Dealing with Drought: A Comparison of Perceptions and Coping Strategies of Iranian Farmers from Regions with Different Drought Intensities

Abstract

According to the World Disaster Report (Walter, 2004), drought and famine have proven to be the deadliest disasters of the decade worldwide, accounting for at least 275,000 deaths since 1994. This was nearly half the total for all natural disasters. The agricultural sector has been found to experience the largest variety of economic impacts (Wilhite and Glantz, 1985). Little is currently known regarding farmers’ psychological responses and adaptation to drought. This exploratory study in southwest Iran assessed the perceptions and coping strategies of 360 randomly selected farmers from regions with different drought intensities in Fars province. Results indicate that farmers from all regions experience mainly threats to their resources rather than resource loss as a consequence of drought. Resource loss related to more emotion-focused coping, whereas when farmers perceived threats they were inclined to use less emotion-focused coping. No relationships were found between perceptions and problem oriented coping or seeking social support. Farmers from very high drought intense areas experience significantly more resource losses than farmers from medium or high drought intense regions. In contrast, farmers from high drought regions experienced more threats than farmers from medium and very high drought intense regions. Farmers from very high drought intense regions sought less social support than farmers from other regions. The article discusses implications of these results for extension professionals who serve the needs of farmers during agricultural crises.