In Pakistan’s dry plains and productive deltas, climate change is no longer a hypothetical threat; it is a lived reality. That reality is best observed where land meets water, where women farmers in Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan are reshaping resilience in the face of climate adversity. While water scarcity deepens and weather becomes increasingly volatile, these women are developing irrigation schemes, re-scheduling crop cycles, and, finally, determining the course of smallholder agriculture.
Pakistan’s agriculture sector, which consumes over 90% of its available freshwater, is suffering under enormous stress from dwindling rivers, declining groundwater, and erratic monsoons. Women, who account for approximately 45% of Pakistan’s agricultural labor force, are disproportionately impacted by these stresses. Owning a mere 2% of agricultural land though, these women farmers are emerging quietly as unheralded leaders in the area of water management.
Women have led raised-bed cultivation and drip irrigation in the Sindh’s Badin and Thatta districts. Supported by the Sindh Water Sector Improvement Project and by local NGOs, these technologies have achieved up to 30% water savings over conventional flood irrigation, besides reducing soil salinity.
In Multan and Bahawalpur districts of Southern Punjab, women farmers are restoring old water-harvesting systems, including karez and ponding. These techniques entail capturing rainwater in small reservoirs to draw on later, which allows them to stagger the times of their irrigation and cope with the capricious patterns of drought and intense rain triggered by climate change.
Water shortage is also inducing a shift in the choice of crops and dates of planting. In Balochistan’s desert areas like Nushki and Mastung, where the level of groundwater declined as much as 3 meters during the past decade, women are substituting water-guzzling crops like wheat and cotton with more drought-resistant crops like barley, millet and pulses.
In Punjab, where Sutlej and Ravi rivers have grown more seasonal, women farmers are adapting by shifting to shorter crop cycles. They rotate early-maturing rice varieties such as Super Basmati with legumes and oilseeds. This only saves water, but also helps improve soil health, embodying the principles of regenerative agriculture.
Perhaps most significant of all the ways in which women are redefining resilience is through the development of informal networks and community learning. Women farmer field schools are becoming central places for the exchange of tips on irrigation timing, organic pest control and seed saving in villages throughout Sindh and Balochistan.
According to FAO, from 2018 to 2022, more than 17,000 Pakistani women were trained in climate-smart agriculture. This kind of training empowers women as it equips them with the skills required to track soil moisture, compost and settle water-sharing conflicts effectively.
The national climate policies of Pakistan are finally acknowledging the critical role of women in enhancing water resilience. The draft of the 2021 National Adaptation Plan openly embraces gender-responsive approaches to water management. Provincial governments, in their turn, are launching initiatives such as the Punjab Irrigated Agriculture Productivity Improvement Project, providing subsidies on water-saving technologies for small farmers, including women. But barriers like inadequate land titles, restricted credit access and under-representation in water users’ associations continue to constrain women’s scope and effectiveness.
Empowering women leaders is not simply an issue of equity but efficiency. UN Women estimates that if women farmers in developing economies had equal access to resources, the agricultural yield could rise 20-30%, greatly reducing hunger. Along Pakistan’s water-short borders, women farmers don’t look like hapless victims of climate change, but innovative pioneers. From the salt-saturated fields of Sindh to the dry orchards of Balochistan, these remarkable women are discovering local solutions to a global issue. Their ingenuity highlights a vital truth: gender-sensitive climate adaptation is not only a good idea, but a necessity for ensuring the future of Pakistan’s agriculture.
