educating farmers about balance use of inputs (e.g. fertilizer and irrigation) coupled
with engendering awareness about climate change could lead to secure the wheat
grain production in the country.
1 Introduction
Climate change, an antediluvian phenomenon, is not only the matter of scientific
conjecture but also fast becoming reality. It has become an earth-shattering issue
after the onset of nineteenth century referring to altering the weather conditions and
other climatic variables mainly derived from human activities, directly or indirectly,
coupled with natural variability (UNFCCC 2014). Change in climate has been
projected to have dire consequences on number of sectors including water and
energy; agriculture and food production; human health and biodiversity; and the
economy itself severely suffers from shocks resulting from extreme weather events
(IPCC 2014). Changing climatic conditions affects the crop productivity, which
may lead to threaten the food and livelihood security of rural communities (Wilson
and Buckle Henning 2016). Further, variability in climatic parameters affects the
socioeconomic and natural systems in multiple ways (Malone 2009).
Change in climate has several socioeconomic dimensions; each carries different
mechanisms and consequences (Abumhadi et al. 2012). While agriculture sector is
expected to hit severely by climate change, which serves as victim and abettor,
however, assessments across regions show different consequences (Rosenzweig
et al. 2013). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2007) estimated that 31 % of total emissions in 2004 came from agriculture and forestry.
Changes in climate and natural calamities are the foremost cause of hunger and
affect all dimensions of food security including access to food, availability and
stability of supplies, and nutrition across the world (Habiba et al. 2016). Climate
change has been predicted to alter food production and to reform the food distribution system and markets (Nelson et al. 2010). However, the risks triggered by
climate are inequitable across countries and anticipated to vary according to the
topographic locations (Dickinson et al. 2015); ecological circumstances (Edger
et al. 2016); and the level of economic development of each area/country
(Myers-Smith et al. 2015), which defines the capacity of local peoples to deal with
such antagonistic consequences. Despite having miniscule contribution in greenhouse gases, Pakistan is ranked very high in climate risk index (Khan 2015) due to
diverse topography, meagre economy and inadequate infrastructure.
Pakistan is a developing country, geographically located in diverse ecological
zones between 24–37°N latitudes and 62–75°E longitudes (Salma et al. 2012). It is
ranked as sixth most populace country in the world, with substantial population
growth rate and ever-increasing demand of food production. The country has
diverse topography with variety of ecological systems from wet mountains to dry
deserts. Its economy is predominantly dependent upon agriculture, which provides
food, fibre and livelihood to its population. The abrupt variability in climatic
42
M.H. Abdullah et al.
with engendering awareness about climate change could lead to secure the wheat
grain production in the country.
1 Introduction
Climate change, an antediluvian phenomenon, is not only the matter of scientific
conjecture but also fast becoming reality. It has become an earth-shattering issue
after the onset of nineteenth century referring to altering the weather conditions and
other climatic variables mainly derived from human activities, directly or indirectly,
coupled with natural variability (UNFCCC 2014). Change in climate has been
projected to have dire consequences on number of sectors including water and
energy; agriculture and food production; human health and biodiversity; and the
economy itself severely suffers from shocks resulting from extreme weather events
(IPCC 2014). Changing climatic conditions affects the crop productivity, which
may lead to threaten the food and livelihood security of rural communities (Wilson
and Buckle Henning 2016). Further, variability in climatic parameters affects the
socioeconomic and natural systems in multiple ways (Malone 2009).
Change in climate has several socioeconomic dimensions; each carries different
mechanisms and consequences (Abumhadi et al. 2012). While agriculture sector is
expected to hit severely by climate change, which serves as victim and abettor,
however, assessments across regions show different consequences (Rosenzweig
et al. 2013). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2007) estimated that 31 % of total emissions in 2004 came from agriculture and forestry.
Changes in climate and natural calamities are the foremost cause of hunger and
affect all dimensions of food security including access to food, availability and
stability of supplies, and nutrition across the world (Habiba et al. 2016). Climate
change has been predicted to alter food production and to reform the food distribution system and markets (Nelson et al. 2010). However, the risks triggered by
climate are inequitable across countries and anticipated to vary according to the
topographic locations (Dickinson et al. 2015); ecological circumstances (Edger
et al. 2016); and the level of economic development of each area/country
(Myers-Smith et al. 2015), which defines the capacity of local peoples to deal with
such antagonistic consequences. Despite having miniscule contribution in greenhouse gases, Pakistan is ranked very high in climate risk index (Khan 2015) due to
diverse topography, meagre economy and inadequate infrastructure.
Pakistan is a developing country, geographically located in diverse ecological
zones between 24–37°N latitudes and 62–75°E longitudes (Salma et al. 2012). It is
ranked as sixth most populace country in the world, with substantial population
growth rate and ever-increasing demand of food production. The country has
diverse topography with variety of ecological systems from wet mountains to dry
deserts. Its economy is predominantly dependent upon agriculture, which provides
food, fibre and livelihood to its population. The abrupt variability in climatic
42
M.H. Abdullah et al.