hen floodwaters engulfed Naseerabad district of Balochistan last year, farmer Murad Ahmed helplessly watched a torrent obliterate his rice fields. The fertile fields where he had for months nurtured a promising crop were turned into a wasteland overnight.

“The rice crop I had painstakingly cultivated was swept away in the flash flood,” he said. “This twenty acres farm once used to provide for us,” he said. “Now, it has been reduced to mud and debris.”

Murad, 65, has two sons and a daughter. The family includes his wife and elderly mother. They live in Tepul Shakh Manjhoti. His children have stopped going to school. “How can I afford their fees after the rice fields that used to provide for us vanished?” he asked.

“Fertiliser prices have risen and the cost of machinery has surged. After the flood, I have no resources to start over,” he said. He said they had sold his wife’s jewellery last winter to make the ends meet. “It was distressing to give up the family jewels,” he said, “but what else could one do? Without it, we would have starved.”

Murad’s story is hardly unique. Throughout the province, from the heatwave-hit Turbat to the flood prone plains of Naseerabad, the residents face a bewildering prospect: climate change is no longer a distant threat. It is a consistent challenge. Persistent droughts, rising temperature, erratic rainfall and severe storms have exposed the inadequacy of government’s disaster prevention measures.

According to an official report compiled by Balochistan Disaster Management Authority, 21 people died and 25 were injured in Balochistan owing to heavy downpour and flash floods. 251 houses were destroyed and 1,910 houses suffered partial damage. The report also mentions damage to infrastructure: four bridges and 14 district roads were washed out. Besides, at least 62 acres of cropped land was wiped out in the flood.

“The government talks about building resilience, but how are we supposed to be resilient when we receive no support when a disaster strikes us?” Murad asks. “If the policies remain on paper, the affected farmers are left to face the climate calamites on their own. The government has abandoned us to our fate.”

Kaleem Tareen, an assistant director in Balochistan Disaster Management Authority, said the BDMA was revamping the traditional karez systems under its Revival of Balochistan Water Resources Programme sponsored by the EU and the FAO. “Adaptation is not about setting up resilient infrastructure alone,” Tareen added, “It is also about reviving the systems that have sustained livelihoods for centuries.”

In 2023, the Balochistan government devised its climate change policy. It stressed sectoral priorities, such as water security, climate-tolerant agriculture, coastline preservation and community readiness. It outlined a structural framework including a provincial climate change commission, which is not yet operational, and a climate change fund with an initial allocation of Rs 500 million to streamline climate finance.

The absence of concrete adaptation plans at both global and local levels leaves the communities vulnerable to climate disasters. 

Investments in adaptation include the $101.3 million World Bank Balochistan Water Security and Productivity Improvement Project. For Balochistan, alleged to have had poor governance for long, this was an exceptional example of clarity and direction.

However, the progress from policy to practice continues to be a challenge. “Our policies are strong on paper. Realising their benefits in the form of intended impact is the challenge currently,” said Kaleem Tareen. “A farmer in Turbat or Naseerabad should see the improvement in their day-to-day life.”

Many residents of the region said climate policies tended to be theoretical. “Climate policies are designed regularly. However, once the downpour arrives, we see nothing on the ground,” said Murad. His experience reflected a systemic concern: there is a growing chasm between decision-making at administrative offices and the ground level reality of vulnerable communities.

Climate change activists say that Balochistan’s fragility is worsened by its geography. Sudden floods, water insecurity and desertification make the province susceptible to climate change disasters. “Without proactive community-based measures, adaptation plans are destined to fail,” said IzzatUllah, a climate change activist based in Quetta. “We direly need a system that intervenes before a disaster strikes, not after.”

Community engagement, climate activists say, is indispensable for genuine transformation. Policies that exclude local participation consistently fail to cope with climate vulnerabilities. Local councils, with participation from farmers, can monitor weather events, enhance irrigation systems and determining which crops to cultivate in view of the changing weather.

Lack of ready access to climate finance is an additional impediment. While Balochistan receives federal funds and international assistance for climate projects, delays in the release of funds often hinder swift implementation. “Funds are allocated on paper, but the outcomes seldom reach the people who need them the most,” Izzat Ullah said.

The strain on farmers is clearly visible. Frequent losses from floods and droughts cause a sense of hopelessness and trigger mistrust. For Murad, every monsoon season is a trial of resilience. “Farmers aspire to endure and farm again, but how long can we rebuild if there is no meaningful change?” he said.

Climate change experts say adaptation must be part of long-term climate change planning instead of hinging on emergency relief. Improving local administration, constructing robust infrastructure, advancing sustainable agriculture and ensuring more open, transparent and impartial climate fund management are all indispensable in terms of turning policies into grassroots practice.

Muard Ahmed and his fellow farmers said words on paper were not enough; they direly needed interventions that ensured protection of their lives and livelihoods.

An absence of concrete adaptation plans at both global and local levels leaves the farming communities vulnerable to climate disasters. The COP30 aimed at tripling adaptation finance for vulnerable countries to $120 billion by 2030. There is no saying when even this amount will reach the needy.

(Produced with support from the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism in partnership with the Talanoa Institute.)

The writer is a freelance contributor