Perceptions of Glacier Grafting: An Indigenous Technique of Water Conservation for Food Security in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

• Main Authors: Ramsha Munir, Umer Khayyam, Iftikhar Hussain Adil
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-05-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: climate change; glacier melt water; glacier grafting; agriculture; Gilgit-Baltistan
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/9/5208

Climate change and disruption in the water cycle patterns are leading to water scarcity. This unsustained water provision is drastically affecting the areas of limited water resources. This research has studied the impacts of climate change on water availability and the localized indigenous technique of glacier grafting for sustained water provision. This adaptation strategy helps the water-stressed locality to conserve water for food security. For this reason, 160 self-administered questionnaires were deployed at the household level, and the primary data were analyzed through STATA Software for ordinal logit regression to estimate the results for both restricted and unrestricted models, against the three dependent variables of glacier grafting, glacier melt water and food security. It is found that glacier grafting ensures sustained water provision for irrigation. It increases fertile land and agricultural production to achieve food security. The income of the households from non-/agricultural products leads to afford a better standard of living. The extension of the glacier grafting strategy to curb climatic effects can help global societies to address the food insecurity issue for sustained living.