Can Pakistan Secure Its Agricultural Future?
Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world and, climatically, one of the most vulnerable. The irony is that we are also one of the fastest growing nations in terms of population, with the last census showing a 2.55% annual increase (adding tens of millions more mouths to feed).
Pakistan is also one of the most well-endowed countries in the world, with a natural capital of fertile soil and fresh water, supported by four seasons that help crops and biomass grow. Water resources in the form of glaciers are found in the catchment areas in Azad Kashmir, KP and Gilgit Baltistan. These glaciers (the largest outside the polar region) and the monsoon sustain life for hundreds of millions of people in the plains, from the foothills of the Himalayas to the coastal regions of Sindh. This fresh water reaches farms, communities and cities, including Karachi, through a vast irrigation system comprising three large dams, 19 barrages, 43 main canals and hundreds of branch canals. The irrigated farmlands, spanning over 40 million acres, produce food for hundreds of millions of Pakistanis. Vast quantities are also exported, and Pakistan expects to earn over $10 billion in food exports in the current financial year.
However, global warming is threatening the capacity of our glaciers to hold the water that is so vital to Pakistan’s economy. The year 2024 was on average warmer by 1.6 C, breaching the critical limit of 1.5 C committed under the Paris Agreement in 2015.
So what are the medium and long-term implications for Pakistan’s ability to grow food? Before we deal with the question, we can say that climate change has, so far, not seriously affected Pakistan’s food production capacity, although the cotton crop was severely affected in 2024 by the excessive heat.
Pakistan’s flawed policies and development strategies, however, are adding to the climate threat.
It is fashionable to blame climate change for almost every crisis Pakistan faces in terms of its food security. However, if we study the problem carefully, it is clear that despite extreme climate events (including the devastating floods of 2022), the damage was actually caused by a faulty irrigation and drainage infrastructure.
Nevertheless, in 2022, the people in KP who faced a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) stood little chance of survival due to the sheer force and speed of the water deluges. The devastation to KPs hospitality industry and livelihoods was catastrophic, and there has to be a targeted collaborative policy approach by the KP and the federal government to support people in GLOF areas.
Government assistance, with support from international climate change finance, is needed to make the communities and businesses (agriculture and hospitality) more resilient in these areas. Here it is pertinent to mention that there are international climate finance opportunities targeted at communities affected by extreme climate events. Furthermore, government initiatives in this respect will receive a positive response, provided the right kind of projects are initiated.
The plains of Pakistan face different kinds of issues that are primarily related to water management and the spread of salinity, which affects soil fertility in Punjab and Sindh. The situation is more acute in the irrigated areas where the groundwater is saline. According to irrigation technical papers, one ton of salt accumulates per acre every year in the Indus Basin, posing a direct threat to food production capacity.
According to a recent report by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 6.69 million hectares of Pakistan’s 22 million hectares of land are affected by salinity, which is further accentuated by global warming.
What are the government and the business community doing to rehabilitate life-supporting soils in Pakistan? In the 1960s, the government initiated Salinity Control and Reclamation Projects (SCARPs) with interventions from KP to southern Punjab to Sindh. The government also initiated left bank outfall drain (LBOD) and right bank outfall drain (RBOD) projects. Yet, despite these massive government investments, the FAO report shows that nearly seven million hectares of land are affected by salinity, resulting in a loss of 100,000 acres of land a year. The solution is to remove the accumulated salt from the soil, and this requires massive financial investments and vast quantities of fresh water, as the soil needs to be washed.
The tragedy is that Pakistan’s policymakers are now looking at bringing ‘virgin’ areas (deserts) under irrigation at the expense of the current areas upon which millions of people are dependent for their livelihood. There is massive resentment in the lower riparian areas like Sindh, where communities and local political leaders fear that new water diversions in the upstream areas of Punjab will affect water availability in Sindh. Climate change and aggravating policies can tear us apart unless we chart an inclusive and business-led development process.
Aijaz A. Nizamani is a hands-on farmer and former Secretary, Forest and Wildlife, Sindh.
aijazniz@gmail.com
Join DawnMedia’s Breathe Pakistan initiative to combat climate change.
Climate Change Pakistan's agricultural sector food Agriculture Agriculture in Pakistan climate crises pakistan's climate crisis investment in agriculture environmental agriculture sustainability and climate action food crisis glof
Email
It is fashionable to blame climate change for almost every crisis Pakistan faces in terms of its food security. However, if we study the problem carefully, it is clear that despite extreme climate events (including the devastating floods of 2022), the damage was actually caused by a faulty irrigation and drainage infrastructure.
Nevertheless, in 2022, the people in KP who faced a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) stood little chance of survival due to the sheer force and speed of the water deluges. The devastation to KPs hospitality industry and livelihoods was catastrophic, and there has to be a targeted collaborative policy approach by the KP and the federal government to support people in GLOF areas.
Government assistance, with support from international climate change finance, is needed to make the communities and businesses (agriculture and hospitality) more resilient in these areas. Here it is pertinent to mention that there are international climate finance opportunities targeted at communities affected by extreme climate events. Furthermore, government initiatives in this respect will receive a positive response, provided the right kind of projects are initiated.
The plains of Pakistan face different kinds of issues that are primarily related to water management and the spread of salinity, which affects soil fertility in Punjab and Sindh. The situation is more acute in the irrigated areas where the groundwater is saline. According to irrigation technical papers, one ton of salt accumulates per acre every year in the Indus Basin, posing a direct threat to food production capacity.
According to a recent report by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 6.69 million hectares of Pakistan’s 22 million hectares of land are affected by salinity, which is further accentuated by global warming.
What are the government and the business community doing to rehabilitate life-supporting soils in Pakistan? In the 1960s, the government initiated Salinity Control and Reclamation Projects (SCARPs) with interventions from KP to southern Punjab to Sindh. The government also initiated left bank outfall drain (LBOD) and right bank outfall drain (RBOD) projects. Yet, despite these massive government investments, the FAO report shows that nearly seven million hectares of land are affected by salinity, resulting in a loss of 100,000 acres of land a year. The solution is to remove the accumulated salt from the soil, and this requires massive financial investments and vast quantities of fresh water, as the soil needs to be washed.
The tragedy is that Pakistan’s policymakers are now looking at bringing ‘virgin’ areas (deserts) under irrigation at the expense of the current areas upon which millions of people are dependent for their livelihood. There is massive resentment in the lower riparian areas like Sindh, where communities and local political leaders fear that new water diversions in the upstream areas of Punjab will affect water availability in Sindh. Climate change and aggravating policies can tear us apart unless we chart an inclusive and business-led development process.
Aijaz A. Nizamani is a hands-on farmer and former Secretary, Forest and Wildlife, Sindh.
aijazniz@gmail.com
Join DawnMedia’s Breathe Pakistan initiative to combat climate change.
Climate Change Pakistan's agricultural sector food Agriculture Agriculture in Pakistan climate crises pakistan's climate crisis investment in agriculture environmental agriculture sustainability and climate action food crisis glof
Email
What are the government and the business community doing to rehabilitate life-supporting soils in Pakistan? In the 1960s, the government initiated Salinity Control and Reclamation Projects (SCARPs) with interventions from KP to southern Punjab to Sindh. The government also initiated left bank outfall drain (LBOD) and right bank outfall drain (RBOD) projects. Yet, despite these massive government investments, the FAO report shows that nearly seven million hectares of land are affected by salinity, resulting in a loss of 100,000 acres of land a year. The solution is to remove the accumulated salt from the soil, and this requires massive financial investments and vast quantities of fresh water, as the soil needs to be washed.
The tragedy is that Pakistan’s policymakers are now looking at bringing ‘virgin’ areas (deserts) under irrigation at the expense of the current areas upon which millions of people are dependent for their livelihood. There is massive resentment in the lower riparian areas like Sindh, where communities and local political leaders fear that new water diversions in the upstream areas of Punjab will affect water availability in Sindh. Climate change and aggravating policies can tear us apart unless we chart an inclusive and business-led development process.
Aijaz A. Nizamani is a hands-on farmer and former Secretary, Forest and Wildlife, Sindh.
aijazniz@gmail.com
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