Climate Changes and the Role of Recent Droughts on Agricultural Economy of Sistan
Journal Title: Romanian Review of Regional Studies - Year 2013, Vol 9, Issue 1
Abstract
Regional economy is usually affected by the operation and interaction of environment and human beings in geographical spaces. Warm and dry areas create special economic conditions, which have particular functions, quite different from the characteristics of humid and cold hilly areas or those of the Mediterranean areas. The Sistan Region is located in South East of Iran. Until recent droughts (1999-2005), agriculture sector was the basis of all economic activities in Sistan area, a major share of rural as well as urban income came directly and indirectly from agricultural activities. In accordance with the latest census before the drought period (1996), about 55 percent of the rural population directly depended on the agriculture sector for their income and employment. In addition, almost 24 percent of rural population was depended to cottage and rural industries for their employments. In urban areas, 70 percent of population was linked to service sector as a source of employment. The results of this research show that the environmental changes resulting from drought in Sistan area have had deep impacts on the socio-economic factors in the region. It is clearer in the Hamoon Lake area, which, before the onset drought, had produced crops like fodders, mat, bird meat and fish. The livestock sector also suffered to a great extent. Out of the total of 1.6 million livestock units in the area, more than 0.5 million remained in the production cycle nowadays. The production of these crops reduced to zero with drought. The total direct loss resulted from the drought amounts to 14,057,332 million Rails or 1,561 billion US$. To sum up, the environmental changes resulting from drought caused more than 80 percent of agricultural and livestock activities in the region come to halt, which, in turn, due to a reduced income multiplier effect of agriculture sector resulted in greater damage to socio-economic factors in rural, as well as in urban areas.
Authors and Affiliations
ISSA EBRAHIMZADEH, MORTEZA ESMAELNEJAD
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP141057
- DOI -
- Views 143
- Downloads 0
Spatial Disparities in the Educational System within the Land of Severin
The development and the diversification of the economy in the Land of Severin, especially in the rural space, depend on the level of education, knowledge and skill. Though the improvement and the maintenance of an adequa...
Accessibility to Nodes of Interest: A Practical Application of the Various Forms of the Impedance Curves
Impedance is, in territorial statistics, the greater or lesser difficulty of a territory to be served/provided with adequate infrastructure and related services, useful for the improvement of the resident’s quality of li...
COCEAN, POMPEI - „Ţările”: regiuni geografice şi spaţii mentale [“The Lands” as Geographical Regions and Mental Spaces], Presa Universitară Clujeană, Cluj-Napoca, 2011, 247 p.
Natural Risk Regionalization in the District of Cluj
The geomorphologic processes are usually limited as area of occurrence. They can be localized punctually, but the transformations they induce are irreversible and can produce very important environmental changes such as...
The Human Pressure upon the Environment Through Agricultural Land Use in the Desnăţui Plain
Through its activities, one way or another, Man leaves a mark upon the environment. The Desnăţui Plain is an important agricultural region, a feature also confirmed by the increased number of rural settlements and a high...