Developing and Analyzing the Agricultural Water Poverty Index in West Iran

Currently 60 percent of Iran’s land is located in water-stressed regions, where Hamedan is known as a semi-arid province and is also a province with a high population concentration with a dominant agricultural economy. For analyzing human-related crises we need multidimensional measures and AWPI has a socio-economical dimension and multidimensional criteria for assessing status. Hence, the purpose of the present study was to develop and evaluate the water resources status in the agriculture sector of Hamedan province using AWPI as a typical area in western Iran. The present applied study was conducted to evaluate the status of water poverty in the agriculture sector of Hamedan province using the Agricultural Water Poverty Index (AWPI). This index includes five components: resources, access, use, capacity, and environment. The indicators explaining each of the five components of AWPI were collected from different literature and the data were collected using databases, statistics, and the national census of 2016. A total of five principal components and 55 indicators were developed and were used to evaluate the status of water resources. The value of the composite AWPI was developed by the weighted mean of the five principal components. The data were analyzed using SPSS and GIS software. The components, criteria, and sub-criteria of AWPI were weighted using the principal components analysis. The mean AWPI for Hamedan province was 40.55, which indicates that the province is placed in the middle to high water poverty status and this poverty is mostly due to the components of resources, capacity, access, and use.