CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL CHANGES AND THEIR IMPACT ON ACHIEVING THE GOALS OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE RURAL AREAS OF DAKAHLIA GOVERNORATE, EGYPT

This study aimed to analyze contemporary cultural changes in Egyptian rural society and to examine both their degree of occurrence and their impact on achieving the goals of sustainable agricultural development, in light of selected personal characteristics of the respondents. The study adopted a descriptive analytical approach, drawing on field data collected from a simple random sample of 200 respondents from villages in the El Senbellawein and El Gamalia districts of Dakahlia Governorate. Data were gathered through a structured questionnaire administered via personal interviews during January and February 2025. The study addressed cultural change through two main dimensions. The first comprised intangible cultural changes, including value systems, agricultural work ethics, consumption patterns, and rural customs. The second focused on material cultural changes, encompassing technological change in agriculture, modernization of rural housing, and the use of communication and social media technologies. Weighted means, simple correlation coefficients, and the chi-square test were employed for data analysis. The findings indicated that material cultural changes recorded high levels in terms of both occurrence and impact, particularly agricultural technological change and the use of communication technologies, whereas intangible cultural changes were found to be at moderate levels. The results also showed that respondents’ perceptions of the impact of these changes were significantly associated with certain cognitive characteristics, most notably age and educational level. The study concludes that cultural changes constitute an influential framework shaping the trajectory of sustainable agricultural development, which necessitates the adoption of development approaches that integrate the cultural dimension alongside economic and technological considerations.