The United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Quetta office today conducted a provincial assessment steering committee (PASC) meeting which recommended that formulation of a provincial drought mitigation policy for Balochistan was a key priority.
This was the third and final meeting to assess the risk of drought in Pakistan, as part of UNDP’s Disaster Risk Reduction in Pakistan project, and was held in collaboration with the Balochistan Provincial Disaster Management Authority and the Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences (BUITEMS). The meeting was also attended by representatives of provincial departments and United Nations agencies.
Balochistan is severely prone to drought with 60–70 percent of the rural population directly or indirectly vulnerable to its effects. Severe episodes were recorded in 1967–69, 1971, 1973–75, 1994, 1998–2002 and 2009–15. In 2012 the Ministry of Finance estimated that drought caused a loss of Rs 25 billion to the national exchequer. It led to increased food prices which, in turn, caused widespread malnutrition.
The assessment sought to understand the reasons and impacts of drought in Balochistan. It identified coping mechanisms which could inform sustainable strategies and drought risk management.
It found that multiple factors are responsible for drought in Balochistan, including climate change, over-exploitation of groundwater and deforestation. Meteorological drought, caused by below average rainfall, can trigger agricultural, hydrological and socioeconomic drought. Indiscriminate groundwater extraction and inefficient use of irrigation water are also root causes, and low awareness of water management and conservation aggravates their impacts.
The PASC found that the major response to drought at present is to provide relief to affected populations, and thus reduce hunger. However, the meeting found that short-term relief should be complemented by a drought risk mitigation strategy which prevent and mitigate the effects of drought in the longer term.
For more information, contact: Ilaria Carpen, UNDP Head of Office in Balochistan ilaria.carpen@undp.org Muhi Usamah, DRR in Pakistan Project Manager, muhi.usamah@undp.org