18.08.2013 More mouths, less food
Traditional sources of livelihoods are fading away quickly in Sindh, giving considerable impetus to poverty
By Altaf Hussain
Livelihoods of the people in Sindh, specifically in rural area, are squeezing as traditional sources of livelihoods are fading away quickly, together with lack of sustainable policies for rural development and ineptness of the government in creating alternate sources of employment. This situation has pushed a large portion of population into very complex social situation, giving considerable impetus to poverty.
A livelihood as defined encompasses capabilities, assets including both material and social resources and activities required for a means of living. Persistent under-development, reduction in agriculture produce, droughts and floods, spongy infrastructure, deplorable education and health systems and increasing poverty and unemployment have been main reasons behind poor livelihood resource base for the people despite the fact that the province is blessed with rich resources that contribute to a significant proportion of provincial and national income. Proportion of population falling below the poverty line in Sindh is estimated at 31 per cent.
More than 70 per cent of the rural population derives their livelihood from agriculture, livestock, forestry, and fishing, which provide about 30 per cent of provincial gross domestic product (GDP). Services, manufacturing, construction and other sectors share 30 per cent of the population’s livelihood source.
Historically, the performance of Sindh’s agriculture sector remained very good with wheat and rice production. Agricultural production remained at 3 per cent per annum during the 1986 to 2000 period. Production of wheat and rice that was 28 and 17 per cent of total area under cultivation, respectively, grew at a trend rate of 2 and 3 per cent in the same period (1986-2000) as has been put by different government reports.
However, agriculture production reduced sharply in the successive years with rice and wheat being hardest hit due to droughts in earlier 2000s and floods in last three consecutive years.
The United Nations Development Progarmme, UNDP’s Millennium Development Goals 2013 provincial report reveals that “the loss of livelihoods was devastating for the province; more than 90 per cent of livelihoods from agriculture were affected as a result of the floods in the flood affected areas. Over 93,000 large animals, close to 82,000 small animals, and over 6.8 million heads of poultry also perished.”
Fishing has been affected due to the water shortage resulting from lack of water inflow in the River Indus. Construction of barrages also reduced the flow of water in the sea severely affecting the breeding ground for many fish species and impacting the Indus delta. The fishing industry was also dented after the tenant communities shifted their livelihoods from the coastal areas after millions of acres of land was taken away by sea intrusion.
Food security, therefore, continues to be one of the major challenges of Sindh. Considerable number of people is living below poverty line and cannot meet their basic needs of food. The National Nutrition Survey 2011 has also listed the food security as a major challenge for Sindh claiming that 72 per cent households in Sindh are food insecure.
Moreover, education and health indicators also paint a miserable picture of the province. The UNDP, MDG 2013 report has revealed that Sindh has 59 per cent literacy rate which is far behind the targets set under MDGs, including the health which is also in doldrums. Illiterate and unskilled youth becomes burden on the families. Similarly, poor health services also consume available resources putting pressure on the households for maintaining their livelihoods.
Though Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have been implementing programmes to provide livestock to the poor, introduce drip irrigation system, replace local seeds with the hybrid seeds to increase the crop productivity, sensitise the communities on alternate employments etc, these projects with limitations cannot cover large chunk of the population. Also some experts raise their eyebrows over the sustainability of such programmes and the benefits they can extend to the people.
Responsibility of enhancing livelihood resource base rests with the government. However, successive governments in the province have failed to deliver on this front. The government should focus on introducing programmes which could ensure cash earnings on sustainable lines, access to basic facilities including health and services, reduce vulnerability of the poor through better access to resources, improve situation of food security through financially empowering the people and reducing and regulating the commodity prices, giving people property rights which include land and shelter. In addition, the government needs to raise the budgetary allocation for social development and Annual Development Plan (ADP).