Flood Risk Management in Agriculture: A Case Study of Flood Prone Area in South Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

The most dangerous natural risks to human societies are floods. Flood frequency and severity have increased in frequency and intensity due to climate change over the past few decades. The most significant adverse impacts of floods are observed in the agriculture sector, where the floods cause damage to standing crops, livestock, tube wells, storage and other infrastructures and disrupt the mechanisms of inputs and output markets. The present study is designed to investigate the impacts of the 2022 floods in South Punjab and how the farming communities are responding to flood risks by adopting various flood risk management strategies. The study used a structured questionnaire to collect data from 150 sampled respondents from two districts, namely Rahim Yar Khan and Rajanpur of South Punjab. Two separate binary logistic models were employed to analyze the collected data. The findings revealed that perceptions of flood risks and pest and disease risks significantly discourage the use of on-farm diversification as a flood risk management strategy, while farm size and livestock losses are reported to significantly encourage the adoption of on-farm diversification to manage flood risks. For off-farm diversification, the significant variables are monthly income, perceptions of flood risk, and livestock losses due to floods. The study recommended that relevant information on flood risks be provided to the farming community. This will enable farmers to anticipate the climatic events and to adopt sophisticated risk management strategies accordingly.