Adaptation of Villagers to Climate Changes and its Relationship with Social Factors Case Study: Villagers of Babolsar City, Mazandaran Province
Journal Title: Strategic Research on Social Problems in Iran - Year 2021, Vol 10, Issue 1
Abstract
Introduction: Climate change (CC) is a phenomenon that rapidly occurs and the necessity of adaptation to it is crucial. Knowledge of climate change and having certainty towards its occurrence are critical to the empowerment of vulnerable groups. In other words, taking a scientific and proper approach to deal with the issue of global climate change (GCG) requires awareness towards this phenomenon which helps to make a proper and applicable policy. To address CC issues like environmental risks, we need to understand the causes, consequences, and potential solutions to CC. Because environmental issues of the 21st century are characterized by a high level of scientific and technical complexity, good citizens need to be well informed. Therefore, by arising knowledge of CC, individual behavioral changes directed towards combating the problem can be engendered. In recent years, many researchers have examined public knowledge of the greenhouse effect and ozone depletion. This field of study seems new. Iran is a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, and according to this treaty, it is obliged to implement mitigation and adaptation policies to reduce greenhouse gases. The performance indicators reported by the German Institute for Climate Watch in 2011 reported that Iran’s ranking dropped 14 steps compared with the previous period based on the performance index of climate change. According to the enactment of the rules of procedure adopted Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol in July 2009 by cabinet and the National Climate Change Committee and the Secretariat related to it in Iran's Environmental Protection Agency, it is expected Iran gets better grades in terms of reducing carbon emissions. The main purpose of the present study was to assess the level of adaptation of villagers of Babolsar city to climate change and its relationship with social factors. Materials and Methods: The present study utilized the survey method and the main tool for data collection was a questionnaire. The main focus of this study was assessing farmers’ knowledge and the unit of analysis in this study was farmers and the level of analysis was micro. Of 2877 total farmers of Babolsar, using Cochran's formula and multi-stage cluster sampling, 224 were selected as the sample. The questionnaire consisted of 64 questions. The questions were either open-ended or in multiple-choice format. The validity rate of questions was calculated as higher than 60%. Through this research, 4 hypotheses were examined. Data entry, editing, and final processing were performed by applying SPSS software. The initial analysis showed that the dependent variable had a normal distribution and the authors utilized parametric tests (e.g., Pearson Correlation Coefficient) for testing the hypotheses accordingly. Discussion of Results and Conclusions: The results of the study showed that the surveyed villagers are highly adaptable to climate change (mean = 4.00 of 5). The level of adherence of villagers to agricultural experts and local people in carrying out agricultural activities is moderate, while their effectiveness is low from the norms of the local council. The level of institutional trust by farmers has been moderate. Based on the results of bivariate analysis, the arable land area had the highest correlation with the adaptation of the villagers with the consequences of climate change (r = 0.20). There is no significant difference in the adaptation of the villagers with the consequences of climate change in agriculture by age and income. According to the research results, it can be suggested that to improve the adaptation of villagers to climate change and maintain their livelihood and prevent the negative consequences of climate change on agriculture (such as job change and migration), necessary measures are required to take place to increase the level of social trust of villagers towards government and relevant institutions. This training should be about recognizing and adapting to climate change, how to increase income as well as resilience to the negative consequences of climate change, and how to deal with it. To deal with the negative consequences of climate change (such as rising temperatures and lack of rainfall), the relationship between the Organization Agricultural Jihad experts and gardeners and farmers must be strengthened.
Authors and Affiliations
Sadegh Salehi * Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Mazandaran, Iran S. salehi@umz. ac. ir Zahra Pazokinejad PhD in Sociology of Social Issues, University of Mazandaran, Mazandaran, Iran Zahrapazoki1464@gmail. com
Keywords
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- EP ID EP704968
- DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.22108/srspi.2021.124046.1582
- Views 71
- Downloads 0
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