Mechanisms to change farmers' drought adaptation behaviors in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, Iran

Introduction

Frequent droughts in Iran have imposed economic and social losses on farmers. To mitigate drought implications, farmers' behaviors should be shifted towards drought adaptation. This research mainly aimed to study mechanisms for changing farmers' drought adaptation behaviors in Sistan and Baluchistan Province.

Methods

The research was conducted among farmers in this province (N = 950). The sample whose size was estimated at 275 farmers by Krejcie and Morgan's table was taken by the stratified random sampling technique. The research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS23 and AMOS23 software. The comprehensive action determination model was validated by confirmatory factor analysis. Furthermore, structural equation modeling was used to explore the components influencing farmers' drought adaptation behaviors.

Results and discussion

According to the results, personal norms, attitudes, objective barriers, and subjective barriers had positive and significant effects on the farmers' intention to apply drought adaptation strategies. As well, the farmers' adaptation behaviors were influenced by their behavioral intentions, objective barriers, and subjective barriers. It can be concluded that changing the mechanism of farmers' behaviors toward drought adaptation is shaped by the processes included in the comprehensive action determination model in which norms, habits, situational influences, and intentional processes are involved.

A conceptual model for adaptation to climate variability in rangelands

Exploiting medicinal plants on rangelands is a climate-sensitive strategy in Iran. In other words, there is an urgent need for the transition toward resilience under current climatic pressures and risks. In addition, a deep understanding about awareness, risk perceptions, and adaptation strategies of different rural groups can play a significant role in the mitigation of climate change impacts and the development of the adaptation capacity. Therefore, the development of a conceptual model for adaptation to climate variability in rangelands was determined as the main purpose of the present study. To this end, we used analysis of awareness, risk perceptions, and adaptation strategies of medicinal plant exploiters toward climate variability. This research was carried out in Sought Khorasan province of Iran, which is one of the climate-sensitive and leading areas for the exploitation of medicinal plants in the country. Required data for this study were gathered through 13 focus group discussions. The number of members of these focus groups was between 4 and 12 people. The total number of participants in the focus groups was 91 medicinal plant exploiters. The results revealed that exploiters have a relatively favorable awareness of the current climate situation. However, they perceived huge constraints in financial supports and resources which lead to increasing social conflicts, decreasing social relations, leaving the job, increasing migration, unemployment, and psychological impacts. As expected, various adaptation strategies were used aiming at conserving, developing, improving, and managing income resources, but many of them are short of resilience orientation. Finally, research findings were articulated in the form of a conceptual model and some practical recommendations were presented to enhance adaptation of rangelands' exploiters.

Climate Change Impacts Can Be Differentially Perceived Across Time Scales: A Study Among the Tuareg of the Algerian Sahara

As an Indigenous community of Algeria and the broader Sahel, the Tuareg hold unique ecological knowledge, which might contribute to broader models of place-based climate change impacts. Between January and April 2019, we carried out semi-structured interviews (N = 23) and focus group discussions (N = 3) in five villages of the province of Illizi, Algeria, to document the local Tuareg community's timeline and ecological calendar, both of which are instruments used to understand place-based reports of climate change impacts. The livelihoods of the Tuareg of Illizi are finely tuned to climate variability as reflected in changes reported in the cadence of events in their ecological calendar (marked by cyclical climatic and religious events). Participants reported rain and temperature irregularities and severe drought events, which have impacted their pastoral and semi-pastoral livelihoods. These reports are aligned with scientifically measured climate observations and predictions. Paradoxically, although participants recall with detail the climatic disasters that happened in the region over the last century, the Tuareg do not explicitly report decadal trends in the frequency of extreme events. The differential perception of climate change impacts across scales can have important implications for undertaking climate change adaptation measures.