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Climate Change, Hazards and Adaptation Options pp 585–613Cite as

The Impact of Extreme Floods on Rural Communities: Evidence from Pakistan

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Part of the book series: Climate Change Management ((CCM))

Abstract

This chapter studies impacts of flood events on the livelihoods of rural communities in Pakistan. It explores the adverse effects of extreme flooding, as well as how communities learn and adapt their livelihoods in the wake of such events. Three flood-affected districts in the province of Punjab were selected as case study areas. A household survey was conducted and analyzed by using descriptive statistics. The results suggest that various livelihood assets were adversely impacted by flooding. The most significant impact was the loss of assets in farming communities. The impact of floods has led to several changes in the communities—notably, households changed how they make a living and their relationship with the nearest major city. Other changes include changes in construction techniques and a range of behavioural changes. Differences among communities were found, particularly in how they responded to flood events. It was observed that rural communities near large city more rapidly adopt changes that make them better adapted to future flooding as they have access to more avenues for livelihood diversification and more services, as well as better and more innovative markets. Observing and understanding these changes that the surveyed rural households made in response to flooding, is an important contribution to understanding how communities can adapt to extreme events and how this adaptation can be supported.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Union council is the lowest administrative unit in Pakistan.

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Acknowledgements

This research work is a part of the Ph.D. process at the Institute of Spatial and Regional Planning (IREUS), University of Stuttgart, Germany. The authors would like to thank Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan (SAP-50020940) and German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) (PIN = 91549672) for providing funding to the first author to carry out research work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Spatial and Regional Planning (IREUS), University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 7 (3rd Floor), 70569, Stuttgart, Germany

    Ali Jamshed, Joern Birkmann, Joanna M. McMillan & Hannes Lauer

  2. Department of Urban and Regional Planning, National University of Science and Technology Islamabad (NUST), Main Campus, H-12 Sector, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Irfan Ahmad Rana

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  1. Ali Jamshed
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  2. Joern Birkmann
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  3. Joanna M. McMillan
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  4. Irfan Ahmad Rana
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  5. Hannes Lauer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ali Jamshed .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. HAW Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Oceanografia y Ecologia Marina. Coastal Climate Science, Universidad de la República de Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Gustavo J. Nagy

  3. Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, Legnaro, Italy

    Marco Borga

  4. Department of Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Lima, Peru

    Pastor David Chávez Muñoz

  5. Department of Hydrology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

    Artur Magnuszewski

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Jamshed, A., Birkmann, J., McMillan, J.M., Rana, I.A., Lauer, H. (2020). The Impact of Extreme Floods on Rural Communities: Evidence from Pakistan. In: Leal Filho, W., Nagy, G., Borga, M., Chávez Muñoz, P., Magnuszewski, A. (eds) Climate Change, Hazards and Adaptation Options. Climate Change Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37425-9_30

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