Identifying and prioritizing obstacles to rural development using the structural equation method in the Marhamat Abad region of Miandoab county

Today, about a quarter of rural employment in developing countries is related to non-agricultural activities. The structural transformation from an economy based on traditional agriculture to an economy based on industry and services is considered by some development theorists as a development process. In the present study, the obstacles facing this type of rural development have been examined. The research method was a descriptive-survey with the statistical population of the residents of the Marhamat Abad region, the central part of Miandoab county, which according to the statistics obtained is equal to 11,746 people. The statistical sample was 382 people selected using random sampling method according to the Morgan table. To collect data, a 25-question questionnaire developed by the researcher from the literature was used with validity confirmation (primary validation) through the approval of 5 experts in the field of agriculture and rural areas. The reliability of the questionnaire was also obtained through Cronbach's alpha equal to 0.848. For data analysis, Pearson's correlation test and structural equations were used, and Friedman's test was used in PLS and Spss software to prioritize the obstacles to rural development. The results showed that the variables of natural factors, economic-management factors, infrastructure factors, educational factors, and cultural factors are obstacles to rural development in the statistical population. Among these, the economic-management factor has the greatest impact and the cultural factor has the least impact on rural development in Miandoab County in the Marhamat Abad region