Reducing Natural Resource Degradation By Introducingbiogas Technology To Qezel Village of Kermanshahprovince: An Action Research Approach

In developing count ries poverty is more prevalentand usually deeper in rural regions than in urbanareas . the rural poor d,epend on natu ral reso urcesfor their subs istence, and their behaviour affects asigni ficant portion of those resources. in manydeveloping countries such as iran, environmentalresources are used mainly as input s in householdproduction or in small-sca le production units.among small-sca le rural technology, biogas plantspresent a suitable alternative option for preservingenvironmental resources from deforestat ion, landdegradation, and desertification. the purpose ofthis qual itative research is to introd uce biogastechnology to one of the poor and degradedcommunities in qczc l village of eas ternkermanshah province. a focus group of twentyrura l resident s was organized to identi fy potenti alusers of the polyethylene biogas plant. duringfocus group discussions, one household whoshowe d interes t in the proj ect was specifica llyselected. a four step cyclica l act ion resea rchprocess was used as a guiding principle tointroduce and set up a biogas plant among a qczclrural household. recommendations are givenbased on the result of the study. result s revealedthat a rura l household in qcze l village welcomedbiogas technology and found it to be useful intheir cooking tasks. the implicat ions of this studysugges t that policy makers should launch anational biogas programme across the country.