Investigating factors affecting the income of rural households in Lake Urmia basin

One of the measures that can be taken in crisis management of Lake Urmia is to measure the impacts of the drying up of the lake on the rurals income in the basin. Assessing impacts in local dimensions is important because of identifying the ability of areas involved in environmental crises to deal with them. Also, using the results of measuring this important factor can lead to the adoption of appropriate livelihood policies to reduce vulnerability. In this regard, the present study investigated factors affecting the income of rural households in Urmia lake basin using panel data in the three provinces of West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan and Kurdistan. Utilizing the data of the period of 2006-2019 and estimating the model using the fixed effects approach showed that percentage of working people of the active rural population, the area of irrigated land, the level of Lake Urmia, and annual rainfall respectively have the most positive effects on the real annual income. So that for one percent increase in the value of each of these variables, the real income will increase by 0.269, 0.186, 0.074 and 0.006 percent respectively. Taking support measures for the construction of greenhouses, investing in non-agricultural businesses in order to diversify the income and livelihood resources of the villagers, expanding mechanization and the use of new technologies in the agricultural sector Land equipping with new irrigation systems, and speeding up the completion of projects approved by the lake restoration headquarters are the suggestions of the present study.