Entrepreneurial Strategies for the Development of the Upstream and Downstream Value Chain of the Sericulture Industry

Background: The sericulture industry, as one of the most important sectors of Iran's agricultural domain, has historically played a vital role in the rural economy and the sustainable employment of local communities.This centuries-old industry in Iran has not only contributed to supplying raw materials for the textile sector and silk production but has also served as a significant source of direct and indirect employment in rural areas.In recent decades, however, the industry has faced numerous challenges, including stagnation, declining production, the migration of local labor to urban areas, the conversion of agricultural lands to other uses, the aging of active farmers, and weaknesses in marketing structures.Furthermore, insufficient government support and deficiencies in macro-level policymaking have prevented industry stakeholders from competing effectively in the market and maintaining sustainable production.Considering the necessity of sustainable rural development and the reduction of income disparities between urban and rural areas, reviving the sericulture industry can be regarded as one of the effective strategies for boosting the local economy.The primary aim of this research is to comprehensively identify, analyze, and categorize the challenges facing Iran's sericulture industry and, ultimately, provide practical and feasible solutions to improve the industry's situation.This study seeks to pave the way for the industry's return to its rightful position by focusing on developing the sericulture value chain from production to processing and final marketing.Methods: This research is classified as applied research in terms of purpose and as analyticalinterpretive research in terms of methodology.Theoretical foundations were collected using a library method, including the study of articles, specialized books, statistical reports, and upstream documents related to sericulture and agricultural entrepreneurship.Subsequently, inductive content analysis was used to identify seven main categories of challenges, viz.financial and economic issues, governmental sector problems, infrastructure deficiencies, technical and specialized issues, weaknesses in research and technical knowledge, industrial sector problems, and non-technical issues.Then, supplementary information was collected through in-depth interviews with ten experts selected based on criteria, such as a minimum of five years of experience in sericulture and at least a master's degree in relevant fields.After gathering the data, the identified challenges were aggregated and classified into five main groups, enabling more precise analysis and the development of targeted solutions.The problems and proposing actionable solutions were prioritized employing two advanced multi-criteria decision-making methods, namely the fuzzy SWARA method for determining the weights of the challenges and the fuzzy bipolar TOPSIS method for ranking the solutions.Questionnaires were designed based on the analytical results and distributed among the experts.The collected data were processed using analytical software, and ultimately, a comprehensive model was presented for identifying and prioritizing the challenges and solutions for the sericulture industry. Results:The study identified and prioritized the main challenges of Iran's sericulture industry into five key areas.According to the fuzzy SWARA analysis, financial and economic issues ranked highest with a weight of 0.2657, followed by marketing and export problems (0.2433), and technical and production issues (0.2152).Sixteen solutions were proposed based on expert interviews, including financial support, infrastructure development, promotion of home-based businesses, the adoption of modern technologies, and the establishment of trade centers and international exhibitions for silk products.Fuzzy TOPSIS-Bipolar was used to evaluate the effectiveness of these solutions, with the top three strategies identified as modernizing production