RESEARCH OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED(ROSS) & PAKISTAN SOCIAL SCIENCES REVIEW (PSSR) adheres to Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License. The authors submitting and publishing in PSSR agree to the copyright policy under creative common license 4.0 (Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International license). Under this license, the authors published in PSSR retain the copyright including publishing rights of their scholarly work and agree to let others remix, tweak, and build upon their work non-commercially. All other authors using the content of PSSR are required to cite author(s) and publisher in their work. Therefore, RESEARCH OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED(ROSS) & PAKISTAN SOCIAL SCIENCES REVIEW (PSSR) follow an Open Access Policy for copyright and licensing.
How to Cite
Food Insecurity in the Western Himalaya: the Changing Pattern of Agro-Pastoral Activities and its Impact on Saif-Ul-Malook National Park, Pakistan
Abstract
This study explores the impact of poverty, and the changing pattern of agro-pastoral activities on Saif-ul-Malook National Park. For this purpose, data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. However, this study is mainly based on primary data. Primary data were collected from field survery through questionnaire survery, foucs group discussion and interview in August/September, 2018. A total number of 150 households were interviewed as a representative sample through random sampling technique. The collected data were analyzed through descriptive, inferential statistical techniques and cartographic methods. In order to check the econometric problems (i.e. heteroscedasticity and multicollinerity) in the assumption of ordinary least square (OLS) model, different diagnostics tests were employed and result of all the tests show the absence of any econometric problems in the model. The result of multi-regression shows that female-headed households of the study area are the ‘poorest of the poor’ and are more vulnerable and prone to poverty than men and face more barriers to lifting themselves out of poverty. This study indicates that agricultural transformation and cash crop cultivation have negative impact on poverty and improved food and livelihood security, ultimately improving the living standard of mountain people. Furthermore, it is inferred that the bio-physical environment of the Saif-ul-Malook national park is deteriorating and its sustainability calls for an immediate action to reduce the ever increasing human and livestock pressure on park resources.
Authors
Dr. Zahir Ahmad
Lecturer, Department of Geography, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan
Prof. Dr. Fazlur Rahman
Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Peshawar, Pakistan
Muhammad Arif
Project Director, National Parks Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Wildlife Department, KP, Peshawar
Keywords
Food Insecurity, Livelihood Strategy, National Park, Saif-Ul-Malook, Poverty
