Submitted by A.B. Youngman on Fri, 18/11/2022 - 13:13
Shailaja Fennell, Professor in Regional Transformation and Economic Security at the University of Cambridge writes about proposed changes to agriculture in Pakistan, following the devastating floods of 2022. Read her full article in The Conversation here.
The UN estimates that the floods which besieged Pakistan in the summer of 2022 have affected 33 million people, with over 2 million homes destroyed and over 8 million people displaced in a region which already struggles with high rates of malnutrition.
A recent report showed that the flooding followed severe heat. Parched land cannot easily absorb water from swollen rivers and the soil will need time to recover, delaying the sowing of next season’s crops. Receding flood waters are also more likely to leave pastures contaminated by harmful microbes such as salmonella.
When floods last devastated Pakistan in 2010, an analysis by the International Food Policy Research Institute argued that, as a country with just under 40% of the population employed in agriculture, Pakistan needed to invest in the recovery of its farming sector as a priority.
The recent inundation of fields has destroyed standing crops of commercial rice and cotton and those which are consumed in the country, like tomatoes and onions. It has also shrunk the area of land available to grow more food. Resulting cuts to food production will force Pakistan to import produce from abroad. As Pakistan tries to rebuild its agriculture, the world should pay attention: other countries must also learn how to create food systems which can withstand a turbulent future.