THE 2022 FLOOD AND POVERTY: HOW THE LOSS OF PRODUCTIVE ASSETS AFFECTED DEVELOPMENT IN DERA ISMAIL KHAN, PAKISTAN

Abstract

The huge monsoon floods that hit Pakistan in the months of July to September in 2022 gave a big shock to the whole land, the one unfortunate district was Dera Ismail Khan. The study reports the inquiry about the flood and its post impact upon the poverty and productive resources in district Dera Ismail Khan. The secondary data collected from government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa statistics and PDMA and from agriculture research center Dera Ismail Khan research report. The result shows that, the 2022 flood damaged infrastructure, agriculture land and livestock in huge numbers. Floods ruined about 55,000 hectares of cultivated land cropped area. Sugarcane, rice, cotton and sesame were some of the major affected crops. Total economic loss in Dera Ismail khan in the form of crops was recorded as 4.5 billion rupees. From livestock, about 11,527 animals died which is the foremost livelihood source in D.I.Khan district. The floods ravaged or destroyed 44,869 houses, of which 25,898 were totally destroyed and 18,971 were partially destroyed. The floods hurt the poorest households, the least able to recover, the most. The destruction of productive assets land, crops, livestock, and housing drove many families further into poverty, reversing years of development gains. Women and children were the most vulnerable, with higher risks of food insecurity, disease, and violence based on gender due to displacement and loss of livelihoods.