had a devastating effect on the quality and quantity of agricultural activities in the region. Accordingly, it seems that the development of sustainable agriculture (SA) can be considered as one of the most important steps towards the revitalization of LU. Due to the importance of the subject, the main purpose of this applied research was to identify and analyze the strategies for the development of sustainable agricultural activities in the provinces of West Azerbaijan and East Azerbaijan in order to revitalize LU. The statistical population of the research was 27 renowned experts and specialists in the Conservation of Iranian’s Wetlands Office, Agriculture-Jihad Organizations, Department of Environmental Protection, and Agricultural Technical-engineering Firms in the provinces of West Azerbaijan and East Azerbaijan. In this research, first, internal and external factors affecting SA activities were identified using Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) technique. Then, the quantitative strategic planning matrix (QSPM) technique was employed to prioritization of acceptable strategies for the development of SA activities. According to the results, in both West Azerbaijan and East Azerbaijan provinces, the opportunities for SA activities outweighed its threats, and at the same time, the strengths of SA activities outweighed its weaknesses. Also, the results of this research showed that in terms of strategic position, SA activities in both West Azerbaijan and East Azerbaijan provinces were in a developmental position or maximum-maximum. In this regard, the most important joint strategies at the level of both provinces were included "institutional empowerment and synergy of inter-sectoral capacities in order to use the existing potentials in different governmental and non-governmental sectors in the provinces" and "linking SA activity with environmental protection issues with emphasis on the conservation of LU".