“If Only a Man Could Control the Rain!” - Strategies of Polish Farming Households in Times of Drought

This presentation examines the coping strategies undertaken by Polish farming households affected by drought. In recent years, drought has become increasingly common and is considered one of the most pressing and persistent problems facing farming in Poland today. Farming household members, then, have been faced with a new dimension of their labour, centered on attempting to mitigate, minimize and counter the negative effects of the climate change-connected drought.

The presentation is based on semi-structured interviews with adult members of farming households in Eastern Poland and participant observations conducted over a year in one research location in the area. Farming in Poland is largely a familial matter, with family members serving as the labor force at the farm, performing specific tasks, segregated based on gender and age. Drought has forced farming household members to confront this new challenge; this presentation aims to show the gendered dimension of the decision-making processes and the intra-household hierarchy reflected in these strategies, which fall under the umbrella of sustainability labour.

In the course of the analysis, a taxonomy of the coping strategies has been developed: (1) weary acceptance; (2) modernization and change; (3) reliance on external (i.e. governmental) help. The presentation will characterize each strategy, connecting them to the larger theme of sustainability regulations on the national and European Union levels, as well as attempting to problematize the climate change denialism present in the investigated farming community.