بررسي نقش سرمايه اجتماعي در تمايل كشاورزان به مشاركت در تشكل هاي آب بران (مطالعه موردي: شهرستان زنجان)-

Investigation the Role of Social Capital onFarmers’ Willingness for Participation inWater Users’ Associations (Case Study: Zanjan County)

هدف اين تحقيق توصيفي- پيمايشي، بررسي نقش سرمايه اجتماعي در تمايل كشاورزان به مشاركت در تشكل‌هاي آب بران در شهرستان زنجان است. جامعه آماري تحقيق، شامل آب بران بخش مركزي شهرستان زنجان بود (1435N=) كه با استفاده از فرمول كوكران و روش نمونه‌گيري تصادفي ساده، تعداد 329 نفر به‌عنوان نمونه تعيين گرديد. ابزار تحقيق، پرسشنامه‌اي بود كه روايي آن بر اساس پانل متخصصان تاييد گرديد و براي تعيين ميزان پايايي بخش‌هاي مختلف، از ضريب آلفاي كرونباخ استفاده گرديد (87/0 تا 91/0). داده‌ها با استفاده از نرم‌افزار SPSS نسخه 17 تجزيه و تحليل شدند. نتايج تحليل همبستگي نشان داد كه بين تمايل به مشاركت كشاورزان در تشكل هاي آب-بران و سرمايه اجتماعي و ابعاد مختلف آن در سطح يك و پنج درصد رابطه مثبت و معني دار وجود داشت. همچنين اين تحليل نشان داد كه بين اين متغير و متغيرهاي "ميزان تحصيلات"،"مدت عضويت در شركت تعاوني روستايي"،"مدت عضويت در تعاوني توليد" و "نگرش كشاورزان به مشاركت در تشكل هاي آب‌بران" در سطح يك درصد و متغيرهاي "مساحت اراضي آبي" و "ميزان مواجه با كم‌آبي" در سطح پنج درصد رابطه مثبت و معني دار وجود داشت. تحليل واريانس نيز نشان داد كه بين تمايل به مشاركت كشاورزان در تشكل‌هاي آب بران با سطوح مختلف سرمايه اجتماعي در سطح يك درصد تفاوت معني دار وجود داشت.

Introduction Limitation of water resources all over the world allocation of major parts of waters to agricultural production, against increasing global population growth and concerns about lack of food, all have led the attentions of planners and policy makers of water industry, particularly in developing countries, to the water users associations. Therefore, during the past two decades, due to the increasing problem of water shortages around the world and failure of more irrigation projects for obtaining economic predetermined objectives, the attentions have been focused on water users associations and their roles in behavioral changes and promote participation of farmers in agricultural water management. One of the most important elements in forming a real participation in the sophisticated modern societies is the level of social capital in each community, which is the basis of the useful participation of society members in achieving beneficial results. A Water User Association (WUA) is a cooperative association Consisted of individual water users who wish to undertake water-related activities for their mutual benefit. A WUA usually elects leaders, handles disputes internally, collects fees, and implements maintenance. In most areas, WUA membership depends on one’s relationship to a water source. Many factors affecting farmers’ willingness for participation in water users’ associations, and one of then is social capital. It refers to the institutions, relationships, and norms that shape the quality and quantity of a societyʹs social interactions. Increasing evidences show that social cohesion is critical for societies to prosper economically and for Sustainable development. Social capital is not just the sum of institutions which underpin a society, but it is the glue that holds them together. Materials and Methods The main objective of this descriptive - survey research has been investigating the role of social capital on farmers’ willingness for participation in water users’ associations in Zanjan County. The statistical population of the studied area consisted of 1435 farmers of Markazi District of Zanjan County out of which 329 people have been selected as samples, using Cochran formula and random sampling technique. Beside, questionnaires have been developed for data collecting. The reliability of the main scales of questionnaires have been examined by Cronbach alpha Coefficients (0.87- 0.91) and indicate that the tool of the study was reliable; and the validity of questionnaires was approved by panel of experts. The data have been analyzed by SPSSwin: 17 Software. Results The results showed that farmers generally had a favorable tendency to participate in the water users associations, so that the majority of them have expressed that they want to participate for understating the responsibility for some parts of the irrigation networks or cooperating with other farmers in utilization of water resources. The results of prioritizing farmers’ willingness for participation in water users’ associations have also showed that the two most important willingnessʹs were understating responsibility for a part of network, and cooperation with other farmers in utilization of water resources. Assessing the level of social capital of farmers revealed the importance of existing valid data and information about public, political and social affairs, as well as the methods of select members of village council members, It is true for related Categories Such as Follows: in Trust, confidence to farmers; In informal participation, taxing port in meeting whit decision- makers of the Village, and in The formal one, taxing place The elections. The findings revealed that there were positive and significant relationships between the willingnesses of formers for participation in water users’ associations and social capital, and its at one and five percent levels. These findings showed that there were such relationships between this variable and educational level, period of membership in rural cooperative, period of membership in production cooperative, farmers’ attitude toward participation in water users’ associations, area of irrigated land and facing water deficits at one and five percent levels, too The result of "F" test indicated that the willingnesses formers in participation in water users’ associations were significantly different in terms of diverse. Recommendations Based upon the findings of the study and for improving farmersʹ Participation in Water Users’ Associations, it is recommended that there are important factors which need to attention. They are as follows: promotion of Farmerʹs social capital, enhancing the public knowledge, attitudes and skills in various fields of water management, holding workshops and empowerment of farmers in using participatory methods, empowering of farmers for implementing participatory activities, and promotion social and technical knowledge of farmers.