KHAIRPUR, Sindh: It has been three years since flash floods submerged Rasool Bux’s village in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, wiping out the livestock shelters that supported his family’s livelihood.

The disaster in 2022 was one of the deadliest climate events in the country’s history, pushing millions into poverty and devastating key agricultural regions in Sindh.

As Pakistan looks to strengthen its defenses against future climate shocks, farmers and experts say protecting livestock, often the only source of income for rural households, must be a national priority.

“Our animals had perished and their shelter was damaged in the floods,” Bux told Arab News while feeding his two buffaloes and three cows at one of around 200 climate-resilient shelters built in Thari Mirwah by the German relief organization Malteser International to help local communities recover from the disaster.

The 52-year-old farmer from Gul Muhammad Sanjrani village in district Khairpur still fears another deluge could wipe out what little he has rebuilt. His animals are the primary source of income for his family, including his wife and five children. He now sells about five kilograms of milk daily to keep the household running.

Livestock plays a vital role in rural Pakistan’s economy, where dairy and meat consumption are tied directly to family survival. According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan issued in June, the sector engages over 8 million rural households, contributing 40 percent to their incomes and around 15 percent to Pakistan’s gross domestic product.

In a year when agriculture grew by only 0.6 percent due in part to extreme weather, livestock still contributed 4.7 percent to the sector, the largest share.

Sindh, Pakistan’s second-largest crop-producing province, is often hit hard by floods. Around 930 kilometers of the Indus River meanders through the province, making it one of the most flood-prone regions in the country, according to the International Growth Center (IGC).

In May, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved around $1.4 billion in climate financing for Pakistan under its Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), aimed at bolstering the country’s resilience to future climate shocks and promoting sustainable growth.

Bux, who wore a blue cloth and white turban, said once disbursed, the government should use this money on projects like building climate-resilient animal shelters in flood-affected areas like his village.

“More such shelters should be built in our village where some people can afford to build such shelters while others cannot,” he said.

Experts working on the ground echoed that view.

“The need for animal shelters here is huge,” said Muhammad Junaid Soomro, a project engineer at the Sindh Rural Support Organization (SRSO), which is working alongside Malteser.

 “Even 300 to 400 such units will fall short of the need we have here for such shelters on a union council basis.”

“We [Malteser and SRSO] will go beyond this and build even more if we get the fund,” he added. “We are working in five union councils only, while there are 89 union councils in this district.”

Soomro urged the government to prioritize livestock and agriculture in flood-hit areas once IMF funds become available.

“They [Malteser] have made these shelters with a small amount of available funds. These can be made more [climate] resilient with the IMF’s climate resilient funding,” he said.

Imdad Hussain Siddiqui, who served as director of operations at the Provincial Disaster Management Authority of Sindh in flood-affected areas during 2022, described livestock as a “living bank” for rural families. 

“Animals are the sole remaining resource where land and crops are swept away by flooding because they provide rescue, safety and the sole avenue through which families can recover and rebuild their lives,” Siddiqui told Arab News.

He said the loss of livestock due to the 2022 floods, which was estimated at 1.1 million, amounts to “direct destitution and long-term poverty” for many families. 

“Strong infrastructure of livestock will enable such linkages to recover in the near future, permitting economic activity and income-generating opportunities for the affected people,” Siddiqui explained. 

IMF FINANCING

While farmers and local organizations are calling for infrastructure-focused projects, the IMF says its climate financing is designed to support broader structural reforms, not specific projects like animal shelters.

“However, there are a number of ways in which the RSF will help to build climate resilience in Pakistan that will benefit Pakistanis living in flood-prone areas, such as farmers,” said Mahir Binici, the international lender’s resident representative in Pakistan, in response to queries from Arab News.

Binici said the RSF program supports policy reforms targeting water management and irrigation infrastructure, which are expected to directly benefit farmers. These reforms aim to improve service reliability and address issues such as waterlogging, salinization, groundwater depletion and water insecurity.

“The RSF’s reforms take a whole-of-government approach, with some to be implemented at the provincial level,” Binici added, noting that a major focus will be improving coordination between federal and provincial authorities.

While government and IMF-led policy reforms unfold, organizations like Malteser and SRSO have been building small-scale solutions, like elevated animal shelters, which offer some defense against future flooding.

“We felt the need for building these here as the disaster, the flood had devastated our animal shelters as well as our homes in the community,” said Kanwal Hussain, a project officer at SRSO.

The shelters, built from bamboo, plastic sheets and mud, are raised about three feet above ground level, with canopy walls designed to keep rainwater from pooling and weakening the structure.

“We have built a canopy wall so rainwater does not stay there and damage the roof,” Soomro said.

In 2022, the international NGO Germanwatch ranked Pakistan first on its Climate Risk Index due to extreme weather events, including floods, landslides and storms during an intense monsoon season.

Pakistan is already in the middle of another harsh monsoon season, with over 60 people killed in rain-related incidents, mostly in the northwest and central Punjab, in just the past week.

“Flood dynamics are quite different. A single heavy spell, despite seasonal aggregate being less, can trigger them, just like what happened in Swat,” said Sardar Sarfaraz, a former director at the Pakistan Meteorological Department, referring to a flash flood in the northwest last month that drowned over a dozen tourists.