Across Pakistan’s rural heartlands and particularly in the mountainous landscapes of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the effects of climate change are no longer distant threats; they are immediate, daily realities. In this ecologically fragile region, where steep slopes, rain-fed agriculture and glacial streams sustain thousands of farming households, even slight climatic shifts can have profound consequences. Erratic rainfall, glacial retreat, rising temperatures, recurrent floods and prolonged droughts are rapidly reshaping the agricultural systems that rural communities have depended on for generations.

Farmers in AJK relied on predictable weather cycles, traditional hill farming techniques and inherited knowledge to cultivate maize, wheat and pulses on terraced slopes and valleys. These practices allowed them to sustain livelihoods in challenging terrain. However, the breakdown of these climatic patterns with rainfall now arriving too early, too late or all at once has made farming increasingly uncertain. Glacial streams that once provided consistent irrigation flows are becoming unreliable due to altered snowmelt patterns, while heavy downpours frequently cause flash floods, landslides, and soil erosion, damaging fields and infrastructure.

In this context, Climate-Resilient Agriculture (CRA) has emerged as a strategic and necessary response. By blending innovative technologies with indigenous knowledge systems, CRA aims to strengthen the adaptive capacity of AJK’s farming communities, sustain agricultural productivity, and build resilience against mounting climate shocks. The urgency of adopting CRA is particularly acute in AJK, where smallholder farmers dominate, landholdings are fragmented, and the terrain amplifies the impacts of extreme weather. Understanding the unique set of climatic, geographic and socioeconomic challenges that drive reduced agricultural productivity in AJK is therefore essential for designing effective solutions and ensuring the long-term sustainability of rural livelihoods.

Climate Stress and Reduced Productivity:

In AJK, communities that depend on rainfall experiencing reduced stream flows and unpredictable snowmelt, creating uncertainty in irrigation cycles. Unreliable rainfall patterns are leading to both delayed sowing and moisture stress during critical crop growth stages.

A striking example emerged in 2025 during the maize and wheat cycles. In AJK’s central districts, continuous and untimely rainfall during the maize sowing season severely delayed field preparation. Many farmers were forced to sow late.

Conversely, during the wheat growing season, prolonged dry spells in January and February, coupled with higher-than-average temperatures in March, caused moisture stress during the critical grain- filling stage. Many farmers in AJK districts reported shriveled grains and lower wheat quality, with yield reductions compounding household food insecurity. This dual impact excess rainfall during

maize sowing and drought during wheat maturity illustrates the growing unpredictability farmers must navigate.

Temperature shifts and changing precipitation regimes are also disrupting sowing and harvesting schedules more broadly, exposing crops to atypical pests, diseases and heat stress. Crops that once thrived in cooler microclimates are under growing pressure, leading to reduced yields and increased production risks.

Meanwhile, soil degradation is accelerating. AJK’s steep slopes, intense rainfall events are causing severe erosion, stripping away fertile topsoil.

Socioeconomic and Institutional Barriers:

Beyond environmental factors, socioeconomic vulnerabilities intensify the decline. Most smallholder farmers lack access to credit, modern technologies, agricultural extension services and reliable markets. This lack of access limits their capacity to adapt, invest in improved practices or recover from shocks. The decline of traditional seed varieties and indigenous farming knowledge once key sources of resilience has left many farmers dependent on commercial seeds that are often ill-suited to local microclimates or unaffordable during crises. In 2025, several communities in AJK’s remote valleys reported abandoning traditional maize landraces due to declining performance.

Fragmented policies and weak institutional support exacerbate the situation. Climate adaptation is not yet systematically integrated into agricultural planning. Land tenure issues remain unresolved in many areas, discouraging farmers from making long-term investments in soil and water conservation. Meanwhile, limited research and data gaps hamper the development of locally adapted solutions.

Local Innovation and the Role of Hill Farming:

In AJK, although large-scale CRA programs remain limited, local communities are innovating with adaptive practices. These include crop diversification, the introduction of climate-resilient varieties, adjusted sowing calendars and improved water management techniques. Civil society organizations are also stepping up to build awareness, engage policymakers, and bridge gaps between communities and institutions.

A particularly promising approach for AJK’s mountainous terrain is Hill Farming, a traditional yet underutilized system that can be revitalized through CRA principles. Hill farming involves cultivating terraced fields along slopes to maximize limited arable land while minimizing soil erosion. By integrating contour ploughing, mulching, organic composting and agroforestry, hill farming can improve soil moisture retention, enhance fertility and reduce runoff during intense rainfall.

Modern CRA techniques such as drip irrigation, rainwater harvesting tanks and climate-resilient seed varieties can be layered onto hill farming systems to make them more productive and less vulnerable. For example, small check dams or water storage ponds built above terraced fields can store excess rainwater, which is then released during dry spells for supplemental irrigation. Integrating fruit trees or nitrogen-fixing shrubs along terrace edges can stabilize slopes while providing additional income sources.

The core elements of Climate-Resilient Agriculture (CRA) are grounded in practical, evidence-based interventions that directly address the vulnerabilities of farming communities. At the heart of these interventions is the use of drought and flood-tolerant crop varieties, which help secure yields even during periods of extreme climatic events, ensuring a stable food supply when weather patterns become unpredictable.

Equally important is efficient water management, achieved through methods such as micro- irrigation (water channel system), rainwater harvesting and the development of improved watershed systems. These approaches help stabilize water availability, allowing farmers to better cope with irregular rainfall and water scarcity.

Regenerative soil practices further enhance resilience. Techniques like composting, terracing and agroforestry improve soil fertility, strengthen its structure and reduce erosion particularly critical for hill farming areas like AJK, where steep slopes are highly vulnerable to degradation.

In addition to these environmental measures, diversifying crops and livelihoods, including the integration of livestock and apiculture (beekeeping), spreads agricultural risks and increases household income stability. This diversification acts as a buffer, enabling communities to withstand shocks when one crop or source of income is affected by climate extremes.

Underlying all these practices is the need for strong agricultural extension systems, accessible financial services and supportive policy frameworks. These elements form the backbone that enables farmers to adopt, sustain and scale resilient agricultural practices, ensuring that CRA moves beyond isolated interventions to become a transformative force for rural livelihoods.

Strategies must be tailored to AJK’s unique topography and vulnerability. Terrace and contour farming can mitigate erosion on steep slopes. Investing in small-scale water storage infrastructure can reduce reliance on glacial flows. Mobile advisory services, community seed banks, and cooperative networks can overcome barriers posed by remoteness. Integrating indigenous knowledge with modern techniques can preserve local resilience while enhancing productivity.

Way Forward:

The potential benefits of scaling CRA are transformative. It can stabilize and even increase yields, enhance food security, reduce poverty and improve environmental health. By diversifying livelihoods and adopting resilient practices, communities can build buffers against shocks and strengthen their long-term resilience.

Invest in localized research and development: Develop and disseminate climate-resilient crop varieties tailored to diverse microclimates, especially in fragile mountain ecosystems.

Subsidize climate-smart technologies: Provide targeted financial support for rainwater harvesting, rehabilitation, construction of water channels and regenerative soil practices to make them affordable for smallholders.

Strengthen and decentralize extension services: Equip local agricultural extension teams with the tools, training and mobility to provide real-time, context-specific advice to farmers, including through digital platforms.

Empower communities through cooperatives: Promote farmer cooperatives and community- based organizations to pool resources, improve bargaining power and facilitate collective access to markets and technologies.

Integrate indigenous knowledge: Blend traditional seed varieties, sowing calendars and soil practices with modern innovations to maintain cultural resilience while improving productivity.

Establish reliable climate information and early warning systems: Ensure timely and accessible climate data reaches farmers, enabling them to make informed decisions on sowing, harvesting, and water use.

Ensure policy coherence and land rights: Align agricultural, water and environmental policies, and address unresolved land tenure issues to encourage long-term investments in resilience.

Scale financing mechanisms: Introduce low-interest credit lines, crop insurance and climate adaptation funds to support farmers in adopting CRA practices without bearing unsustainable financial risks.