Farmer’s perception on climate change induced drought in Balochistan; A case Study of Tehsil Karezat, District Pishin

Abstract

Drought is frequently occurring natural hazard, which affects the livelihoods of people across the globe and is considered as one of the most damaging natural disasters in economic, social and environmental terms. The contemporary data on climate in Pakistan indicates that the country has witnessed severity and high frequency of drought due to raise in temperature and the adverse effects of EI Nino and decrease in the rainfall intensity over a long period of time. The current study assesses the perception of farmers regarding the climate changed induced drought in the district. The study has used focus-group discussions and a total of 377 households as sample size selected for the primary household survey, using proportionate allocation method. The results reveal that farmer’s perceptions confirm that about 75% of the respondents have sold their household assets (Tractor, Livestock, etc.) and about 17% of the farmers have sold even their lands to mitigate the adverse impacts of drought. Around 75% farmers cultivated low delta crops which are resilient in drought condition such as Apricot, Gaja apple, American grapes and vegetables instead of foremost apple varieties like Shin Colo and Tor Colo which consumes more water. The results regarding migration as a coping strategy show that 37% family or their family members migrated from their native places towards urban areas to find out the other sources of income. The study recommends the long and short terms preparedness measures, trainings, support from the government and agriculture extension services to the farmers to combat drought hazard in the study area for sustainable development.

Keywords; Climate Change, Drought, Balochistan, Formers’ Perception