This summary is presented in the NAP (2023) - see the document in the Resources Section (with the sources of information).
Natural disasters, in particular floods, cause massive loss of crops and livestock, and stagnant water in farmland further delays efforts to grow other crops. In addition, nearly all arable land in Pakistan is already cultivated and production is dependent on a glacier- and snow-fed irrigation network, making it extremely vulnerable to climate change. The negative effects of climate change on agriculture include (i) reduced availability of irrigation water, which limits crop productivity; (ii) altered growing periods, which adversely affects staple crops such as wheat, maize and rice predominantly grown in the south of the country, leading to higher food prices; (iii) crops and rangelands damaged by oods and droughts; (iv) deteriorated agricultural land due to saline intrusion, soil erosion, and waterlogging—almost 2 million acres of arable land in the fertile Indus Delta have been lost as a result of saline intrusion from reduced river ows and rising sea levels; (v) reduced foreign exchange earnings and agricultural livelihood security; and (vi) decreased livestock productivity (due to higher temperatures and drought leading to heat stress), reduced animal fodder production, and increased stress on feed and water sources.
Agricultural productivity is directly linked to food security. Pakistan is already a food-insecure country: approximately 40 percent of households already grapple with this pressing issue, and climate change threatens to exacerbate the situation to a distressing 60 percent by the year 2050. Two key indicators of food insecurity are Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU)—meaning how many people lack dietary energy—and Prevalence of Moderate and Severe Food Insecurity (that is, access to nutritious and su cient food). PoU in Pakistan has remained at around 20 percent since 2007–2009 but has increased in absolute terms (to 40 million in 2016–2018) because of population growth as well as increased droughts. In 2018, 23.5 percent of Pakistani households were estimated to be either moderately or severely food-insecure, with 10.1 percent severely food-insecure.
