Impact of climate change on pastoralists’ resilience and sustainable mitigation in Punjab, Pakistan

Climate change has adversely affected pastoral community in Pakistan through increased severity of livestock diseases, floods, and drought. These climatic hazards caused extensive livestock loss and worsen livelihood of pastoralists’ households. Pastoralists are higher vulnerable to these climate shocks and livestock major source of their nutrition and income. This research work focused to analyze the factors affecting resilience of pastoral community in Punjab province of Pakistan. Understanding shocks of climate change in historical perspective of pastoral community, consultation for key information, and focus group discussions were managed. The study collected data of 768 pastoral households’ regarding pastoral shocks experience, long-term adaptation measures, and coping strategies through external support for resilience upright. Principal component analysis was used for construction of resilience index of pastoral households. In estimating institutional factors, adaptive practice and socio-demographic effects on pastoral households’ resilience structured probit regression were employed in the study. Extension services access, availability of adequate formal credit, pastoral household income, schooling years and adaptive practice like afforestation, the practice of ethno-veterinary, improved stock breeding, beekeeping, enclosures, and grazing of crop fields post-harvest affect significantly and positively in developing pastoral household resilience to shocks. In the past scenario long-term adaptation strategies, policy measures ignored, while investment priority was focused on risk-reducing measures. To enhance long-run pastoral household resilience status regarding climate change shocks, there is need for direct investment to increase adaptive capacity pastoral community.