Journal of Research and Rural Planning

Journal of Research and Rural Planning

Assessing the Economic Resilience of Rural Households against Drought (Case Study: Mahidasht District in Kermanshah)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Javad Damanbagh
Bijan Rahmani
Pegah Moridsadat
Shahriar Khaledi
Shahid Beheshti University
10.22067/JRRP.V10I1.87194
Abstract
Purpose- Currently he occurrence of recent droughts in Iran and the severity of its damage indicate the vulnerability of farmers. The economic-environmental damages and the resilience farmers to this incident are evident in diverse ways. Therefore, recognizing the resilience of the population influenced by drought can offer a tool to prevent life-threatening disaster in high-risk areas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the economic resilience of rural households to drought in plain of Kermanshah and answer the following questions. What is the extent of economic resilience of rural households in Mahidasht to drought? What are the most important factors affecting the economic resilience of rural households to drought?
Design/methodology/approach- This is an applied research and a descriptive-analytical method along with library analysis and field surveys were adopted for data collection. The statistical population of this study consisted of 5081 households, out of whom 357 samples were selected according to Cochran's formula. Descriptive and inferential statistics (One-sample t-test) and structural equation modeling were used for data analysis.
Findings- According to the results of t-test, the variables of vulnerability of villagers' property and assets (mean=3.99) and the impact of drought on the value of assets (mean=3.86) gained the highest average in terms of resilience. On the contrary, the two variables of ability to compensate (mean=1.67) and membership in cooperatives and agricultural companies (mean=1.67) had the lowest averages. Moreover, the test results of all four variables of evaluating farmers’ knowledge and awareness indicate a correlation between the independent variables (prevention, preparedness, reconstruction, institutional management) and the dependent variable (economic resilience). Therefore, it can be contended that the economic resilience of Mahidasht is fairly weak.
Keywords
Drought
Resilience
Rural household economy
Mahidasht district
Kermanshah
  1. Adger, W. N., Quinn, T., Lorenzoni, I., & Murphy, C. (2016). Sharing the pain: perceptions of fairness affect private and public response to hazards. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 106(5), 1079-1096. https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2016.1182005.
  2. Anabestani, A. A., Javanshiri, M., Mahmoudi, H., & Darbaneh Astaneh, M. R. (2017). Spatial analysis of the resilience level of rural settlements to environmental hazards. Case study: central part of Farooj. Journal of Spatial Analysis of Environmental Hazards, 4(4), 17-38. [In Persian]. https://jsaeh.khu.ac.ir/article-1-2722-fa.html
  3. Anthopoulou, T., Kaberis, N., & Petrou, M. 2017. Aspect and Experiences of Crisis in Rural Greece. Narratives of Rural Resilience. Journal of Rural Studies, 52, 1-11. http:// dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/ j.jrurstud.2017.03.006
  4. Asfaw, S., Pallante, G., & Palma, A. (2018). Diversification strategies and adaptation deficit: Evidence from rural communities in Niger. World Development, 101, 219-234. DOI: 10.1016/ j.worlddev. 2017.09.004
  5. Auld, H. (2008). Disaster risk reduction under current and changing climate conditions. Bulletin of the World Meteorological Organization, 57(2), 118-125. https://doi.org/10.1623/hysj.48.3.317.45290
  6. Beckman, C. M. (2006). The influence of founding team company affiliations on firm behavior. Academy of management Journal, 49(4), 741-758. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2006.22083030
  7. Boretti, A., & Rosa, L. (2019). Reassessing the projections of the World Water Development Report. npj Clean Water, 2(1), 1-6. DOI: 10.1038/s41545-019-0039-9
  8. Campbell, D., D. Barker and D. McGregor. )2011. Dealing with drought: Small farmers and environmental hazards in southern St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. Applied Geography, 31, 146-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2010.03.007
  9. Carlisle, L. (2014). Diversity, flexibility, and the resilience effect: lessons from a social-ecological case study of diversified farming in the northern Great Plains, USA. Ecology and Society, 19(3), 14-23. DOI: 10.5751/ES-06736-190345
  10. Cosgrove, W. J., & Loucks, D. P. (2015). Water management: Current and future challenges and research directions. Water Resources Research, 51(6), 4823-4839. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014WR016869
  11. Cutter, S. L., Ash, K. D., & Emrich, C. T. (2016). Urban–rural differences in disaster resilience. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 106(6), 1236-1252. https:// doi.org/ 10.1080/ 24694452.2016.1194740
  12. Daman Bagh, J. (2011). The role of agricultural activities in rural development. Case study: Choqa Narges Village, Kermanshah, Kharazmi University.
  13. El Kharraz, J., El-Sadek, A., Ghaffour, N., & Mino, E. (2012). Water scarcity and drought in WANA countries. Procedia Engineering, 33, 14-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2012.01.1172
  14. Folke, C. S., Carpenter, T., Elmqvist, L., Gunderson, C. S., Holling, and B. Walker. (2002). Resilience and sustainable development: Building adaptive capacity in a world of transformations. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment, 31(5), 437-440. DOI: 10.1579/0044-7447-31.5.437
  15. Hajian, N., Ghasemi, M., & Mofidi, A. (2019). The role of variety of economic-agronomic and non-agricultural activities on the resilience of farmers’ rural households in the areas exposed to drought (Case Study: Chenaran County). Journal of Geography and Environmental Hazards, 7(4), 31-52. [In Persian] DOI: 10.22067/geo.v0i0.71994
  16. Hertel, T., & Liu, J. (2019). Implications of water scarcity for economic growth. In Economy-wide modeling of water at regional and global scales (pp. 11-35). Springer, Singapore. DOI: 10.1787/5jlssl611r32-en
  17. Heydari Sarban, V., & Majnuni Tootakhaneh, A. (2016). The role of Sustenance diversity in the resilience of rural households around Lake Urmia to drought. Journal of Spatial Analysis of Environmental Hazards, 4, 49-70. [In Persian] https://jsaeh.khu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-349-2&slc_lang=fa&sid=fa
  18. Hoeppe, P. (2016). Trends in weather related disasters–Consequences for insurers and society. Weather and Climate Extremes, 11, 70-79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2015.10.
  19. Kamara, J. K., Akombi, B. J., Agho, K., & Renzaho, A. (2018). Resilience to climate-induced disasters and its overall relationship to well-being in southern Africa: a mixed-methods systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(11), 2375. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph15112375
  20. Li, T., Dong, Y., & Liu, Z. (2020). A review of social-ecological system resilience: Mechanism, assessment and management. Science of the Total Environment, 138113. DOI: 10.1016/ j.scitotenv. 2020.138113
  21. Liebman, M. Z., & Schulte-Moore, L. A. (2015). Enhancing agroecosystem performance and resilience through increased diversification of landscapes and cropping systems. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 3, 41. DOI: 10.12952/journal.elementa.000041
  22. Lin, B. B. (2011). Resilience in agriculture through crop diversification: adaptive management for environmental change. BioScience, 61(3), 183-193. DOI: 10.1525/bio.2011.61.3.4
  23. Mohammadi Yeganeh, B., Cheraghi, M., & Karimpour, N. (2015, March). Explaining the relationship between diversity of economic activities and sustainable rural development. Case study: Tarjan County, Saqez city. The Second National Conference on Tourism, Geography and Clean Environment. Hamadan, Iran. [In Persian]. https://www.symposia.ir/NTGCE02
  24. Mohammadi, A., & Pashazadeh, A. (2017). Urban resilience to earthquake risk. Case study: Ardabil City. Journal of Earth Science Research, 10(37), 41-54. [In Persian]. https://www.sid.ir/fa/journal/ViewPaper.aspx?id=298672
  25. Pittman, J., Wittrock. V., Kulshreshtha, S., Wheaton, E. (2011). Vulnerability to climate change in rural Saskatchewan: Case study of the rural municipality of Rudy, No 284, Journal of Rural Studies, 27(1), 83-94. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2010.07.004
  26. Rafieian, M., Asgari, M.R. Parhizkar, A., & Shayan, S. (2011), Explaining the concept of resilience and its indices in community-based accident management. Quarterly Journal Human Science Modarres, Land Planning and Planning, 15(4), 19-41. [In Persian] http://hsmsp.modares.ac.ir/article-21-9255-fa.html
  27. Roknoddin Eftekhari, A., Mousavi, S. M., Pourtaheri, M., & Farajzadeh Asl, M. (2014). The analysis of the role of subsistence diversity in the resilience of rural households under drought conditions. Case study: drought-prone areas of Isfahan province. Rural Research, 5(3), 639-662. [In Persian]. https:// www.sid.ir/ fa/ journal/ ViewPaper.aspx?id=249142
  28. Sadeghloo, T., & Sojasi Gheidari, H. A. (2014). Prioritization of factors affecting the improved resilience of farmers to natural hazards (with emphasis on drought in the study area. Case study: rural farmers of Ijroud. Journal of Geography and Environmental Hazards, 10, 129-153. [In Persian]. https://geoeh.um.ac.ir/article_27447.html
  29. Seyed Akhlaghi, S. J., & Taleshi, M. (2018). Improving the resilience of local communities; Future Strategy for dealing with drought Case study: Hablehrood watershed. Iran Nature, 3(3), 60-68. https://irannature.areeo.ac.ir/article_116783_en.html
  30. Scherzer, S., Lujala, P., & Rød, J. K. (2019). A community resilience index for Norway: An adaptation of the Baseline Resilience Indicators for Communities (BRIC). International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 36, 101107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101107
  31. Shokri Firouzjah, P. (2017). Spatial analysis of the resilience of Babol to environmental hazards. Journal of Physical Development Planning, 4(6), 27-44. [In Persian]. http://psp.journals.pnu.ac.ir/article_4146.html
  32. Sojasi Gheidari, H. A, Khob, Sh., Hosseini Kahnooj, S. R., & Moradi, K. (2018). The effects of rural economic diversification on the resilience of villagers in Radkan village of Chenaran city. Quarterly Journal of Space Economics and Development Rural, 7(2), 20-41. [In Persian] https:// www.sid.ir/ Fa/ Journal/ ViewPaper.aspx?id=527395
  33. Wannous, C., & Velasquez, G. (2017, May). United nations office for disaster risk reduction (unisdr)—unisdr’s contribution to science and technology for disaster risk reduction and the role of the international consortium on landslides (icl). In Workshop on World Landslide Forum (pp. 109-115). Springer, Cham.
  34. Wilhite, D. A., Sivakumar, M. V., & Pulwarty, R. (2014). Managing drought risk in a changing climate: The role of national drought policy. Weather and Climate Extremes, 3, 4-13. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2014.01.002
  35. Wines, M. (2014). Colorado River drought forces a painful reckoning for states. New York Times, 5(01). https://schoolofsustainability.asu.edu/real-world-learning/news/archive/drought-in-the-west/
  36. Yang, X., Zhang, K., Jia, B., & Ci, L. (2005). Desertification assessment in China: An overview. Journal of Arid Environments, 63(2), 517-531. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2005.03.032
Send comment about this article
Enter Name.
Enter a valid email address.
Enter a vaid affiliation.
Enter comments (At leaset 10 words)
CAPTCHA Image
Enter Security Code Correctly.

  • Receive Date 05 June 2020
  • Accept Date 13 January 2021