「脆弱性(Vulnerability)」とは何か

Primary health care

The analytic hierarchy process supporting decision making for sustainable development: An overview of applications

Addressing the effect of climate change in the framework of financial and technological development on cereal production in Pakistan

Urban flooding has been an alarming issue over the past years in Asia and other countries. Pakistan has been experiencing such flooding with associated damages regularly. Understanding the degree of vulnerability and risk are essential to work out risk reduction measures. It is equally important to measure the risk perception vis-a-vis actual risk for successful implementation of preparedness initiatives. The main purpose of this paper is to understand the variation as well as the relationship between actual and perceived risk. Three cities (Rawalpindi, Sialkot and Muzaffargarh) with different population size situated in high risk flood zones of Pakistan were selected for empirical investigation. Household survey was conducted in three urban communities highly impacted by flood for actual and perceived risk assessments with well-defined indicators. Results revealed that due to poor socioeconomic conditions of households living in flood prone community of metropolitan city, they were more vulnerable as compared to other cities. In three cities, about 14% households live at high risk against 10% households with high-perceived risk. Significantly differential risks exist among the cities. Similar results have been observed in terms of perceived risk. Comparative analyses have revealed that both actual and perceived risk levels are significantly different among the cities but reflect a positive correlation in all three cities. This implies that the perceived risk increases with respect to actual risk. In the absence of hard data for actual risk assessment, perceived risk may be a good substitute for working out risk reduction measures.

Actual vis-à-vis perceived risk of flood prone urban communities in Pakistan

Agriculture yield is the main source of income in all agricultural operations. It is indispensable for farmers to ascertain and then manage production risks. Agricultural credit plays an important role in farm management. It is used around the globe, and particularly in Pakistan, as an ex-ante and ex-post risk management strategy by famers. However, there is limited literature available on the adoption of agricultural credit as a risk management strategy in post floods disasters. The purpose of this paper is to study the impacts of socio-economic factors on the adoption of agricultural credit as risk management strategy by farmers in Pakistan. This study incorporates explanatory research design to investigate the causal relationship between the dependent (binary) and independent variables. Data were collected through survey and checklist from 168 farmers in the study area. Probit model was employed to explore the said relationships. Risk perception, risk attitude and access to credit were calculated for each individual and used as independent variables along with other socio-economic factors. Results from probit estimation showed that overall model was a good fit, most of the socio-economic factors were found significant. Experience, education, risk perception of heavy rains, income, distance and access to credit sources had positive relationship with the adoption of agricultural credit.

Factors influencing farmers' adoption of agricultural credit as a risk management strategy: The case of Pakistan

This paper examines the factors influencing farmers' access to agricultural credit in a flood disaster risk-prone area in Pakistan. Multistage sampling through a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 168 subsistence landholders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The empirical results of the heteroscedasticity corrected and weighted least squares regression with robust standard errors revealed that education, farming experience, total landholding, monthly income, family size, and proportion of owned land were significant factors in farmers' access to credit. The findings of this study reveal that socio-economic factors play a key role in farmers' access to agricultural credit in flood-hit areas in Pakistan. Hence, there is a need for credit policy to address the issues of farmers living in risk-prone areas. Moreover, the existing credit policy could be amended to protect the interest of tenant farmers, who lack collateral security.

Factors determining subsistence farmers' access to agricultural credit in flood-prone areas of Pakistan

Farmers are confronted with several sources of climatic risks. As such, their risk attitudes play an important role in farm management decisions. Few studies have attempted to explore farmers' risk attitudes in flood-prone areas. This study examines the effects of socio-economic factors on risk attitudes of farmers in a flood-prone area of Pakistan. The data were collected from 168 subsistence farmers through a standardized questionnaire. The farmers were selected through multi-stage sampling techniques. For farmers' risk attitude measurement, Equally Likely Certainty Equivalent (ELCE) method and a cubic utility function were employed. Risk perceptions of farmers were measured by the risk matrix technique. A Logit model was employed to investigate the effects of socio-economic factors on farmers' risk attitudes. The findings of the study reveal that the majority of farmers were risk averse in nature. The results for the logit model show that education, experience, farmers' group, landholding size, off-farm income, and risk perceptions of floods significantly affect the risk attitude of farmers. The study provides useful insights into the most important factors affecting the risk attitude of farmers. The results have implications for policy makers in providing farmers with accurate risk mitigating and management tools, such as agricultural credit and crop insurance, to cope with climatic risks.

An empirical assessment of farmers' risk attitudes in flood-prone areas of Pakistan

This article reports on a study that aimed to investigate the differences in access to, and utilisation of, agricultural credit among subsistence farmers in Pakistan. Primary data were collected from 87 randomly selected subsistence farmers. Results show that subsistence farmers with more land had greater access and utilisation, and that education, experience, type of farmer, and landholding size were significant factors influencing access to credit. As subsistence farmers with the least land were the most disadvantaged, there is a need for revamping the credit policy to protect their interests. Moreover, simplifying the existing complex procedures involved in securing agricultural credit is highly recommended.

Landholding size and farmers' access to credit and its utilisation in Pakistan.

This article explores access to primary health care (PHC) services and associated factors in Pakistan. Data were collected from 302 respondents. The findings revealed that women accessed PHC services more than men due to their greater health needs. However, a large proportion of both genders did not access any PHC services. Besides general weaknesses, gender-related barriers were found in basic health unit locations, distance, transport, staff availability, income, service hours, and service organisation, confirming gender issues in access to PHC services. Policymakers are recommended to take measures to improve access to PHC services through the formulation of gender-responsive policies and strategies.

Shahab E. Saqib

Papers

Factors influencing farmers' adoption of agricultural credit as a risk management strategy: The case of Pakistan

Factors determining subsistence farmers' access to agricultural credit in flood-prone areas of Pakistan

An empirical assessment of farmers' risk attitudes in flood-prone areas of Pakistan

Landholding size and farmers' access to credit and its utilisation in Pakistan.

Factors affecting access to primary health care services in Pakistan: a gender-based analysis