Designing a Pattern of Adaptive Behavior to Climate Change: A Case Study of Paddy Farmer Women in Mazandaran Province of Iran

Negative effects of climate change and efforts to reduce them have different impacts on men and women; and women, as important actors and those with significant knowledge and skills, play an important role in adapting to these changes. This study aimed at designing a model of behavior adaptation to climate changes among paddy farmer women in Mazandaran province of Iran, using a developed model of Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). For this purpose, 173 paddy farmer women in the province who cultivated rice in the 2016-2017 crop year were selected through stratified sampling with proportional assignment. A standard questionnaire was used to collect information. The results showed that threat assessment and coping assessment of paddy farmer women had positive and significant effects on their adaptation behavior to climate change; in addition, understanding problems had the greatest impact on threat assessment, and response costs had the greatest impact on their response to climate change. According to the results, it is suggested that public and private bodies related to agriculture, natural resources, climate change as well as international bodies such as the International Committee on Climate Change and the UN Convention on Climate Change be more concerned with teaching conservation and adaptive behaviors and the paddy farmer women should undoubtedly take some measures. The results of this study would help to identify the behaviors that determine women's adaptation to climate change and the strategic interventions needed for their more effective adaptation.