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Sub-theme: Peace and Peoples' Rights

Panel 1: Political Economy of Rehabilitation

• State of Livelihood Assets in Earthquake Affected Areas of Pakistan

State of Livelihood Assets in Earthquake Affected Areas of Pakistan
Sobia N. Ahmed*

One year after the October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, relief efforts have given way to recovery and rehabilitation initiatives. Numerous non-government organizations are supplementing the Government in efforts to revive the economy of those living in the earthquake affected areas (mainly in the NWFP province and Azad Jammu and Kashmir). The focus is now on livelihood rehabilitation. Policy makers are currently focusing on strategies to rebuild livelihoods of vulnerable groups based on their financial losses as a consequence to the earthquake. However, these strategies target rebuilding lost financial assets (for example donating livestock and poultry), rather than ensure sustainability by strengthening capital assets and diverting livelihood dependency on income that is less vulnerable to shocks. Therefore, there is a danger that interventions may not result in ensuring sustainable livelihoods.

This paper aims to highlight the need to move beyond developing a limited approach to livelihood restoration in earthquake-affected areas. In order to do so, the DFID sustainable livelihoods framework is used to analyze people’s lives in terms of capital assets held within an external context of vulnerability to shocks. In the current case, the approach centers on studying the vulnerabilities caused by the earthquake on human, financial, physical, natural, and social assets, and suggest ways to strengthen these assets in order to make them resilient to such vulnerabilities in future. Information to assess the situation of capital assets before and after the earthquake, and to observe the current policy interventions was gathered through questionnaires and focus group discussions across eight villages in the NWFP and AJ&K.

In the end, it is discovered that the livelihood structures in the NWFP and AJ&K are dissimilar, and that future livelihood restoration policies should keep this difference in mind. Moreover, it is suggested that keeping the state of livelihood assets in mind, a comprehensive livelihood strategy that supports gendered human development, encourages sustainable local economic activity, and strengthens weakened livelihood assets needs to be developed.

* Sobia Nazir Ahmed is a Research Associate at Sustainable Development Policy Institute.