Towards sustainable rural employment in agricultural cooperatives: Evidence from Iran's desert area

In the development stages of any country, poverty reduction, increase in income balance, social welfare, and the reduction of unemployment are the most important factors which should be improved to implement development programs more successfully. Agricultural cooperatives (ACs) can play a significant role in the economic and social development of rural areas. ACs established 85 years ago in the Garmsar region of Iran for the first time; however, its form gradually changed from traditional form to a new one. They are social, economic, and ethical organizations that can play a very important role in creating employment in rural areas by attracting the participation of members, raising small capital, and providing agricultural extension training, infrastructures, and production factors. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the effect of various functions of ACs on sustainable rural employment. In this regard, 356 samples were selected from the study area (i.e. Garmsar, Iran). A survey study was conducted to collect data through field interviews. Modeling based on structural analysis showed that the social, educational, economic and production functions had positive and significant effects so that they were able to predict and explain 66% of changes in sustainable rural employment.