Role of livelihood diversity in rural households resilience against drought risk(Case study: Hablehroud Basin)

Resilience is one of the strategies to reduce the vulnerability of communities in dealing with natural hazards. The present study examines the role of livelihood diversity as a strategic approach for adaptation and coping with drought risk in Hablehroud watershed. In this research, the research method was quantitative and survey based, and descriptive, analytical and correlation methods were used. To this end, 9 villages from different areas of the province with different degrees of drought and development were selected by simple random sampling method. Then, based on the Cochran formula, 271 households were selected as the sample size. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed through a panel of experts, and the reliability of the research tool was confirmed by a Cronbach's alpha of 0.842 at a very good level. The results showed that the level of resilience in the area was undesirable and lower than the average level, and the average of the human, social and physical capital index of the area was higher than the average value of the financial (economic) and natural capital. Based on the findings, adoption of a livelihood diversity strategy in promoting the resilience of rural households in Hablehroud area had a significant effect on drought risk.