An Exploratory Study of Social Safety Nets (SSN) in Battagram District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province: Implications for Food Security of Small Farmers

摘要

An Exploratory Study of Social Safety Nets (SSN) in Battagram District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province: Implications for Food Security of Small Farmers Agriculture is the major driver of growth of Pakistan's economy. However the agriculture in the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP) is primarily a small farm activity. Major part of KP is mountaineous having severe cold weather. The heavy snowfall makes farming very difficult. The small farmers of KP have.limited resources to sustain their living. Moreover, in KP 12 out of 24 districts are severely threatened with food insecurity and access to food is said to have become a major problem for the entire province. Social safety nets (SSNs) are therefore introduced to assist people who have been adversely affected due to poverty. One of the two tehsils was chosen randomly through simple random method then from that tehsil 2 union councils were selected randomly. From each of the selected union councils (UCs) 3 villages were selected by using simple random sample technique. Later on, from each village 20 respondents were selected randomly thereby making a sample size of 120 respondents. Quantitative data was also collected with the help of well-structured interview schedule while qualitative data was collected by using open ended interview guide. The data was analyzed by using computer software Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). It was concluded that majority of farmers had less access to the government provided safety nets and were mainly dependent on the political relations. The access of small farmers to NGOs and semi government provided social safety nets was comparatively better but it was greatly influenced by social relations. The low level of awareness and poverty were found to be the major factors limiting the access of farmers to different social safety nets. There was meager interaction between different safety nets working in the study area. Social safety nets can play an effective role in food security if launched on regular basis and according to the needs of the local community.