The Role of Rural Handicrafts in Diversifying the Economy of Rural Areas Case Study: Dahmala Rural District - Shahrood County

Today, in many rural areas in developing countries, agricultural activities alone are not able to provide employment for residents. So that non-agricultural job opportunities can help reduce the income gap between urban and rural residents and maintain the population. Therefore, the policy of industrializing villages as one of the strategies for diversifying the rural economy plays an important role in rural development. The aim of this research is to investigate the role of rural industries related to the wooden home appliance manufacturing industry in rural development through diversifying economic activities. The present research is of an applied type and the method used is of an analytical-descriptive type. The statistical population of the research includes households living in Dahmala rural district in Shahrood city, of which 214 were selected as a sample from 632 households using the Cochran formula and the questionnaire was distributed by simple random sampling. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by a group of experts and by conducting a pre-test, the reliability of the items was calculated to be 0.781 using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. For data analysis, one-sample t-test, one-way variance and Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests were used. , especially in the field of wood products and the manufacture of wooden household appliances and various types of furniture in the villages of the study area in the form of small-scale workshops, has been effective in improving the diversification indicators of the rural economy, especially in the components of diversification and increasing non-agricultural income, diversifying job opportunities