HOUSEHOLDS’ PERCEPTION OF CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS IN RURAL ROMANIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26458/1833Keywords:
climate change, rural areas, RomaniaAbstract
This paper is focused on the analysis of the impact of climate change on the households from rural Romania. Climate change may have an impact on different sectors of the economy, such as agriculture, food industry, energy sector, tourism, etc. Also, the impact is felt by households. In rural regions of Romania, the households are already facing various risks, related to lack of income, and also related to ageing population. This study aimed to underline how rural people relate to the climatic conditions with emphasis on the trend of major change in the various aspects of the weather, sources used to find information on climate change, reliability level of the climate change information provided by various sources, the possibility to adopt measures to tackle the effects of climate change, and so on. A number of 100 copies of the questionnaire were distributed among households in a rural area of Dâmbovița County, Romania - Petrești commune - in April, 2018, with the main purpose to test it. The respondents were selected randomly. Poor households are vulnerable to climate change because low income cannot provide a satisfactory degree of access to services needed in the protection against threats. Various adaptation strategies may be used by households confronted with negative effects of climate change.References
Abaje, I.B., Sawa, B.A., Iguisi, E.O., Ibrahim, A.A. Impacts of climate change and adaptation strategies in rural communities of Kaduna State, Nigeria, Ethiopian Journal of Environmental Studies & Management 9 (1): 97 – 108, 2016.
Antwi-Agyei, P., Dougill, A., Fraser, E., Stringer, L. Characterising the nature of household vulnerability to climate variability: Empirical evidence from two regions of Ghana, Environment, Development and Sustainability, 15(4): 903‐926, 2013.
Balteanu, D., Dragota, C.S., Popovici, A., Dumitrascu, M., Kucsicsa, G., Grigorescu, I. Land Use and Crop Dynamics Related to Climate Change Signals During the Post-Communist Period in South Oltenia, Romania, Proc. Rom. Acad., Series B, 15(3), 2013, p. 265–278.
Berhe, M. Hoag, D., Tesfay, G., Tadesse, T., Oniki, S., Kagatsume, M. Keske, C. The effects of adaptation to climate change on income of households in rural Ethiopia, Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice, 2017, 7-12.
Brown, H.C.P., Sonwa, D.J. Rural local institutions and climate change adaptation in forest communities in Cameroon, Ecology and Society 20(2): 6, 2015.
Constantinescu, A. Influenta schimbarilor climatice asupra Romaniei. Impact economic si masuri de prevenire la nivel regional, Ed. Universitara, 2018.
Cuculeanu, V., Tuinea, P., Balteanu, D. Climate change impacts in Romania: Vulnerability and adaptation options, GeoJournal 57: 203–209, 2002.
Curseu, D., Popa, M., Sirbu, D. Climate Change Impact on Water Resources and Life Quality, Thirteenth International Water Technology Conference, IWTC 13 2009, Hurghada, Egypt, 2009, www.iwtc.info/2009_pdf/1-7.pdf.
Dasgupta, P., Morton, J.F., Dodman, D., Karapinar, B., Meza, F., Rivera-Ferre, M.G., Toure Sarr, A., Vincent, K.E. Rural areas. In: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Field, C.B., V.R. Barros, D.J. Dokken, K.J. Mach, M.D. Mastrandrea, T.E. Bilir, M. Chatterjee, K.L. Ebi, Y .O. Estrada, R.C. Genova, B. Girma, E.S. Kissel, A.N. Levy, S. MacCracken, P.R. Mastrandrea, and L.L. White (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 2014, pp. 613-657.
Deressa, T., Hassan, R., Ringler, C. Assessing Household Vulnerability to Climate Change. The Case of Farmers in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia, The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Environment and Production Technology Division, 2009, http://www.ifpri.org/publication/assessing-household-vulnerability-climate-change.
Dube, T. Phiri, K. Rural Livelihoods under Stress: The Impact of Climate Change on Livelihoods in South Western Zimbabwe, American International Journal of Contemporary Research, 3(5): 11-25, 2013.
Gurgu, E., The Impact on Climate and Environment Change –Renewable Energy Sector, Annals of Spiru Haret University, Economic Series, Vol. 10, No. 4, 2010.
Haque, A.N. Dodman, D., Hossain, M. Individual, communal and institutional responses to climate change by low-income households in Khulna, Bangladesh, Environment & Urbanization, 26(1): 112–129, 2014.
Houghton, A., Austin, J., Beerman, A., Horton, C. An Approach to Developing Local Climate Change Environmental Public Health Indicators in a Rural District, Journal of Environmental and Public Health 1/2017.
Hurduzeu, G., Kevorchian, C., Gavrilescu, C., Hurduzeu, R. Hazards and risks in the Romanian agriculture due to climate changes, Procedia Economics and Finance 8 (2014) 346 – 352, 2014
Ioan, I., Rădulescu, C.V. New Challenges for Agriculture within the Context of Climate Change, Theoretical and Applied Economics, Volume XXII (2015), No. 4(605), Winter, pp. 253-262, 2015.
Karfakis, P., Lipper, L. and Smulder. M. The Assessment of the Socioeconomic Impacts of Climate Change at Household Level and Policy Implications, In: Building resilience for adaptation to climate change in the agriculture sector, Proceedings of a Joint FAO/OECD Workshop, Rome, 2012.
Kaushik, G., Sharma, K.C. Climate Change and Rural Livelihoods-Adaptation and Vulnerability in Rajasthan, Global NEST Journal, Vol 17 No 1, pp 41-49, 2015.
Ludena, C.E., Yoon, S.W. Local Vulnerability Indicators and Adaptation to Climate Change: A Survey, Inter-American Development Bank, Technical Note No. 857 (IDB-TN857), Washington DC, 2015.
Luqman, M., Shahbaz, B., Majeed, M.Z., Raza, M.M. Impact of Climate Change on Rural Livelihoods - A Case of Hazara Region of Pakistan, J Agric. Res., Vol. 55(2): 441-452, 2017.
Maluleke, W., Mokwena, R.J. The Effect of Climate Change on Rural Livestock Farming: Case Study of Giyani Policing Area, Republic of South Africa, S. Afr. J. Agric. Ext., Vol. 45, No. 1/2017: 26 – 40.
Micu, D., Popovici, E.A., Havriş, L.E., Dragotă, C.S. Heat stress-crop yields interactions under summer warming trends: Insights for the southern cropping lowlands of Romania, Rev. Roum. Géogr./Rom. Journ. Geogr., 61, (2), p. 169–192, 2017.
Mitrică, B., Mateescu, E., Dragotă, C.S., Grigorescu, I., Dumitraşcu, M., Popovici, E.A., Climate Change Impacts on Agricultural Crops in the Timiş Plain, Romania, Romanian Agricultural Research, No. 32, 2015.
Ncube, M., Madubula, N., Ngwenya, H., Zinyengere, N., Zhou, L., Francis, J. et al. Climate change, household vulnerability and smart agriculture: The case of two South African provinces, Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies 8(2), 2016.
Ndhleve, S., Nakin, M.D.V., Longo-Mbenza, B. Rural households’ awareness and preceptions to variability in climatic conditions in rural South Africa, African Journal of Agricultural Research, 9(3): 418-424, 2014.
Ofoegbu, C., Chirwa, P., Francis, J., Babalola, F. Assessing vulnerability of rural communities to climate change: A review of implications for forestbased livelihoods in South Africa, International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 9(03): 374-386, 2017.
Olabode, A.D, Adeleke, E.A. Rural Climate and Adaptive Strategies for Sustainable Food Security in Akungba-Akoko, Nigeria, Analele Universităţii din Oradea, Seria Geografie, Year XXVII, no. 1/2017 (June), pp. 07-16.
Ontel, I., Vladut, A. Impact of drought on the productivity of agricultural crops within the Oltenia Plain, Romania, Geographica Pannonica, Volume 19, Issue 1, 9-19 (March 2015).
Pettengell, C. Climate Change Adaptation Enabling people living in poverty to adapt, Oxfam International Research Report, 2010, https://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/climate-change-adaptation-enabling-people-living-in-poverty-to-adapt-111978.
Poudel, S., Funakawa, S., Shinjo, H. Household Perceptions about the Impacts of Climate Change on Food Security in the Mountainous Region of Nepal, Sustainability 9, 641.
Riedy, C. (2007), Household Behavior Change for Climate Change Response, Journal of Integral Theory and Practice, 4(4): 103-120, 2017.
Rusu, T., Moraru, P., Coste, C., Cacovean, H., Chetan, F., Chetan, C. Impact of Climate Change on Climatic Indicators in Transylvanian Plain, Romania, Journal of Food Agriculture and Environment, Vol.12 (1): 469 – 473, 2014.
Seaman, J., Sawdon, G., Acidri, J. Petty, C. The Household Economy Approach. Managing the impact of climate change on poverty and food security in developing countries, Climate Risk Management, 4–5: 59-68, 2014.
Shrestha, R.P., Chaweewan, N. Arunyawat, S., Adaptation to Climate Change by Rural Ethnic Communities of Northern Thailand, Climate 5, 57, 2017.
Sima, M., Popovici, E.A., Bălteanu, D., Micu, D.M., Kucsicsa, G., Dragotă, C., Grigorescu, I. A farmer-based analysis of climate change adaptation options of agriculture in the Bărăgan Plain, Romania, Earth Perspectives 2:5, 2015.
Slave, C., Vizireanu, I. Climate change in relation to agriculture, Agrarian Economy and Rural Development - Realities and Perspectives for Romania. 6th Edition of the International Symposium, The Research Institute for Agricultural Economy and Rural Development (ICEADR), Bucharest, 2015, pp. 162-166.
Umar, S., Musa, M.W., Tologbonse, E.B. Evaluating Resilience to Climate Change among Farming Households: The Coping Strategy Index (CSI) Approach, Proceedings of the 1st International conference on Drylands, 245-250, 2014.
Zeleňáková, M., Purcz, P., Hlavatá, H., Blišťan, P. Climate change in urban versus rural areas, Procedia Engineering 119, 1171 – 1180, 2015.