Farmers’ Lived Experiences of Water Crisis: Lessons Learned from a Phenomenology Study

Understanding the perception of farmers is essential for successful water resources management especially during water crisis. Therefore, this paper examines farmers’ perception about the local water crisis in Gawshan dam basin, Iran. Qualitative phenomenological methodology was used to depict the lived experiences of farmers regarding water crisis. Using critical sampling, out of all water users of the Gawshan dam, the selected participants were farmers having lived experience of water crisis and interested to express and share their experiences. Sixty important statements and five themes were extracted from participants’ experiences (PE) in water crisis. Finding showed that farmers have perceived agricultural water crisis at the local level but different pattern of perception also is detected among them. The results also revealed that farmers’ perception is related to their direct experience, the way they define water crisis, their memories of water crisis and their expectation of what it holds for future water crisis. It is expected that this study will support decision makers at local level to address water crisis in the region.