Farm households' perception of weather change and flood adaptations in northern Pakistan

Ashar Aftab, Ajaz Ahmed and Riccardo Scarpa

Ecological Economics, 2021, vol. 182, issue C

Abstract: This research investigates farm households' adaptations to climate change-driven monsoon floods in the rural district of Nowshera, Pakistan. Some households in these flood-affected communities have undertaken autonomous adaptations to flooding. We surveyed five hundred farm households from both flood-affected and unaffected villages to investigate the factors driving the uptake of the following autonomous flood adaptations: plinth elevation, grain storage, participation in communal flood preparations and the creation of edge-of-field tree lined shelterbelts. We used both binary and multivariate probit regressions to investigate the correlation across adaptation options. Empirical results suggest that access to agricultural extension services, off-farm work opportunities, past duration of standing floodwaters, farm to river distance, receiving post-flooding support and tribal diversity are the main drivers of flood adaptations. Moreover, we report the complementary uptake of adaptations in pairs. Given the prediction of climate change-driven flooding in the Hindu Kush, we recommend cost-effective policies that increase the resilience of vulnerable agricultural-dependent rural communities. In addition, we report that respondents perceived a change in weather towards hotter and dryer weather over the last ten years.

Keywords: Flooding; Autonomous adaptation; Climate change; Resilience; Agriculture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:182:y:2021:i:c:s0921800919309590

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106882

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