ISLAMABAD: The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned that water scarcity in Sindh is on the rise and estimated that over 1.1 million people are now below emergency-level thresholds.

The UN’s specialised agency shared findings of two of their latest reports with the the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).

Surveys were carried out in nine districts — Khairpur, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Tharparkar, Badin, Thatta, Jamshoro and Dadu — 33 tehsils, 100 union councils, 272 villages and 3,565 households.

Tharparkar was considered a ‘high drought area’ followed by Jamshoro and Sanghar. Moderate drought areas were found to be Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Dadu and Thatta.

Southern Sindh was prone to droughts, the reports said. The current drought spell started towards the end of 2013 and has continued since intermittently for leaner monsoons. The drought was most severe in the western and southeastern Tharparkar regions.

According to the report, the drought was mostly moderate or low in the northeastern region, while the irrigated zones were largely spared by this particular drought.

The ‘Sindh Drought Needs Assessment’ (SDNA) was carried out to understand the situation and its impacts on livelihood, food security, nutrition, health, water and sanitation in Sindh whereas the objective of the ‘Household Economy Analysis’ (HEA) field assessment was to assess the impact of the 2013-15 drought on livelihoods in some of the worst drought-affected districts of the province.

The reports highlighted the three categories of households which suffered from the drought.

Pastoralists (livestock breeders) who lost up to two-thirds of their animals and income. Sharecroppers, particularly in the west zone, have been forced to seek alternative livelihoods. They were already among the poorest of households. And the agricultural labourers, particularly women workers who have been hit with dwindling labour opportunities.

In their broader conclusion, the reports say the drought had a negative impact on food security as the reduction in cultivation and harvests increased both unavailability and lack of access to food.

Water scarce areas experienced significantly higher levels of food insecurity, while food insecurity was worsening malnourishment in the southeast parts of Sindh. The reports pointed out that households located in high drought and extreme water scarcity areas, and in southeast zone, had low ownership of assets, higher access to unsafe water sources, difficult and very difficult access to healthcare, high mortality and prevalence of diarrhoea, and poor nutrition.

With regards to water and sanitation, the reports called for the provision of safe drinking water in all areas as priority of the government and partner organisations, in the short term. In medium term, the government should take responsibility to ensure water security and construction of new ponds for water storage.

Strategic water points should be established as part of a more sustainable longer-term effort to ensure access to safe water to the drought-affected communities and to ensure water security.

Households which lost livestock and agricultural production, earning subsistence livelihood, and living in high drought and extreme water scarcity areas required diverse support and assistance, the reports added.

The SDNA revealed that the 2013-15 drought had increased water scarcity in Sindh, causing large reductions in yields and abandonment of cultivation altogether in the most drought-affected zones.

Overall, the report said 17 per cent of households surveyed were found to have poor food consumption, 67.2pc were on a borderline consumption, whereas just 15.8pc were at an acceptable food consumption level.

Households in the irrigated zone and the east zone mostly relied on their own production for cereals. The share of food expenditure was significantly higher for households living under extreme water scarcity conditions. The share of households having poor and borderline food consumption is highest in extreme and moderate water scarcity areas respectively in east zone.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2016