Rural agricultural communities in the axis of climate crisis related disasters: A Qualitative analysis in the case of Antalya

In the 21st century, the climate crisis, which has become one of the greatest dangers, has emerged as a result of human activities to dominate nature. The unconscious consumption of fossil fuels has led to a rapid increase in carbon gas in the atmosphere and a rise in surface temperatures. Fueled by industrial capitalism and modernism, this crisis has emerged as a result of unsustainable economic models. Rural communities, especially in developing countries, are one of the main vulnerable groups due to their limited adaptive capacity and high dependence on agriculture. In the axis of climate change-related disasters, the Mediterranean Basin in the world, Turkey in the Mediterranean Basin, and Antalya in Turkey is one of the hotspots. This research aims to conduct a comprehensive and relational analysis of how rural agricultural communities—one of the most vulnerable groups to the impacts of the climate crisis— experience climate crisis-related disasters in Antalya, one of the cities in Turkey most frequently and intensely exposed to such disasters. Additionally, it seeks to understand the processes by which these communities cope with, adapt to, or become vulnerable to climate disasters. Using qualitative methodology and purposive and snowball sampling, the study examined 3 different cases in the context of rural agricultural communities affected by 1) increasing and intensifying hurricanes, 2) droughts due to decreasing regular rainfall and increasing temperatures, and 3) forest fires with increasing frequency and severity among climate crisis-related disasters. Based on the intensity of exposure, Korkuteli district was identified in the context of drought, Kumluca district in the context of hurricane-storm and Manavgat district in the context of forest fire. 123 participants were interviewed in 25 neighborhoods in 3 districts, in a sample of 94 local community members (25 women and 69 men), 15 mukhtars, 8 cooperative officials and commissioners and 25 representatives of local institutions. The data obtained during the research process, which addresses multiple dynamics and is approached from a relational perspective, was thematically classified, analyzed and interpreted through the MAXQDA Plus program in a systematic manner in relation to the relevant literature, reports and research findings in accordance with the phenomenological research approach. In the first three of the nine main themes, the context of the analysis is built by providing comprehensive information on the field, while in the following six main themes, the process regarding the impacts of climate disasters on rural agricultural communities is analyzed in detail.