ISLAMABAD: A new research of Asian Development Bank (ADB) found that Pakistani farmers affected by flood in 2011 and 2012, have a significantly higher increase in their savings.

The flood of 2011 resulted in 73.1 per cent increase in savings, whereas the 2012 flood increased savings by 8.19pc.

Pakistani farmers were successful in coping with the harms of flood exposure through temporary movement away from agriculture, according to a study: “Do Natural Disasters Changing Savings and Employment Choices?” published by the ADB on Friday.

Based on evidences from the impact of natural disasters on economic behaviour, a study undertaken by ADB says that farmers in Pakistan move away from agriculture as an immediate response to disasters, and they eventually come back to agriculture within a year of disaster exposure. The disaster-affected households in Pakistan actually have a higher increase in their savings than unaffected household, the study found.

Therefore, such changes in employment and income strategies may not necessarily imply a structural change. However, they do imply a household’s success in coping with the harms of disasters and disaster-affected households exhibit at least non-decrease in their savings behaviour, the study points out.

Although absolute changes in farm and non-farm employment and incomes may not always reflect a households’ movement between sectors, all the surveyed Pakistani households are farmers with zero non-farm income in 2011, it says.

Results of the study show that disaster-affected households in Pakistan actually have a higher increase in their savings than unaffected households.

Since bullocks are commonly used for cultivation in Pakistan such as increases in livestock purchases may actually imply that farmers’ interest in the accumulation of productive assets in order to revive their post-disaster agricultural activities.

In addition to public financing of the post-disaster reconstruction, this is an example of farmers’ private financing of the reconstruction process.

Published in Dawn December 24th, 2016