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Emerging Trends of Rural Development in Pakistan
Lecture -30
7. Drought In Pakistan
Drought in Pakistan has become a frequent phenomenon in the country. The drought of 1998-2002 is
considered worst in 50 years. According to a report issued by the Economic Survey of Pakistan, the
drought is one of the factors responsible for poor growth performance. Baluchistan especially the
western and central parts of the province remain in the grip of drought almost all year round. Drought in
the country is common; if the monsoon season fails to deliver rains then drought emerges.
From 1997-2003, Pakistan suffered from severe drought, causing severe water shortages for humans,
livestock, and agriculture. Many areas of Balochistan, Sindh and southern Punjab were badly affected,
impacting some 3 million people and 7.2 million livestock heads. Hunndreds of lives were lost and
thousands of livestock and wild ungulates perished. Importantly, the drought also severely affected local
livelihoods and forced local people to migrate toward cities in search of work and food. This disrupts
traditional land use patterns, resulting in the permanent loss of traditional management practices and
exacerbating the trends toward land degradation and desertification.
8. Water Scarcity
Pakistan is mainly a dryland country and water availability is often scarce. Water is an extremely
sensitive issue in the country, especially between the provinces which compete for water in the growing
seasons. It has also been a cause of dispute between Pakistan and India. Within the next 50 years,over
90 percent of all available sources of water will be fully utilized. Estimates by the International Water
Management Institute indicate that Pakistan is among the 17 countries that are likely to face the most
severe water scarcity by 2025.
9. Over-grazing
Almost one third of Pakistan’s total area is classified as rangeland. Livestock raising is an important
component of Pakistan’s farming system and a major source of cash income as well as consumption.
The livestock population in Pakistan has doubled since 1976 and livestock numbers exceed the
carrying capacity of most ranges. Over-grazing is a major problem in many parts of the country,
which reduces productivity of rangelands because of soil compaction, removal of vegetation from
fragile slopes and subsequent destruction through water and wind erosion. A reliable estimate
indicates that 48.3 percent of rangelands are completely eroded. Many other areas are producing only
20-30 percent of their biomass.

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More than 60 per cent of natural grazing areas of the country have production levels lower than one
third of their biological potential. More than one-third of the country area has been classified as under
risk of desertification.
Overgrazing,reduction in forest productivity, surface soilcompaction,destruction of terracesresulting in
soil erosion cutting and lopping of forage trees,damage of forest regeneration,increased pressure on
remnant vegetation,competition with wildlife for forage and space,reduction in wildlife habitat area and
quality, loss of nesting sites,unhealthy populations, reduction in reproduction potential disturbance or
compaction of soil, increase in soil erosion.
10. Deforestation
About 5.2 percent (4.2m ha) of Pakistan’s total area is under forests. Pakistan is losing forests at a 3
times the rate of other South Asian countries. About 3.1 percent of forest cover is being lost every
year and woody biomass is disappearing at an annual rate of 5 percent as the majority of households
continue to use firewood for cooking and heating.
Illegal and excessive chopping of trees has resulted in severe soil erosion, flood damage and
desertification in many areas. This activity leaves the soil exposed and less able to absorb rainfall
which does occur. Water,therefore,runs off and causes soil erosion, speeding-up the process of
denudation and eventually leading to desertification. The removal of top soil is also resulting in low
production of forage, fodder, fuel wood, timber, cerealcrops and grains and, as a result, exacerbating
poverty. Wood cutting results in excessive soiland water erosion,loss of soil fertility, drying of
aquifers,aridity in climate, disturbance to wildlife habitat, reduction in habitat area,decline in wildlife
population loss of biodiversity
11. Poor Irrigation and Drainage Practices
Pakistan has one of the largest canalirrigation systems in world and this system operates on the
principles of flood irrigation. The overall poor management of irrigation, both at the system and
farm levels, is contributing to water logging and salinity in cultivated areas. Excessive percolation
of water from the canal system builds up the ground water level. Human activities such as the
obstruction of natural drainage through construction of roads, improper alignment and poor
maintenance of irrigation channels, insufficient drainage of excessive rainwater etc. all add to water
logging problems. About 11 million ha of arable land in Pakistan is affected by water logging,
while over 3 million ha are affected by salinity and sodicity
12. Desertification
Desertification may be through climatic factors , flood etc , denuding the mountain , illefal forest
cutting. Deforestation and desertification: Pakistan has a total forest area of about 12 million
hectares. Out of that, the total forest,scrub and planted trees are spread over 4.2 million hectares;
natural and modified coniferous scrub, riverain and mangrove forests occupy a space 3.5 million
hectares,tall tree forests encompass 2.4 million hectares,scrub forest exist on 1.1 million hectares,

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and plantations occupy 0.7 million hectares.
13. Soil Erosion :- Siltation of rivers,irrigation systems and reservoirs,debris flow and land slides on
hill slopes. Loss of topsoil resulting into loss of nutrients affecting productivity
14. Road Construction
Change in the sensitive mountain profile by blasting, removal of naturalvegetation cover,soil and
rock slipping, fall by water erosion,landslides and siltation of rivers and channels.
14. Basic Facilities and infrastructure
1. Education facilities in urban towns are more than rural areas/ literacy rates low in rural
communities
2. Health facility is meager in rural health centers / drinking water faculty in rural areas is not as
good as in urban areas.
3. Roads /transport/mobility the condition of road is not good
4. Electricity shortfall in rural areas
5. Housing facilities in rural areas are not developed and sanitation problems occurs
6. Fuels in rural areas is also short , Because of increase in population, the consumption of
household firewood would probably go up to three per cent per year. At this rate, the country’s
woody biomass may be totally consumed in the next 10-15 years.
7. Agriculture
8. Sanitation and Drainage
9. Irrigation