KARACHI: An Australian government-funded project for farming communities in Sanghar and Sujawal districts, where heavier monsoons, rising heat and spreading salinity are putting livelihoods under pressure, was launched at a stakeholder inception workshop organised by Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) on Wednesday.
Presenting an overview of the Climate Adaptive Livelihoods in Sindh (CALS) project, Associate Professor Hemant Ojha, project leader from the Australian National University (ANU), said: “From Sanghar and Sujawal all the way to Karachi and Islamabad, we heard more questions than answers. CALS is our collaborative response. Our approach is locally led: repeated cycles of assessing evidence, planning, acting and reflecting with farmers, landless families and women.”
Speaking as the chief guest, Maqbool Khatian, chairman of the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (Sida), appreciated the initiative and committed his support for successful rollout of the project.
According to a press release issued here, he added that follow up should be organised in the programme villages.
Led by the ANU and coordinated by US-Pakistan Centre for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W), MUET Jamshoro, CALS team will work with the communities to generate knowledge on climate adapted livelihoods to inform the policy reform process in Pakistan from October 2026 to April 2031.
Partners in Pakistan include the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam; and two local NGOs, Research and Development Foundation (RDF) and Society for Facilitators and Trainers (SOFT).
By the end of the project, communities in Sanghar and Sujawal will have their voices heard on livelihoods in decision-making at district, provincial and federal levels of government.
The project will also inform the scientific community about how communities adapt to maintain their livelihoods in the face of growing climate uncertainty and hazards such as drought, floods and salinity.
Emphasising the potential of CALS project in establishing the linkages between water and livelihood security, Dr Neil Lazarow, ACIAR research programme manager for water, said: “Water security is fundamental to a sustainable agricultural sector in Pakistan.”
Dr Munawar Raza Kazmi, ACIAR country manager for Pakistan, emphasised that ACIAR’s partnership with Pakistan rests on locally led research, co-designed with Pakistani partners to meet local priorities rather than importing Australian technologies.
Professor Emeritus Bakhshal Lashari, national project coordinator at MUET, welcomed the delegates from communities from project districts of Sanghar and Sujawal, fellow academicians and international delegates.
Representatives of the government of Sindh, academia, NGOs and development partners attended the event at a hotel.
Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2026
