Socio–Economical Impact Assessment of Drought on the Rural Agriculture; a Case Study of Rural Districtin Southern

Abstract: This study has aimed to assess the social and economic impacts of drought on agriculture of a rural district in southern Iran entitled Jiroft County. To prepare data, about 217 questionnaire forms were collected in the field works during 2011-2012 then statistically analyzed. According to drought time series of the study area, the year 2008 is known as a strongest drought, which has effected on job sharing, income rate and cultivated areas. The impacts of drought on agricultural workforces and migration are approximately negligible, while the changes on job condition after drought are temporarily high (P<0.01). The correlation analysis exhibited a positive meaningful relation between drought effect and economic income. Income of household from agricultural activities has been remarkable declined hence the rate of investment on agricultural section has been reduced. The changes in household income, cultivated areas and agricultural employment have leaded the various migrations in recent years. About 30 % of the population has migrated out of the study area after the 2008 drought event. Due to the migration of ~1100 populations with mean monthly income of ~30 USD, the volume of ~400,000 USD have been lost annually after the 2008 drought event in the study area