Exploring agricultural practices and adapting policies to alleviate droughts and flood disasters
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Date
2025
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UMT Lahore
Abstract
The research paper examines the emerging agricultural predicament in North Waziristan, Pakistan, a geography that has experienced severe droughts and floods combined with climate change threats that have compromised conventional farming activities, and have threatened food security. A qualitative approach is used to investigate local vulnerabilities in agriculture and assess indigenous capabilities of working around climate conditions, as well as to critique the successes of climate adaptation models in adaptation in Bangladesh and Iran. The people of North Waziristan rely mostly on rain-fed farming, which constantly suffers because of drastic weather conditions, impaired water resources, and weak institutional measures. The studies highlight that the most serious gaps exist in the mechanisms of early warning, water saving technologies, and resistant crop varieties. Based on the floating agriculture of Bangladesh and mobile-based flood warnings, as well as qanat systems and drip irrigations of Iran, this paper would provide custom-made interventions in the unique socio-geographic setting of North Waziristan. The use of interviews with the farmers, officials, and experts, together with field observation in the zone of drought and floods, contributed to the collection of data. The result shows that despite the traditional techniques of resiliency, where farmers utilize rainwater ponds and diversify crops used, this cannot help them when another climatic shock occurs repeatedly in the country. Weak infrastructure, lack of access to modern tools and training, and tribal structure of the region serve as additional vulnerability factors. Nevertheless, there is an opportunity to adapt it. According to the research, it is suggested to consider combining the legacy of knowledge with modern innovations, introduced from within the community, which can be decentralized check dams, solar-powered water pumpers, and gender-responsive climate education. This thesis will support the use of sustainable agricultural solutions by offering policy reforms, investments in infrastructure to enhance resilience, and adaptive actions that can be controlled by the community in their context. Finally, the research is relevant to the extended discussion involving climate resilience, whereby locally-contextualized, globally-informed adaptation efforts should be factored into disaster-prone agricultural areas.