Arid land development and combating desertification in Pakistan

Abstract

Synopsis: This chapter outlines the situation in Pakistan and traces the history of Pakistan's efforts to fulfill its obligations under the UNCCD. Legislation and institutional arrangements were put in place to underpin the efforts. Some technological interventions to address the issues of desertification have been successfully implemented in different parts of Pakistan. Some of these include; Rangelands Utilization Model in Pothwar Plateau, Gully Land Management through Soil Conservation and Water Harvesting, Range Improvement through Community Participation, Salinity Control and Reclamation of Affected Areas, Rehabilitation of Desert Ranges through Reseeding, Sandune stabilization through shelterbelt technology in Thal desert, Forage Reserve Establishment in Arid Highland Balochistan, Reclamation of salt-effected areas, Desertification Control in Cholistan and Restoration of Land Productivity in Barani Lands. Key Points Desertification is a major problem in Pakistan. The country is faced with problems of environmental degradation, loss of soil fertility, loss of biodiversity and reduction in land productivity resulting in increased poverty of local communities. Recognizing the seriousness of the problem, Pakistan signed the UNCCD in 1994, and ratified it in 1997, thus becoming a Party to it. A National Action Program to Combat Desertification (NAP) in Pakistan has been prepared. Ministry of Environment took initiative in the development of the PDF-B phase to design a full-scale project called Sustainable Land Management Project (SLMP). The two most important driving forces of land degradation in Pakistan are limited land resources and population increase. The result is small farms, low production per person and increasing landlessness. A consequence of land shortage is poverty. Land shortage and poverty, taken together, lead to non-sustainable land management practices, the direct causes of degradation. Poor farmers are led to clear forest, cultivate steep slopes without conservation, overgraze rangelands and make unbalanced fertilizer applications. Agriculture has been and continues to be the principal driving force of the national economy, accounting for 26 % of GDP and, together with agro-based industries, contributing 80 % of export earnings. Over half of the labor force is absorbed by the sector, which has been performing below potential as a result of various technical, social and structural constraints. The sector as a whole is passing through a transitional phase from subsistence to increasingly commercial production. There is, however, a gap between the well-resourced commercial sector with large holdings and access to reliable irrigation and the traditional sector, which includes farmers with small subsistence holdings whether irrigated, or Barani, tenants and physically marginal farms outside the Indus basin.