Assessment of farmers' vulnerability to climate change in agro-climatic zones of Pakistan: An index based approach

Abstract

Climate change is hurting human lives by having physical as well as psychological impacts that has significantly affected their livelihood. This study predominantly targeted farming community to determine farmers' climate change vulnerability index among 9 agro-climatic zones of Pakistan by using data sets from PMD (1981-2010) and HIES (2010-11). Findings revealed that farmers in KPK and Balochistan were the most while farmers in Mixed Punjab and Cotton-Wheat Sindh were the least vulnerable to climate change. In depth analysis of variables of sub-indices suggested that weather related hazards, coupled with extreme cold and hot months were much higher in Punjab. Drought impact was found higher in KPK and Balochistan followed by Sindh. Increasing share of small farmers and food insecure population also resulted in an increase in the sensitivity of farming community almost in all agro-climatic zones. Poor farm economy and lack of education were identified as main causes of low adaptive capacity. The small farmers were found inefficient with the changing environment so they may be encouraged for cooperative farming. Climate change vulnerability monitoring may be beneficial for policy makers in policy formulation and implementation processes to develop zone specific sustainable adaptation strategies particularly to improve farmers' food security, economic situation and education in Pakistan.