INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PAPER

“FLOODS AFTER DROUGHT DEVASTATE SINDH’S AGRICULTURE: AN

ANALYSIS OF DROUGHT POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR PROVINCIAL
GOVERNMENT”

By

SAMIULLAH SHAIKH
Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS)

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, KARACHI

35th MID-CAREER MANAGEMENT COURSE (MCMC)

(From Monday, 17th October to Friday 23rd December 2022)

Signature : ________________
Date : 22nd December, 2022

Faculty Advisor
Mr. Waqar Saleem Baig
Directing Staff (T&C)
 PREFACE

This research paper has been prepared in order to fulfill the requirement for the 35 th Mid-Career
Management Course (MCMC) at National Institute of Management, Karachi. I am grateful to my
guide and supervisor, Mr. Waqar Saleem Baig, directing staff (T & C) who has been instrumental in
preparation of this research report. Special thanks to S&GAD, P&D, PDMA and deputy
commissioners of various districts and other relevant departments which helped me with the required
data and guidance, which was pivotal in preparation of their research report.

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 ACRONYMS

ADB Asian Development Bank

AAA Agriculture Advancing Australia
B.B Baanhan Beli
BISP Benazir Income Support Program
C&PI Community & Multipurpose Physical Infrastructure
D.R.P Disaster Risk Plan
D.C Deputy Commissioner
DDMA District Disaster Management Authority
DDMA Disaster Management Authority Act
F.A.O Food and Agriculture Organisation
F.D Finance Department
FIS Food Insurance Scheme
DIS Drought Insurance Scheme
PIC Policy Investment Checklist
PDMA Provincial Disaster Management Authority
NCA (Act) The National Calamites Act (Prevention and Relief) Act, 1958
NDMA National Disaster Management Authority Act (2005)
NPV Net Present Value
NDP National Drought Policy
P&D Planning and Development Board
PVDP Participatory Village Development Programme
RIS Rural Adjustment Program
ROI Return on Investment
RAP Rural Adjustment Programs
SAZ Sindh Arid Zones
SAZDA Sindh Arid Zones Development Authority
S.C Save-the Children (U.K)
TCP Thar Coal Project
TRDP Thardeep Rural Development Program
T.C Thar Canal
CMA Crisis Management Approach
W.H.O World Health Organisation
W. B World Bank

ii
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Drought is one of the 21st century's most critical concerns. According to the World Health
Organization, drought conditions impact nearly 55 million people worldwide each
year. Pakistan is no different, and only in 2021, around 5 million individuals are affected by
droughts in Pakistan. This research paper discusses that Sindh government response,
particularly during droughts and floods, is extremely limited to only short-term disaster
management efforts and responses, i.e., reactive policies. It lays down the focus that the
Sindh government traditionally followed the ‘crisis management approach,’ which now
requires proactive ones by introducing structural and non-structural changes. Besides, this
research paper also discusses that though, there have been some issues of budgetary
constraints, implementation challenges, and contingency planning (continuing food and
rations) while executing any incremental policy interventions. But even then, the Sindh
government needs to adopt proactive approaches, such as engaging public, private and
government agencies to uplift local communities, considering the recurring existence of
drought. This research paper finally recommends that along with introducing climate-friendly
crops, the food insurance scheme and drought insurance scheme should be initiated by the
government for long term investment. These policy initiatives will eradicate poverty and
hunger and lead to the economic prosperity of the drought affected districts of the province of
Sindh.

This research paper analyzes and examines the existing drought policies devised by the
Government of Sindh and makes recommendations regarding gaps in the policy and its
effective implementation in order to prevent large scale damage in drought-stricken areas as
seen in the past.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE..................................................................................................................................i
ACRONYMS............................................................................................................................ii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY....................................................................................................iii
INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................1
Literature Review.................................................................................................................2
Methodological Approach....................................................................................................3
SECTION-1..............................................................................................................................4
1.1 International Disaster Risk Reduction Framework..................................................4
1.1.1 National Disaster Risk Management Framework, 2007...............................................5
1.1.3 Droughts in Sindh Province.........................................................................................5
1.1.4 Administrative and Governance Issues........................................................................6
SECTION-2..............................................................................................................................7
2.1 Closing the Policy Gaps...........................................................................................7
2.2 Food Security...........................................................................................................8
2.3 Agriculture Management.........................................................................................8
2.4 Effectiveness of Existing Policy Framework.................................................................9
SECTION-3............................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................13
RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................14
(a) Fiscal constraints:........................................................................................................15
(b) Implementation Challenges:.........................................................................................15
(c) Contingency Planning and Proposed Mitigation efforts:.............................................15
REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................18

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 INTRODUCTION

In Pakistan's Sindh province, a severe drought was followed by massive monsoon

flooding. Experts have stated that farming is becoming "more challenging every day” due to
climate change. On August 23, the Sindh, Pakistan's second-most populated and agriculture-
dependent province, was declared "calamity-hit." Sindh's wheat harvest has decreased by
nearly 20% as torrential monsoon rain has fallen across Pakistan following a devastation
caused by a scorching heatwave. According to experts, the catastrophe demonstrates that the
disasters are caused by the change of climate and weather patterns and that urgent initiatives
are required to be adapted in agriculture sector. Over 500% more rainfall was received in
Sindh and Balochistan in July than the 30-year average. The provincial government made an
official announcement on August 21 that the province of Sindh faced "heavy losses,
including the loss of human lives, livestock, the damages to the houses, and standing crops."
Farming is perhaps of the most severely affected area, it noted (Javed, 2016).

“As of right now, the ongoing monsoon has caused a loss of 45 percent in cotton, 85
percent in dates, and 31 percent in rice in Sindh. According to Ali Nawaz Channar, technical
director at the provincial government's Agriculture Extension Sindh department, who spoke
with The Third Pole, that "the intensity of the disaster we are facing is shown by the fact that
the standing sugarcane crop has also suffered damage up to 7% due to floods, despite it being
a high water-consuming crop." With the exception of dates, all of these are standing crops, so
by the end of the harvesting season, loss could increase”. Sindh consists of approximately 48
million people and accounts for approximately one third of Pakistan's total agricultural
output. It is located in southeast Pakistan. However, the devastating floods of this year are
only one aspect of the provincial agriculture problem. According to Channar, Sindh has
"experienced the emergence of a new declining agriculture production pattern" this year, and
crops have also been affected by uninterrupted thrilling weather events in the same year: the
dry season and the flood (Kunbhar, 2022).

Rationale
The author identified the drought policy of the government and the lack of proper
implementation. The flood after the drought has devastated several crops, because the
government policy for drought and flood is ineffective due to administration issues and
policy gaps, moreover, there is also lack of proper implementation of the existing policies.
This research analyses why the government should change its approach from crisis

1
management to risk management in order to save Sindh from another climate induced crisis
i.e. drought.

Statement of Problem
The absence of a comprehensive drought policy framework is affecting the
agricultural sector in Sindh Province. This drought policy is based on crisis management
rather than risk management due to which the adverse effects of disasters like floods and
droughts have caused a lot of damage in terms of loss of lives, infrastructure and crops. In
order to analyze how better policy framework can be established, I have researched on
various aspects that should be taken into account during policy making to create and
implement a better policy. Specifically, my research will focus on how stakeholders such as
farmers, policy makers, and researchers can come together to create and implement a well-
rounded policy that addresses the current water scarcity issues in Sindh Province while also
taking into account other important factors related to drought. I believe this analysis will be
invaluable for creating an effective policy framework that takes all of the necessary
considerations into account in order to create a sustainable and equitable drought policy for
the region. In addition, I will investigate how existing policies can be improved upon with the
help of stakeholders. It is important to note that my research focuses on Sindh Province, but it
may have implications for other regions facing similar problems as well. Ultimately, my
research will help to provide a comprehensive look at the current state of drought policies in
Sindh Province, and the potential areas for improvement. I hope that my research can be
used as a starting point for creating more effective drought policies in this region. I also hope
that it can serve as a model for other regions facing similar challenges. By doing so, we can
help to create a more equitable and sustainable drought policy for Sindh Province. This will
ultimately lead to greater stability and resilience in the region. The ultimate goal of this
research is to provide a better understanding of how drought policies can be improved upon
to ensure that they are both effective and equitable.

Hypothesis Statement

Absence of a comprehensive drought policy framework is adversely affecting the

agricultural sector in Sindh Province.

Literature Review

This section examines the literature on existing approaches to explore potential policy
gaps and implementation issues in existing international, regional and national policies.

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Firstly, proactive (risk management) and reactive (crisis management) through the
approaches of theoretical and empirical reviews have been studied. For example, climate
change and disaster related policies have been successfully implemented in Asia, United
States, South Africa, Brazil and Australia (Botterill, 2021; FAO, 2019; Gutiérrez et al., 201;
Botterill, Wilhite et al., 2005). Secondly, as the Government of Pakistan is a guarantor to all
international Environmental Agreements which include United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 1992, Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement 2016 etc,
the same have been studied and referred in this research paper. In addition, the National
Disaster Risk Reduction Framework (NDRRF, 2007) has been created to provide timely
guideline and proper framework for dealing with natural disasters. Thirdly, the research
examines the present drought policy and disaster response framework of Government of
Sindh. Although various research has been made in the past of disasters including drought,
the prominent ones being the Thar Drought Commission (2016), the Human Rights
Commission Report on the Tharparkar Drought (2016) and the Drought and Famine
Assessment Paper. Despite that, the question remains why the Government of Sindh has not
been so far able to devise a short-, medium- and long-term drought policy framework. The
main challenges facing the Government of Sindh are discussed in section 2, while the
proposed initiatives and proposals are described in section 3. In summary, the current
provincial drought policy framework and its subsequent implementation is central to the
study of this paper.

Methodological Approach

For the purpose of this research, I have relied on both primary data and secondary
sources which include various official reports and Government documents and existing
policies. The primary data has been collected from the concerned Deputy Commissioners
serving in various districts in the province of Sindh. In addition, the existing literature
available on the subject matter has been examined in detail in order to see what policy
measures have been adopted in other countries to effectively deal with the drought. In
addition, the paper examines the existing drought policy at the Provincial level in particular,
which lacks drought preparedness and effective response measures available at the provincial
level. This research is based on qualitative and quantitative data, the qualitative research
includes research articles while quantitative data includes statistical analysis and survey
research. A basic practice is used to identify and evaluate the alternatives to recommend an
effective policy accordingly. The multi goal policy analysis is conducted to provide a

3
recommendation on how to build an effective policy that will save Sindh from future disasters
and resolve the current agricultural issues as well.

SECTION-1

Section 1.1 describes existing international frameworks practiced in the field of

disaster risk reduction (DRR). The effects of drought in Sindh province especially in the
agricultural sector in most affected districts of Dadu, Jamshoro, Tharparkar and Sanghar have
then been analysed in detail. Further, subsection 1.2 provides an in-depth analysis of various
reports published by the Provincial Government from time to time, for example, the Thar
Drought Commission (2016) and the Pakistan Human Rights Commission, have been
examined to find out why Government policies have failed to address this issue for many
years and what policy options are available for the Government within its limited resources.

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1.1 International Disaster Risk Reduction Framework

The Government of Pakistan has signed various international agreements related to

climate change including International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Paris
Agreement (2015), the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SF-DRR) (2015-
2030), the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Future Strategic
Framework of the Convention (FSFC) – United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD) (Agrawala, 1998). These International legal frameworks,
particularly those related to climate change and risk reduction, are often used to understand
the drought policies being followed at the international level and the same are replicated at
the regional and provincial levels. First, the Paris Agreement (1988) emphasizes food
security, ending hunger and addressing the vulnerabilities imposed on food production
systems (“Paris Agreement, 2015”). Second, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction SF-DRR (2015-2030) focuses on “disaster risk, health and economic loss and
damage” and “strengthens the cultural, environmental, physical and protection of social
assets.” Third, the IPCC agreement focuses on evidence-based periodic assessments, future
projections, and cascading impacts of climate change, particularly in relation to “adaptation
and mitigation,” and policy implications. Fourth, the UNCCD also recognizes that land
degradation/desertification is a disturbing policy issue not only at the global level, but also at
the regional and national levels. These frameworks and policies have also been implemented
in other countries with the desired results, however, we see that in Pakistan the
implementation mechanism remains weak.

1.1.1 National Disaster Risk Management Framework, 2007

The catastrophe and risk management in Pakistan has centered around the
'Emergency Response Paradigm' (ERP). The National Disaster Management
Authority (NDMA) is a constitutionally established body at the Federal level that is
mandated to manage complete spectrum of disasters in the country. Unfortunately, as
seen in the past in various disasters in the country, the response by concerned
stakeholders is quite slow due to institutional complexities and lack of availability of
resources. The Calamity Act of 1958 was the basis of policy responses at the state and
regional levels. The Pakistan Civil Defense Authority was designated as the central
agency for disaster response until 1970 (NDRMF, 2007, p. 19). The Government of
Pakistan introduced the National Disaster Management Ordinance (2006) only after a
magnitude 7.6 earthquake occurred (Ahmed, 2013; NDMO, 20016).

5
 However, even though the NDRMF was devised in the year 2007, its
implementation has been weak both at the Federal and the Provincial levels. The
occurrence of drought has become a routine feature in many districts of Sindh due to
climatic changes which was also highlighted in the TDC (2016) report. Therefore,
there is dire and urgent need to frame a ‘separate evidence-based policy and retort’ by
the provincial government in order to discourse the effects of scarcities both in the
temporary and continuing basis. Though, Sindh Government has formulated drought
policy framework as per the directions of the Chief Minister Sindh in the year 2016,
however, further work has not yet been done which merits attention of the relevant
departments, particularly Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) so that
future disasters may be averted in a planned manner (TDC, 2016, p.92).

1.1.3 Droughts in Sindh Province

According to data shared by Agricultural Engineering Department,

Government of Sindh, the province faces around 70% water shortage during the
summer and winter sowing seasons. This is mainly due to the reason that the province
of Sindh is at the tail-end of country’s irrigation system and large sections of the
Province fall under dry and semi-dry areas situated in semi-tropical parts- climatic
zones (Masood et al., 2021). The study conducted by Masood et al. (2001) using
various techniques such as ‘Geo-Spatial Technique (GST) and Drought Risk Analysis
(DRA) shows that Umerkot, Tharparkar, Qambar Shahdad Kot, Dadu, Shikarpur,
Jamshoro and Jacobabad fall in the category of high-risk districts that are frequently
hit by drought (ibid., 2021, P.1).’

Moreover, the weather patterns have changed drastically in the last two
decades, due to which the lower-most precipitation was reported in 2012, 2013, 2014,
2016 and 2018, indicating that occurrence of drought is more frequent as compared to
past and hence requires serious efforts both at the Federal and the Provincial levels.

1.1.4 Administrative and Governance Issues

As discussed in the preceding paras, drought is a regular feature in many

districts of Sindh and the Provincial Government has made efforts to mitigate its
effects but those have been transitory in nature. TDCR (2016) in its report highlighted
that the existing governance infrastructure in most of the districts in Sindh places
more dependence on ‘infrastructural development rather than human development

6
(TDCR, 2016, p.53)’ since major chunk of the finances are spent on development
schemes in the districts. The prevalence of drought is more common and therefore it
is required that concerted efforts are made by both the provincial and local
governments to deal with the situation. The Commission also noted that unnecessary
delays in drought policy implementation creates serious challenges for the public
(TDCR, 2016, pp.57). This is apparent in the delay in the release of funds for
purchase of relief items and disaster related procurement. Unnecessary delay was
observed in the release of funds for health, agriculture and livestock department due
to which the crisis in drought affected areas aggravated (TDCR, 2016, pp.57).
Moreover, there is also serious absence of organization amongst the troubled
departments at the regional and district level in addition to capacity issues of these
departments. In such situation, straight interference or policy overview is required
from the concerned head of department/secretaries to deal with the disaster situation
more effectively.

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 SECTION-2

The Section-2 of the research paper highlights that Sindh Government must prepare a
drought policy framework according to the changing weather patterns and devise strategies to
deal with it in the short-term, medium-term, and long-term basis. In addition, the prevailing
policy needs to be reviewed and gaps at the implementation level need to be identified in
order to address the issues in the agriculture and livestock, food, irrigation and health and
clean drinking water and related sectors. Moreover, TDC (2016) Team’s interaction all the
stakeholders i.e. public servants, civil society, affected population, INGOs etc provides an
insight for the Provincial Government to formulate an effective drought management policy
spanning to short, medium and long term. In short, the effects of important factors on resident
groups in the drought affected districts are viewed from a policy application viewpoint, and
other policy resolutions are also explored to practically address such policy matters.

2.1 Closing the Policy Gaps

Donald A. Wilhite (1992) in his publication ‘The Engima of Drought’ states that there
is serious flaw in the National Drought Policy in advanced and emerging countries which
lacks pre-drought moderation and preparation strategies. The same holds true for a
developing country like Pakistan. It is apparent in the case of Sindh Province, where the
problem is seldom addressed proactively due to the lack of availability of relevant data
pertaining to ‘climate indices, and early warning systems, as well as inadequate tools and
technologies. Whereas all disasters are handled in a reactive manner and the focus is more on
crisis management (Wilhite, 1996, p.231). The is mainly due to resource constraints and their
allocation as well as lack of availability of appropriate human and technical resource
(Wilhite, 1996, p.231). Hence, such institutional barriers which are inbuilt in the Government
systems causes challenges to resolve such issue.

TDC (2016), HRCP on Drought in Tharparkar (2016) and The Drought and Famine
Assessment Report (1987) study identified six key complications that need a policy change
from ‘relief-ambitious sensitive plan to active developmental plans’ (TDC, 2016, p.77). TDC
(2016) Commission’s Report is an important source / document that identifies policy
problems based on interaction with concerned stakeholders. It offers some effective
guidelines and ‘policy investment’ in various sectors including health, food, agriculture,
water management, and livestock.

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2.2 Food Security

According to the Rehabilitation Department Government of Sindh, drought has

become more prevalent in the province of Sindh in the past two decades. The TDC (2016)
points out that there is scarcity and insecurity of food, and relief management services are
poor in the drought prone districts of Sindh which pose serious social, political, and economic
challenges at the policy level. Moreover, the lack of food security to the poor and
economically backward population creates a serious health and nutritional crisis which may
endanger the lives of people living in the affected districts. Therefore, in order to overcome
this issue, government should build a ‘social safety nets/programs on similar lines as the
Benazir Income Support Program / Ehsaas Kifalat Programme for cash transfer to the
affected families in addition to provision immediate relief on a long-term basis through
PDMA and district administration. Another option can be to increase supply of subsidized
food items in the utility stores for providing rations on credit basis free of interest to all
affected districts at union council and village level.

2.3 Agriculture Management

The prevalence of drought is a glaring challenge in the province of Sindh, and the
crisis further aggravates in the absence of availability of irrigation water for agricultural
purpose and also clean drinking water for the daily consumption of people. Therefore, it is
imperative to introduce new techniques such as ‘saline agriculture in the drought-hit districts
of the province in order to boost and also maintain agricultural productivity which is vital for
food security of the local people and the province. Moreover, there is also a need to introduce
drought and heat-resistant crops and varieties that have been introduced in many African and
Middle-Eastern countries that fit the pattern of their rainfall (Solh & van Ginkel, 2014). It is
important to shift ‘water-intensive’ crops to crops that do not require a lot of water like sugar
beet instead of sugar cane. Further, ‘in order to prevent the inappropriate use of water, crop
calendar can also be redesigned. It is observed that the quality of water in many districts of
Sindh is ‘brackish’ and salty, and has a high degree of fluoride ions which is unfit for human
consumption. However, this water can be used for irrigation, particularly for ‘fodder crops
and forestation (Solh & van Ginkel, 2014). The irrigation and rainwater can be used for other
techniques such as ‘water reaping, micro-and macro-catchments; additional irrigation; and
lack irrigation (Solh & van Ginkel, 2014).’ Therefore, besides introducing ‘climate-
responsive crops’ and promoting ‘agriculture expertise’ in the province of Sindh, it is also
important to present ‘saline agriculture’ in the areas of scarcity (Hirani, 2019 p.86; TDCR,

9
2016, p.77-83; Suthar et al.,2019) with the construction of small dams. TDC (2016) also
emphasizes it is direly needed to extensively survey the available water resources- such as
whether water is available, whether saline water is available, are there beds of old rivers, are
there any underground water reservoirs, and how will they be useful if extracted through
proper use of technology.

2.4 Effectiveness of Existing Policy Framework

These policies are effective to some extent but there is a lack of implementation,
moreover in the case of climate disasters, there are no risk management policies rather than
there are crisis management which leads to devastation of a large area and groups, such as
when flood arrives there are devastation of houses, crops and people. In order to manage
things effectively the policies should be made based on risk management and they should be
implemented properly. Often policies are made by the government but they are not
implemented or they are implemented when it is too late, that should not be the case. The
government should look into policy gaps and redefine their policies for the safety of everyone
and everything.

Negative aspect of the policies is that they are often made in response to a current
disaster instead of being preventive, meaning that the government reacts to a situation instead
of planning ahead and prevent it. This has caused further destruction and damage as disasters
have already happened before they can take any action. Therefore, proper risk management
and prevention should be the focus of the government in order to reduce the damage by
natural disasters. Another negative aspect is that often these policies are designed without
much understanding or research about the local context, which leads to ineffective policies
and confusion among citizens.

To conclude, although drought policies have been successful to some extent in Sindh,
there is a huge potential for improvement. Such policies should be made with careful
research, consultation and risk management in mind, along with proper implementation and
monitoring to ensure that everyone is safe from the effects of a natural disaster.

10
 SECTION-3

It is observed that there is lack of comprehensive and all-inclusive approach to

address the drought in all terms, which has caused a adverse impact on the agricultural sector
of the province. In 1990s, it was researched that our climate will face droughts and it is
important to develop all term plans to prevent them from causing disasters, however the
serious policy issue was its emphasis on crisis management rather than mitigation and
preparedness (Wilhite, 1991). Similarly, drought policy experts around the world believe that
in addition to "crisis management" focus should be on "risk management" (Botterill, 2021;
Wilhite et al., 1999, 2000). Recently, Mapedza, Tsegai and Brüntrup emphasized the
comparatively inadequate works that exists on drought prevention policies - groundbreaking
agricultural practices, vigorous water managing systems, initial threatening systems, rural
finance and agricultural assurance (Mapedza et al., 2019). These issues have been partially
addressed in recent reports related to drought preparedness and mitigation policies contained
in reports published by the UNCCD and IPCC (Agrawala, 1998).

The study of literature review shows that there is no proper policy in place regarding
drought especially in the developing countries due to which the population living in high risk
districts are severely affected in case of any disaster. In order to develop a broad policy
framework, the drought planning process (10 steps) proposed by Wilhite (1990) was
recognized and later approved by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) at its 16th
session (201) at the National High Level Meeting. Drought Policy (HMNDP)" (Sivakumar et
al., 201; Wilhite et al., 1999). The goal remained to develop unified and integrated
international, regional, and provincial drought policies that specifically include "monitoring
and early warning systems, drought preparedness., and improving risk management (Wilhite,
Botterill, & Monnik, 2005, p. 139)." Furthermore, an empirical study by Mapeza conducted
in Africa reveals that "crisis management" is given more importance rather than "risk
management" (Hove and Kambanje, 2019). These two research publications are very
important in devising a framework for drought policymaking, and cover both aspects i.e.
proactive and reactive policymaking.

The drought policy framework of the provincial government mainly follows a reactive
approach focusing mainly on post drought policies and actions. It is observed that the
provincial government comes into action only in times of crisis, which has proved to be an
inefficient mechanism, since it requires more financial and material resources. Further, this

11
approach does not provide any solution for the protection of agriculture and crops and
focusses mainly on the providing relief to the population of the affected districts in terms of
provision of health and nutrition. In contrast, the pre-drought risk management measures,
which include, among other things, proposing pre-drought policies, active stakeholder
engagement, and long- and short-term policy options for the agricultural sector are much
more effective to mitigate the effects of drought. In other words, this approach involves pre-
planning the essential procedures to evade or minimalize the effects of drought in advance.

Other region-specific examples of successful drought prevention success policy

interventions have also been studied, particularly from Africa, Australia, Brazil, South Africa,
and the United States, to understand the international best practices being followed in these
countries. Additionally, a comparative analysis of proactive and reactive approaches has also
been done in order to understand the nature of policymaking around the world. Potential
policy options to remove obstacles in the preparation of a drought policy framework and their
implications for Sindh's agricultural sector have therefore been documented in academic and
“gray” papers such as government reports, documents and research reports. Additionally,
various policy options and solutions have been proposed in reports such as TDC (2016) and
NCHR (2016) and Hardy and Hassan (1985) that have also shown efficiency in finishing the
hole and preparing a strong policy framework for drought preparedness in Sindh. This is
important for a province like Sindh which faces drought like situation every year especially in
four districts namely Sanghar, Dadu, Jamshoro and Tharparkar.

The preceding paragraphs give us a relatively conclusive argument that drought is one
of the major challenges facing Sindh’s agricultural sector and is therefore a critical policy

12
issue. Therefore, while considering various aspects of policy barriers and enablers, it is
important that all stakeholders must be taken on board and fully participate in policymaking
since they are the ones to ensure its successful and effective implementation. The field
research for developing sound and wholesome drought policy framework in Sindh province is
very handicapped and limited and not readily available, however, at the provincial level, it is
not more than a matter of crisis management for the drought affected time period in a
particular district. Thus, the research that is available, which includes reports published by
numerous Government and Non-Government Organizations on the consequences and impacts
of drought are helpful in ascertaining and formulating a suggested policy framework for the
province of Sindh. Moreover, the following findings can be useful in policy formulation for
drought-stricken areas like Tharparkar, Dadu, Shikarpur, Umerkot and Jamshoro districts.
Because inhabitants dwelling in these arid and non-arid districts only rely on rain-fed
agriculture and livestock, the proposed policy recommendations may become a positive
policy investment in the short-term, medium-term, and long-term.

Short-term policy intervention: In the first instance, on a short-term basis, it is

necessary to strengthen the vertical, preventive and nutrition-specific health care programs,
and also introduce wide-ranging social protection programmes, and create policies that
encourage employment of locals, to promote agricultural reforms, provision of subsidized
ration/food for drought-stricken areas.

Medium-term policy intervention: Secondly, ‘in order to ensure wider support to the
communities that drought have affected, it is important to introduce the concept of medium-
term changes in policy, for example introduction of allowance for drought-area health
professionals, continued supply of medicines, subsidies to farmers for installation of
tubewells, and purchase of tractors and seeds, improving the infrastructures of the health and
the incorporation of the policies and programs related to social sector services.

Long-term policy intervention: Thirdly, ‘the long-term policy measures must focus
on drought preparedness through the involvement of private sector offering them public and
private partnerships in the agriculture, health and livestock sectors, and taking climatic
preservation measures such as deforestation and land ruins must be reduced, medical and
agricultural universities should be built, reforms must be made in agricultural and livestock
sector, existing dysfunctional Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants must be rehabilitated.

13
 CONCLUSION

In this research, it is observed that policy-formulators while devising the drought

policies at the national and provincial levels ignored the ‘risk management approach;’ due to
which various sectors of the economy have been severely affected, including agriculture,
livestock and allied sectors. The policy makers’ have only focused on crisis management
rather than adopting a preventive approach which is not sustainable on long term basis and is
adequate only for short term measures and handling the crisis when it has already hit a
particular district. Therefore, until a wholesome and comprehensive drought policy
framework is developed to address the issues of drought affected population, it will be tough
to prevent the impact of the disasters and if it is not attended at the right time, it will worsen
the situation in future.

The paper also explores the risk management systems to deal with disasters
particularly droughts and the need to adopt a mechanism to change from ‘crisis management’
to ‘risk management’ that is practiced throughout the world with relative success. This will
help increase sustainability and pliability, particularly in the drought-tormented regions of
Sindh. The literature review of TDC (2016) and NCHR (2016) establishes that policy-makers
at the highest levels, political leadership and the bureaucracy, have never prioritized this
aspect since inception. Resultantly, we see that whenever drought occurs in any district in
Sindh province, there is total mismanagement and lack of coordination to effectively deal
with the problem at hand. Therefore, it is important that the government of Sindh formulate
and present a complete Provincial Drought Policy for the area to lay the groundwork for
active policy procedures. The ensuing results will be substantial if all the departments give
their proper input in policy formulation and ensure proper implementation at the grass roots
level.

If policy formulation of our country and the province in particular does not shift from
‘crisis management’ to ‘risk management’ despite severe climatic changes in recent years
otherwise it will result in a future policy disaster. Therefore, we need to learn from the
developed countries and their National Drought Policies implemented in Australia, Brazil,
South Africa, and the USA and other countries.

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 RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The province of Sindh has witnessed many droughts in the past and due to climatic
changes, it is expected that the province will continue to experience it in future as
well. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an integrated framework of action for the
management of drought in the Province of Sindh. There is a need to focus on health,
agriculture, modern technologies and poverty alleviation aspects in the drought
affected districts of Sindh. Each of these sectors must be viewed in an integrated
manner and interactions between them must be considered in a comprehensive way
for proper drought management. In this regard it is important to mobilize the available
resources with PDMA and other relevant departments including the district
administration and also involve human resources of communities of the concerned
districts.

2. It is strongly recommended that the Sindh government shall continue uninterrupted

provision of subsidized rations (wheat and rice) as a critical drought policy
intervention or long-term future investment. Besides, the Sindh government can
introduce and launch the ‘Food Insurance Scheme’ in the districts where drought is
recurrent in nature and intensity, i.e., Dadu, Jamshoro, Tharparkar, and Sanghar
districts. Benefits or return on investment received on FIS can subsequently be
utilized exclusively in those drought-affected areas where natural calamity strikes the
land.

3. It is recommended that for the agriculture sector's promotion, ‘drought and heat-
tolerant crops’ shall be introduced in these drought affected districts. Additionally,
constructing the ‘Thar Canal’ irrigation network can be developed by exclusively
utilizing ‘Brackish water’ cascading from Thar Coal Project. This will uplift the
whole district socially and economically in the longer run.

4. It is recommended that Drought Insurance Scheme (DIS) shall be introduced in the

drought affected districts, and DIS will bring a sense of security and sustainability for

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 the local population on a more extended period and will also be a more cost-effective
and proactive approach as compared to traditional, i.e., reactive approach. Instead of
putting reliance on the crisis management approach or ‘a series of ad hoc
arrangements’. Drought (Crop/livestock) Insurance Scheme will prove to be ‘pre-
impact initiatives’ to reduce drought risk, impact, and severity.

5. There are three key barriers to implement any public policy in the Sindh province.
There are budgetary constraints, implementation challenges and institutional delays
attributable to budget approvals, and lack of technical expertise

(a) Fiscal constraints: The first and foremost challenges are budgetary constraints
and the availability of financial resources are required to mobilize human resources
and execute such policies.
(b) Implementation Challenges: To overcome implementation challenges, on a pilot
basis, the Deputy Commissioner, Tharparkar, may conduct a baseline study in tandem
with the Board of Revenue, PDMA, Finance Department, and NGOs and RSPNs to
determine potential policy options.
(c) Contingency Planning and Proposed Mitigation efforts: the proposed mitigation
efforts and contingency planning necessitate the availability of and proper utilization
of resources, involving financial and technical expertise from the World Bank and
other stakeholders.
(i) Contingency Planning: Sindh government may, on a ‘contingency basis,’
administer the free provision of food supplies or nutritional supplements via the Food
Department, subject to both the condition that the pre-and post-drought household
evaluation is aligned with DIS and BISP.
(ii) Corporate Social Responsibility: Planning and Development Board (P&D)
and Finance the Department (F.D) may divert unutilized funds for DIS immediately
before drought revisits the calamity-hit areas. However, the CP&MP Schemes Sindh
government's construction may seek loans from World Bank (W.B) or Asian
Development Bank (ADB). But simultaneously, the Sindh government can issue a
direction to companies working in Thar Coal Project to carry out small projects under
corporate social responsibility until the respective lending banks guarantee the loan.

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6. In many districts, agriculture is under strain due to non-availability of water in canals
and depletion of underground water. Therefore, for sustainable production of crops
and to cope with the climatic change and droughts in the future, rehabilitation of
traditional irrigation systems must be on the priority list of the provincial government.

7. Although some NGOs and other donor agencies have installed RO plants in many
districts and also developed a solar tube wells and community hand pumps, the
coverage is limited to a small segment of the population. Considering its importance,
there is an urgent need to develop strategies for improving drinking water situation in
drought prone districts by enhancing the number of solar tube wells hand pumps.

8. The government needs to educate farmers to optimize the use of available water
resources especially during the low rainfall seasons. Farmers should be provided
support in the form of soft loans and technologies to use more water efficient
irrigation methods. Small and cost effective irrigation systems techniques are
commonly available in the developed countries that can be replicated in the Sindh
province as well.
Feasibility studies may be carried out through agricultural experts for installation of
these systems in the province.

9. The government also needs to focus on water harvesting techniques, diversion of

ephemeral streams and spate irrigation. Artificial recharge of aquifers with the
rainwater is a successful water conservation technique used in many water scarce
countries including India and Iran. In this technique small dams are constructed across
streams to store floodwater for recharging aquifers, which is very useful and also not
too much costly.

10. There is also a need to devise crop calendars keeping in view the various factors of
drought affected districts and farmers must be given training to follow irrigation
scheduling of different crops to mitigate the effects of dry spell and ensure reasonably
good yields. It is observed that many farmers in the rural areas of Sindh are not aware
of actual crop water requirements for different crops, there is a need to first carry out
studies of the actual water requirements for different crops and knowledge may be
imparted to the farmers. This will help optimal use of available water resources.

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11. In the long-term, government needs to have a pro-active approach to solve drought-
related issues, rather than focusing on providing only emergency relief. It is also
imperative to conduct proper needs assessment and availability of resources to deal
with disasters like drought.
12. The supply of food items in drought affected districts on subsidized rates must also be
ensured. Presently, there are hardly any credit facilities available to the poor segment
of the people living in the affected districts. In this regard, the government can
coordinate with various banks for the establishment of dedicated fund for provision of
interest free loans to the people, which can be used for improved agricultural
practices.
This bank may also provide advisory and financial support to the people not only
during the drought period but also during the normal years.

13. Political stability along with prioritization and commitment at the government level is
very important for devising a long term anti drought strategy. The successful models
in other parts of the world and particularly in Asia must be studied in order to develop
a drought policy framework at the federal and the provincial level.

14. The federal and provincial institutions dealing with disasters are not very active. Lack
of fully functional local government institutions are also important to implement
policies at the grass roots level. The provincial government must strengthen these
institutions at the grass roots level.

15. There is a need to establish a National Drought Management Cell at the provincial
level, which should specifically deal with major disasters like floods and droughts.

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