Socio-economic Impact and Migration Due to Water Shortage in District Badin Sindh Province of Pakistan

Abstract

The agriculture sector is the backbone of Pakistan's economy. It contributes 18.9 percent to the national GDP (Gross Domestic Product), and 43.5 percent to the national labor force. The term ‘water scarcity’ depicts, the water demand that could not fulfill the human need. Some of the factors that cause water scarcity include dry spells, shortage of irrigation water, climate change, drought, excessive storage, and weather extremes. Another critical factor that causes scarcity is excessive population growth. Water stress directly impacts human migration because it affects the human lives and socio-economic conditions of the migrants. This study aimed to examine the impact of water shortage on the socioeconomic condition of growers in the study area. To examine how water scarcity is behind the migration and to analyze the impact of water shortage on agricultural production. The analysis of the data reveals that migration occurs due to the shortage of water in the last five years of Taluka, Tando Bago. The current scenario of the study depicted that Tando Bago is suffering from the worst condition of water shortage and about 60 percent of farmers were not in a condition to use the freshwater resources. According to the farmer's perception (88%), the quality of underground water is seen to be low as compared to taluka Matli. It is a big threat to the agriculture sector in terms of productivity, soil degradation, and fallow land. The study further reveals that per acre yield of crops is low that signifies the impact of water shortage on agriculture production. In taluka Matli, the net return of wheat crop and per-acre value of land (RS: 795,858), is high as compared to Tando Bago (RS: 225,428). The results of the study favours’ the significant impact of water shortage on socioeconomic and migration of the people in district Badin.