Pakistan is a country having too much and tool little water, e.g., during 1998 the country faced major drought which killed thousands of people in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan, and then in 2010, it received super flood in which almost 20% country was submerged under water, and the estimated economic loss was of USD 43 billion according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, followed by another flood in 2011 [in Sidh]. During 2022, it again received super floods and the estimated economic loss is of USD 30 billion.
I have been conducted research on climate change and agriculture for the last several years not only in Pakistan but also in other countries. Starting from Upper Sindh along the Indus River, one could find lakes of seepage water which has come from seepage from the barrages and canals. It is given that in Sindh there is only a little slope towards sea [0.15 meter/kilometre], and the water movement to sea is extremely slow, rather the sea water intrudes into the mainland with storm surge or high tides, e.g., it happened severely in 2010 and the LBOD could not perform its function rather seawater was intruding through this drain.
In 2022, Sindh received millions of acre feet of water from rains, and the people are still complaining that the government is not doing enough to drain water from their lands and help in rehabilitation of their farmlands. Some people try to pump out water from their land but then it goes to the neighbour’s fields and the conflicts start on this issue.
I suggest to grow Eucalyptus grandis or hybrid of Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Eucalyptus grandis in the areas of Sindh [also true for Punjab] which have excessive water, e.g., along the shallow areas of canal banks and drains, and the peripheries of fields and start earning money. This will solve the issue of too much water and bring additional income to the growers. The wood could be used as timber or for domestic energy use as wood fuel or for making charcoal. We import gas from other countries for cooking, why don’t we produce our own energy from trees. I visited Broghal valley, Chitral and was informed that people bring fuel wood from Peshawar areas, and it costs them a lot.
I worked in Somalia and found that charcoal made in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and Uganda is imported into Somalia and then all the imported and local made charcoal is exported to the Gulf countries. Other countries such as Malaysia earns US dollar 292 million annually through charcoal export, and India earns US dollars 45 million on this account after meeting its local needs. Why don’t Pakistan think of growing eucalyptus in areas which have excess water and earn some foreign exchange through export of timber, or charcoal and also supplement its energy needs in our urban areas. How long we will continue to import gas and burn our hard-earned foreign exchange?? Is this option sustainable? The solution lies in energy plantations.
The second point is that Pakistan imports timber and sheets of processed wood from other countries, which is again a drain of 170 million US dollars per annum. What stops Pakistan to grow fast growing tree species and meeting the local timber needs to stop the leakage of foreign exchange?
Pakistan imports paper/pulp of approximately 534 million US dollars every year, why doesn’t it produce its own paper pulp from Eucalyptus and save the foreign exchange? We import paper and then waste it by supplying photocopies of CNIC to every office/bank, etc., and the rest we waste as tissue papers in the toilets. By the way all the photocopiers and toners are also imported. This calls for awareness about consumption patterns and driving people towards changing their consumption patterns. Brazil was facing a problem of swamps and consequent mosquitoes and malaria, and then it realized to dry up the swamps by growing eucalyptus to control malaria. Now besides controlling malaria, Brazil is the world exporter of paper pulp, an export of US dollars 2.7 billion, and Pakistan is still trying to manage malaria by tertiary measures, relying on donors and WHO. Malaria is a major issue in the flood-prone/waterlogged areas.
Unfortunately, since 1970’s Pakistani people and governments are in the mode of import-led economic growth which cannot be sustained anymore, as there is no other source of getting foreign exchange except to get loans from lenders on high interest and stringent conditions to meet our other important needs.
Now environmentalist will criticize that the eucalyptus is environmentally a bad option as it consumes a great deal of water. This is absolutely true, a purpose of promoting eucalyptus in low-lying and waterlogged areas of Sindh/Punjab is to manage tool much water through biological pumps which would also help control malaria and enhance farmers’ income. The strategy should be to grow the trees and monitor groundwater level and selectively cut them for productive use as per set groundwater level lower limit.
In fact, eucalyptus is a double edge sword. If it is planted in drought prone areas, it will not grow well and further it will lower the ground water, but if it is grown in waterlogged and saline areas or other areas where water is abundant it is a fortune. For example, Uganda has a large number of lakes and streams and it is the exporter of electricity/phone poles made of eucalyptus to all the neighbouring countries. Pakistan imports either ready-made iron poles or iron scrap for making poles. Billion tree tsunami project promoted eucalyptus in drought prone areas, e.g., in Draban, Dera Ismail Khan and I myself witnessed people complaining that the trees are not growing well and they are tired of irrigating fields by tubewells [mostly run on kunda system]. This was a wrong choice for drylands, but on such a pre-text we should not loose opportunities which are there in the water excessive areas.
I worked in Malawi and found that a lot of eucalyptus is grown there, and the people proudly claim that this tree has saved the Malawian forests which were facing a high rate of deforestation- this was promoted through a World Bank funded project.
I was disappointed with the government’s strategy to increase taxes to meet IMF requirements. In fact, the strategy should be to carefully analyze every single import item and every single dollar spent and think through how to have local production to switch from import-led to export-led economy. I have cited a few examples above, and there are many more not only in agriculture but also in other sectors.
Pakistani people should thank God that they have been given a highly productive land, and they should think through to convert its agriculture from subsistence to commercial level. In the changing situation of climate change and disasters, the nation which grows plenty of food to feed its people and export the surplus and provides opportunities to its masses to have sustainable livelihoods to improve their resilience will survive. The import-led economy and cash-transfers to poor is not a viable solution.
In the current scenario the strategy of survival is simple, and is based on 5 pillars, viz., reduce imports, enhance exports coupled with the efficiency of government institutions/bureaucracy, trigger circular economy and reduce development expenditures.
Government, politicians, and people need to respond proactively to save every dollar being spent on imports and adopt out of the box solutions to rely on local resources.
The author is a former Sustainable Development Advisor/ Assistant Resident Representative, UNDP Pakistan and works as independent consultant for various governments, INGOs and UN Agencies. He could be reached at Inayat.undp@gmail.com www.drinayat.com