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Water shortages in rice production represent a formidable challenge for the world’s food, economic, and social security. Water is the most important single component for sustainable rice growth, especially in the world’s traditional rice-growing areas. Therefore, this study attempts to evaluate the improvement of rice water productivity in Northern Iran on the basis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis. This study is a qualitative-descriptive survey. A random sampling method was used to determine the sample size, and finally, 105 male and female rural facilitators in Sari city (the capital of Mazandaran Province located in Northern Iran) were surveyed. The results showed that the development of appropriate infrastructure, increasing new irrigation and drainage networks with the aim of increasing the use of efficient water technologies, was the most important strategy. The most necessary strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to improve the water productivity and management of paddy farms in the study area are, respectively, as follows: “fertile paddy fields and relatively good soils in most areas”, “weakness in the participation and interaction of users in water resources projects and paying attention only to the physical development of irrigation networks and ignoring the issues of network operation and farmers’ participation in the management”, “improving irrigation planning”, and “surplus harvest from Tajan River and drop in water level”. Obtained findings may be used to address water scarcity and water quality management issues in the agriculture sector. The results demonstrate that, under potential climate change and water shortages, SWOT may be seen as a guide for contingency initiatives.

In several developing countries, including Ethiopia, the change from a subsistence-oriented production system to a market-oriented production system as a means of raising smallholder incomes and mitigating growing rural deprivation has been at the center of the agenda. Therefore, the purpose of this analysis was to evaluate the determinants of smallholder livestock commercialization in Tigray, Ethiopia. One hundred and eighty-three households were selected using a simple random sampling technique. The data were gathered through a structured survey. The data obtained were evaluated using econometric models of both concise and Heckman two-step collections. The results of the binary probit model revealed that in the decision to sell, household head education level, family size, distance from the nearest market center, and the total livestock ownership played a significant role. Heckman second-step selection estimation indicated that the education level of the household head, the extension agents' visit, the total livestock owned and the owned land size significantly affected the level of commercialization measures. The findings of this study will contribute to enhancing the efficient utilization of the existing limited farmland. In this study, smallholder farmers' access to the agricultural markets with higher value is seen as a critical opportunity to improve and diversify the livelihoods of lower-income farm households. As a result, better market participation is required to connect smallholder farmers to markets and increase demand for livestock products and income generation. The findings of this study may help in the development of appropriate policy intervention mechanisms to promote smallholder livestock commercialization in Ethiopia.

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