Determining Strategic Priorities for Establishing Rural Livestock Farming Units to Empower Rangeland Users

In semi-arid regions, rangelands serve as the foundation of rural communities' livelihoods, facing escalating challenges such as climate change, overgrazing, and economic fluctuations that threaten ecosystem sustainability and household incomes. This research aims to determine strategic priorities for establishing rural livestock units to empower rangeland beneficiaries. The geographical scope of the study encompasses four selected traditional districts in Maneh and Samalqan County, North Khorasan Province. To conduct the research, two sets of questionnaires were employed: the first targeted local herders (130 individuals selected via convenience random sampling, with the relevant questionnaire completed); the second targeted elites and experts in county livestock affairs (20 individuals selected through census method). To develop sustainability strategies for rangeland livestock grazing in the target area, a SWOT analysis was initially conducted, followed by the presentation of related strategies for nature-based businesses. In the subsequent stage, prioritization of the extracted strategies was performed using the Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM). The findings reveal a conservative position for livestock farming (lamb fattening) with an IFE score of 2.41 (dominance of strengths such as short-term return on investment) and an EFE score of 2.68 (superiority of opportunities like forage quality over price threats) in the IE matrix. In the QSPM, the top strategies include enhancing breeding management (increasing herders' scientific awareness), establishing support networks through aggregation and sharing with other herders, and providing forage supply and livestock sales via contract farming support, along with breed improvement adapted to the regional climate (creating fattening lambs with better weight gain and twinning). Based on the research, it is recommended to implement climate-adapted breed improvement and integrated farming models (such as Atriplex planting) to reduce 40% dependency on rangelands, alongside structured educational programs and the formation of local cooperatives to empower herders.