After the Flood in Pakistan 38 Berlin Geographical Papers - Freie ...

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their homelands in Thatta. Members of these groups have to struggle harder to cope with these challenges, as the example of a household in the Mallah community illustrates (cf. Box 7). 5.1.3.2 Analyzing the image of vulnerability in Ahmed Raju Ahmed Raju has the lowest average VCI score among the eight surveyed villages across all districts. However, this appears due to the diversity of the household sample that includes large livestock owners and landed groups with multiple income sources. In contrast, the landless fisherfolk rank among the most vulnerable of the survey population with VCI values of 70 and above (cf. Fig. 5.17), indicating their rather defenceless position in face of the multiple threats to their livelihoods. Source: data recorded by ZELF team, Freie Universität Berlin, February – March 2011 Fig. 5.17: Fishermen households within the total VCI Ranking of households in Ahmed Raju The drivers of vulnerability for fishermen households relate to two main factors, apart from social marginalisation that goes along with an exclusion from infrastructure. Initially the 2003 cyclone led to a significant loss of assets such as livestock and fishery equipment. Subsequently, a lot of fisherfolk were driven into bonded labour relations, because most among those who lost their boats now work on boats owned by others at Zero Point. The continuous hazard of seawater intrusion and the related decrease of fresh-water fish availability force the fisherfolk even more into deepwater fishing and increased dependency on boat owners. Further drivers of vulnerability that affect other groups refer 38 Fishermen households n=26 households
to immersion into sharecropping arrangements without access to own agricultural land. The three non-fishermen households with a VCI scoring more than 70 are engaged in agricultural bonded labour, either as sharecroppers or wage labourers and own very limited assets only. The effort of fishermen to develop moderate capacities through social networks or NGO support is however palpable. For instance, the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum has around 200 members in Ahmed Raju alone and supports the communities with money, materials and fish in times of shortages, and there is a high degree of solidarity among the communities. The Mallah, for instance, developed a cash deposit system for lending inside their own community to cope with the exclusion from credit by shopkeepers, and they agreed on a fixed price for fish sold to the main village to avoid internal competition and being forced to sale at too low prices. It can be concluded that a majority of the inhabitants for the dominant village groups have somewhat recovered from the catastrophic cyclones and are able to cope with the ongoing environmental challenges to some degree, especially due to their relatively high material capacities. This, however, does not apply to the situation of the fisherfolk who, due to social exclusion and bonded labour, represent the most vulnerable groups in Ahmed Raju. 5.1.3.3 Implications for development practice The vulnerable fishermen groups deserve special attention when it comes to the implementation of development measures in Ahmed Raju. The most urgent needs are the supply with fresh drinking water to help alleviating social exclusion and to improve the basic health situation. The problem of safe fresh-water supply is addressed already by the public authorities currently building a filter plant in the village. However, it seems to be questionable whether all groups within the community will benefit, should the construction work finish eventually. Monitoring the construction process as well as dialogue with officials is necessary to keep up with the development of this infrastructure development in the village. As immediate measure to improve the situation the distribution of a sufficient number of hand pumps available on the local market for about 3,000Rs to the estimated 115 fishermen households would address one of the most pressing challenges for the fishermen groups. Gaining the acceptance and understanding of the other groups in the village would be crucial. If discussed and monitored carefully in cooperation with the community council, this measure could even contribute to levelling social difference to some degree. To address the second major driver of vulnerability, one possible measure could be the distribution of fishery equipment such as boats and fishing nets. The GRC could build here on its existing experiences with establishing production cooperatives and support the fisherfolk in the building of boats. The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum might be a feasible partner in the provision of materials and knowledge. A restocking of these assets would 39
Page 1 and 2: 38 Berlin Geographical Papers ZELF
Page 3: BERLIN GEOGRAPHICAL PAPERS Vol. 38
Page 6 and 7: living conditions, that reach the m
Page 9 and 10: Table of Contents 1 Introduction -
Page 11 and 12: List of Figures Fig. 1.1: Generic t
Page 13: List of acronyms ADB - Asian Develo
Page 16 and 17: mentation of development packages b
Page 18 and 19: Fig. 1.4: Pakistan overview and loc
Page 20 and 21: and man-made hazards are dominant.
Page 22 and 23: 3 Rapprochement of the field: resea
Page 24 and 25: The teams continued performing focu
Page 26 and 27: Table 4.1: Elements of the Vulnerab
Page 28 and 29: A major finding of the assessment t
Page 30 and 31: 5 Post-disaster assessment - distri
Page 32 and 33: As such it comes as no surprise tha
Page 34 and 35: away or even further, to Badin city
Page 36 and 37: Box 3: The household of Ali Bux - a
Page 38 and 39: Source: data recorded by ZELF team,
Page 40 and 41: consists of three overland wires bu
Page 42 and 43: mediocre quality - and the regularl
Page 44 and 45: 5.1.2.1 Levels of vulnerability in
Page 46 and 47: 5.1.2.2 Implications for developmen
Page 50 and 51: Box 7: Rajad Mallah: Coping with so
Page 54 and 55: make it possible again for the fish
Page 56 and 57: During their flight the people had
Page 58 and 59: Box 8: The economics of barfi produ
Page 60 and 61: Source: data recorded by ZELF team
Page 64 and 65: 5.2.2 Alloo Noonari - complete floo
Page 66 and 67: There is a village council that con
Page 68 and 69: Severe shortage of money prevents v
Page 70 and 71: 5.2.2.3 Shelter, drinking water and
Page 72 and 73: 5.2.3 Summary of findings: loss of
Page 74 and 75: Similar to the situation in Thatta
Page 76 and 77: Data Sources: GeoEye satellite imag
Page 78 and 79: K.N. Shah assumes importance also f
Page 80 and 81: Box 15: Social water management and
Page 82 and 83: Potentials of changing the Sindhi c
Page 84 and 85: 5.3.2.2 Local impacts of the flood
Page 86 and 87: For all households it can be establ
Page 88 and 89: to goods and services the villagers
Page 90 and 91: The flood crisis has aggravated the
Page 94 and 95: provides shelter to a number of hou
Page 96 and 97: Most people in the village are not
Page 98 and 99: These conditions require most house
Page 100 and 101: Box 22: Struggling with disaster Mo
Page 102 and 103:
6 Conclusions: vulnerability assess
Page 104 and 105:
perceived as an option, conditional
Page 106 and 107:
Most effectively, the problem could
Page 108 and 109:
7 References Arif Hasan (2009) The
Page 110:
Berlin Geographical Papers Vol. 37
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