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Sustainable survival under climatic extremes: linking flood risk mitigation and coping with flood damages in rural Pakistan

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Abstract

Various measures are adopted by flood-prone households for the mitigation of flood risk along with various post-flood coping strategies. We analyze the role of various ex ante household-level flood mitigation strategies in influencing riverine flood damages. The study also presents an account on the linkages of various ex post coping strategies and flood damages experienced in a flood event in Pakistan. For achieving a uniform flood damage indicator, polychoric principle component analysis (PCA) is employed to construct a composite flood damage index considering various aspects of economic, social, and psychological impacts of a flood event. The adjusted flood damage index is regressed on various socioeconomic features and ex ante mitigation actions to know their effect on the former. Results indicate that distance from river, elevating house, and pre-shifting investigating about flooding problem help in significantly reducing the overall flood damages. Likewise, group-based actions like voting political candidates based on their flood-control promises, organizing grass-root group meetings, and raising voices through memos/petitions are found to significantly reduce flood-related damages while leaving house premises before flooding is found to increase the overall flood damage. Post-flood coping strategies comprise of social and financial support along with some livelihood diversification and disinvestment strategies such as selling livestock, jewelry, and withdrawing children from schools. Borrowing money, reducing food consumption, and agricultural diversification are more prevalent strategies among low and medium damage groups while consuming savings is more conspicuous among high damage group. The study concludes with the emphasis on policy interventions for effective early warning, location-specific flood intensity information, and proper streamlining of planning process and compensation system.

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Acknowledgments

The logistic support from Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) is highly acknowledged. The valuable comments and suggestions by three anonymous reviewers are also duly acknowledged as they have substantially helped in improving the earlier version of this paper.

Funding

This research was funded by Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) while the funds for field survey were granted by Stiftung Fiat Panis, Germany.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Str. 84, 15374, Müncheberg, Germany

    Azhar Abbas, T. S. Amjath-Babu, Harald Kächele, M. Amjed Iqbal, Muhammad Arshad & Klaus Müller

  2. Institute of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan

    Azhar Abbas

  3. Department of Irrigation and Drainage, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan

    Muhammad Usman

  4. Water Management Research Centre, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan

    M. Adnan Shahid

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  1. Azhar Abbas
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  2. T. S. Amjath-Babu
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  3. Harald Kächele
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  4. Muhammad Usman
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  5. M. Amjed Iqbal
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  7. M. Adnan Shahid
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  8. Klaus Müller
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Correspondence to Azhar Abbas.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Abbas, A., Amjath-Babu, T.S., Kächele, H. et al. Sustainable survival under climatic extremes: linking flood risk mitigation and coping with flood damages in rural Pakistan. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 32491–32505 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3203-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3203-8

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