Climate Resilience

The challenge

Pakistan faces growing climate risks, and smallholder farmers feel them first. The 2022 floods affected 33 million people and caused about USD 3.7 billion in damage to agriculture and livestock, and the World Bank estimated that 8.4 to 9.1 million more people could fall below the poverty line. Heat, erratic rainfall, floods and changing pest pressure threaten crops, incomes and ecosystems together. Many farmers lack the information, practices and reserves needed to adapt, and the cost of every lost harvest falls on households with the least to fall back on.

Sources: World Bank, Pakistan Floods 2022: Post-Disaster Needs Assessment, press release of 28 October 2022.

Our approach

Integrated pest management and biological pest control reduce input costs and contamination. Climate Smart Village approaches are piloted through the Women Open School, and Children Ecology Clubs teach children about beneficial insects, biodiversity and responsible agrochemical use.

Key interventions

• Integrated pest management and biological pest control
• Climate Smart Village approaches piloted through the Women Open School
• Kitchen gardens and homestead food production that reduce exposure to food price shocks
• Research partnerships with ICARDA, FAO and PARC on climate-adapted cotton practices and cotton leaf curl virus
• Children Ecology Clubs (the “Green Army”) promoting biodiversity and protection from pesticide hazards

Results in numbers

• 1,002Farmer Field Schools established
• 25,080Farmer men and youth graduated (FFS)
• 608Children Ecology Clubs established
• 15,250Children graduated (CEC)

Related projects

Models used

Farmer Field School (FFS), Women Open School (WOS) and Children Ecology Club (CEC).

Partners and donors

Donors and partners for individual projects are listed on each project page.

SDG alignment

• 12 SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production
• 13 SDG 13: Climate action
• 15 SDG 15: Life on land

Stories from the field

Resources and downloads