COVID-19 and rural households’ environmental incomes in Iran
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COVID-19 and rural households’ environmental incomes in Iran. / Ghanbari, Sajad; Smith-Hall, Carsten; Jafari, Mostafa; Eastin, Ivan.
In: Forests, Vol. 14, No. 9, 1918, 2023.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - COVID-19 and rural households’ environmental incomes in Iran
AU - Ghanbari, Sajad
AU - Smith-Hall, Carsten
AU - Jafari, Mostafa
AU - Eastin, Ivan
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted rural livelihoods in the Global South. Environmental products, such as medicinal plants and fodder harvested in forests and rangelands, are a major source of income in many rural communities. In this paper, we investigate environmental product-related income and economic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic using face-to-face interviews with randomly selected household heads (n = 384) in 26 villages in northwestern Iran. We found that the main impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were a decrease in income (reported by 72% of households), an increased health risk (48%), and persistent fear of infection by COVID-19 (45%). Household economies were found to be particularly reliant on animal husbandry (26% of total annual household income) and farming (26%). Environmental products contributed an average of 18% of total household income. Almost half of the households (45%) experienced lower livestock prices, a lack of buyers (49%), and a lockdown of animal markets (38%). Fodder (collected by 45% of households), medicinal plants (42%), and wild fruits (29%) were the most important environmental products harvested during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found a negative but not significant effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on total rural household income and that the COVID-19 pandemic led to a slight non-significant decrease in relative forest income. The negative impact on relative forest income resonates well with existing scholarship on livelihoods and negative shocks. It is noteworthy, however, that there is substantial scope for increasing environmental incomes and, thus, the potential of environmental products as a response option in the face of covariant shocks such as COVID-19.
AB - The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted rural livelihoods in the Global South. Environmental products, such as medicinal plants and fodder harvested in forests and rangelands, are a major source of income in many rural communities. In this paper, we investigate environmental product-related income and economic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic using face-to-face interviews with randomly selected household heads (n = 384) in 26 villages in northwestern Iran. We found that the main impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were a decrease in income (reported by 72% of households), an increased health risk (48%), and persistent fear of infection by COVID-19 (45%). Household economies were found to be particularly reliant on animal husbandry (26% of total annual household income) and farming (26%). Environmental products contributed an average of 18% of total household income. Almost half of the households (45%) experienced lower livestock prices, a lack of buyers (49%), and a lockdown of animal markets (38%). Fodder (collected by 45% of households), medicinal plants (42%), and wild fruits (29%) were the most important environmental products harvested during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found a negative but not significant effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on total rural household income and that the COVID-19 pandemic led to a slight non-significant decrease in relative forest income. The negative impact on relative forest income resonates well with existing scholarship on livelihoods and negative shocks. It is noteworthy, however, that there is substantial scope for increasing environmental incomes and, thus, the potential of environmental products as a response option in the face of covariant shocks such as COVID-19.
KW - diseases
KW - forest
KW - livelihoods
KW - rural communities
KW - West Asia
U2 - 10.3390/f14091918
DO - 10.3390/f14091918
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85172726187
VL - 14
JO - Forests
JF - Forests
SN - 1999-4907
IS - 9
M1 - 1918
ER -
ID: 382758159