Farmers’ perception of drought and its impact on a community livelihood in rural Northeastern Thailand

บทคัดย่อ

This qualitative research using key informant group discussions, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and community meetings was carried out to investigate the perception of drought and its impact on community livelihood at Ban Khammex, Kalasin province in Northeastern Thailand where the villagers are primarily engaged in farming, e.g. rice, sugarcane, cassava, rubber; livestock rearing; etc. The results indicated that the farmers were well aware about the drought issue; and their perception regarding drought in the study area is linked with erratic rainfall which included early cessation of rainfall, late start of rainfall, and, most importantly, no rain for long periods of time; while drought identifiable indicators were also related to weather conditions, and the impact of drought on crops was especially severe on rice. Most of the farmers could recall most recent drought years in comparison to the old ones, and they expected drought to become more frequent in the near future. Participants in the community observed that drought could obviously reduce local businesses, limit money for festival celebrations, severely impact on environmental issues, cause rapid emigration, and increase alcoholism. Public service providers also argued that drought increased the level of assistance seeking like water supply, loan reschedules, public pond diggings, health services, etc.