Abstract
Small-scale farmers are at risk and have been negatively affected by the extended drought since the late 1990s in Balochistan, Pakistan. Using questionnaire surveys, key informant interviews and focus group discussions conducted in 2018, this study explores the coping and adaptation strategies used by farmers in the region over the last few decades to mitigate the adverse impacts of extended drought. The study employs binary logistic regression models on survey data of 265 selected farm households regarding their coping strategies. Multiple factors determined farmers’ adaptation strategies, which include reducing the number of domestic animals, selling household assets, borrowing money from relatives, off-farm labor work and seasonal migration. We found that most of the farmers were reluctant to plant new crop varieties and were not ready to take any undue risks. However, farmers did adjust their inputs (i.e., fertilizers, manure and pesticides) in anticipation of drought years, and opted for mixed-cropping and off-farm livelihood activities to minimize the impact of production losses. Barriers impeding small-scale farmers from taking other appropriate adaptation measures (e.g., expanding irrigation capacity) were financial constraints, lack of water resources, non-availability of efficient technologies, insufficient provision of electricity, limited empirical knowledge, poor extension services and the heavy financial constraints faced by the farmers during the extended drought period.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Notes
Local term used for Sub-district in Pakistan.
Rabi is a cropping season that begins in October-December and ends in April–May.
Kharif is a cropping season that begins in April-June and harvesting during October–December.
The tube wells is operated by electric motor, diesel engine and tractor. A typical tube well, in Pakistan, is operated by 12–25 horsepower diesel engines, 2–25 horsepower electric motor or with 50–85 horsepower (average 50 hp) tractors.
Dug wells are constructed according to the prevailing water table conditions. Therefore, even a small decline in water table depth is enough to abandon a ‘dug well’.
Karezes are man-made sub-surface horizontal tunnels/galleries constructed to tap groundwater in the upper limits of the valley floor/piedmont plan and eventually deliver it to lower level lands by gravity. A well called the mother well is dug near the foot of the mountain where groundwater is available. This is followed by a series of wells at intervals of 60–100 m, which are inter-connected by an underground tunnel.
1 US $ = 110 PKR, Source: State Bank of Pakistan, 2018.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to pay high gratitude to my supervisor Meha Jain from the School of Environment and Sustainability at University of Michigan (USA), for her guidance, unfailing support and expertise during my exchange fellowship program. The first author especially appreciates the efforts of Jamil Ahmed, Jamal, Salahuddin Badezai and Safiullah Khan for the collection of field data. Moreover, the authors extend their thanks to the farmers of Killa-Abdullah for their valuable time and cooperation in the survey.
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Durrani, H., Syed, A., Gourdji, S. et al. Exploring farmers’ coping strategies and adaptive measures against the extended drought in Balochistan, Province of Pakistan. Environ Dev Sustain (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-04161-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-023-04161-5