Vulnerability Assessment of Rural Households to floods (Villages of Afrineh Watershed, Lorestan Province)

Lorestan province is one of the 5 flood-prone provinces in terms of weather conditions and high average rainfall. During floods, many economic and social damages are inflicted on individuals and their livelihoods. Estimating post-flood vulnerability is always one of the challenges of crisis and risk management. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess the vulnerability of farmers to floods. The statistical population of this study is 3843 households who are living along the Afrineh river basin in Poledokhtar Township. The sample size was determined to be 350 according to Cochran's formula and the participants were selected through a simple random sampling method. An Index-based method was used to assess vulnerability. The vulnerability was measured based on three components of exposure, sensitivity and, adaptive capacity. Cluster analysis and one-way ANOVA were used to grouping and identify the factors affecting the vulnerability. The results showed that most rural households are in the middle class based on vulnerability to floods. The results of the analysis of variance showed that flood duration index in exposure dimension, financial and, livelihood indicators in sensitivity dimension and social capital and human capital indicators in adaptation dimension had a significant effect on the vulnerability of rural households. Therefore, diversifying products and sources of income and encouraging villagers to participate in rural organizations and, creating incentives for participation and cooperation among farmers can play a constructive role in reducing the effects of flood risk.