Designing a Model for Villager Empowerment to Access Self-sufficiency, Case Study: Zanjan Province

Empowering or gaining power is considered as a process through which villagers get capability to form and organize themselves in order to increase their self-confidence, ask for their right to choose freely and independently, being able to control the resources, cope with and eliminate poverty. Accordingly, the present study (a descriptive and non-experimental study) aimed to design a capability model for villagers in Zanjan province in order to achieve self-efficiency and assess the model through structural equations modeling. The main components of the intended model were compared through post-event technique, and the variables of self-sufficiency in villagers were validated by using descriptive-correlational design and structural equations modeling. Furthermore, statistical population included all villagers living in Zanjan province among which 384 ones were selected as the sample population through stratified random sampling with proportional allocation through distributing researcher-made questionnaire among villagers in the province. The data related to descriptive and inferential statistics sections were respectively analyzed by SPSS 25 and AMOS 24 softwares. Based on the results of structural equations, financial connector and condition were determined as the most effective latent variables on capability as a mediator dependent variable. Finally, the highest effect on self-sufficiency was observed in capability.