Nexus Between Climate Change And Food Security: A Thematic Analysis of 2022 Flash Floods In Utror And Gabral, Swat

Abstract

The world's most vulnerable country to harsh climatic catastrophes, such floods, is Pakistan. Disasters around the world pose an increasing threat to the livelihood of smallholder farmers, especially those who live in mountainous areas where agriculture is often their only source of food and income. This research aims to explore the impact of floods on the livelihoods of the people of Utror and Gabral, Swat affected by floods. This thesis explores the complex interactions between food security and the flash floods that ravaged the Pakistani areas of Utror and Gabral in 2022. The study explores the complex effects of the floods on local populations' access to food security based on FIES, explores how the disruption of livelihood systems increased vulnerabilities. As a result of the floods, which were brought on by the region's unusual terrain and exacerbated by the region's heavy monsoon rains, many people were displaced, and there were economic damages. All dimensions of food security are affected by floods in Swat due to pre-monsoon rainfall as there is loss of agricultural products and lands before and after floods. Floods brought about a lack of food availability, water shortage, and loss of agricultural lands. Understanding how a flood disaster will affect the food security of small-scale farmers is therefore essential for planning and managing a flood disaster. This study aims to understand the potential impacts of the flood disaster on food security by analyzing the smallholder farmer communities in rural mountainous region of Swat. Using a qualitative methodology, insights were gleaned through FDGs based in-depth interviews with residents of the affected communities of Utror and Gabral. The study investigates what happened right after the floods, concentrating on the availability, accessibility, and use of food supplies. It explores the immediate and long-term repercussions of the disaster on methods of surviving such as farming, raising livestock, and other off-farm pursuits, all of which play a significant role in the local economy with the research questions on food production and food consumption after floods. A semi-structured in-depth interview is be used to gather data from 16 respondents in Utror and Gabral, two Swat villages. This study is based on the theoretical framework of Sustainable Livelihood Approach with a focus on food security. This research sheds light on how these communities handled the problems of food and livelihood caused by the floods by looking at local coping mechanisms and adaptation techniques. The findings demonstrate the intricate connection between food security and the viability of a livelihood in the wake of a significant environmental shock. Floods have destroyed prepared vegetables, and crops and ruined physical infrastructures such as roads and buildings which were. As a result, the region's food supply, accessibility, consumption, and stability have eventually declined as livelihood is directly impacted by floods. New strategies and policies of sustainable livelihood approach need to be developed to implement a climate-resilient livelihood and food security system. The results of this study have implications for disaster management strategies, highlighting the significance of integrated