Climate smart

Pakistan is an agricultural country. Agriculture is the backbone of the country’s economy. It is worth mentioning that the world’s population is expected to reach nine billion by the year 2050 and climate change is a reality. Food production systems are the most vulnerable to climate change and this is a serious threat to food security, especially in developing countries. It merits a mention that Pakistan is among the top ten most prone countries to climate change and is observing adverse impacts due to extreme climate in the recent past. During the past two decades, the country faced the effects of weather extremes such as devastating floods (2010 & 2014), heatwaves, smog and temperature extremes. Erratic and unpredictable weather patterns, especially changes in rainfall distribution, lead to reduction in agricultural productivity and cause disturbance in the existing farming systems. The condition becomes worst as the country has already been declared as water-scarce. This has threatened food security and may produce devastating impacts on livelihoods of poor farmers.

It is pertinent to note that risks due to unprecedented climatic changes and weather extremes increase mani-fold due to lack of awareness to cope with situations or early warning systems to avoid major losses. This is damaging for small land-holding farming communities. Existing technologies and approaches seem inadequate to minimize climate change led losses or to develop climate resilience in farming systems and achieve sustainable production and food security. Also research collaboration, sharing of ideas, knowledge transfer and brain-storming sessions would be beneficial in this regard.

Khan Faraz

Peshawar