IMPACTS OF FLOOD ON LIVELIHOODS AND FOOD SECURITY OF RURAL COMMUNITIES: A CASE STUDY OF SOUTHERN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Pakistan faced a tragic and massive flood in mid of 2010. The occurred disaster was of unprecedented level affecting more than 20.1 million population in entire country. The Punjab province was major hit by the flood. In this regard, present study was conducted in Southern Punjab to explore the impacts of flood on livelihoods and food security of rural communities. District Muzaffargarh was the major flood affected area of Punjab and was selected as study area. Total 120 flood affected people were interviewed for the sake of data collection. Data were collected through interview schedule and later on were analyzed with the help of computer software SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). The findings revealed that agriculture was the major income source of the area and flood affected the natural capitals (land, irrigation, orchards and livestock) pushing the income generating sources into darkness. These situations made the people food deficit and food insecure as they had to use contaminated commodities especially water. Generally that disaster pushed the farmers’ prosperity to several years back. Integration of public and private sector along with NGO’S and national and international funding agencies can help to gain their resilience. Furthermore, establishment of early warning system and capacity building of flood victims will be helpful to cope with disasters. These actions should be established in the flood prone areas of entire country.