Women own just 2pc of land in Pakistan

Pakistan's women possess an incredibly low 2 percent ownership of land, a concerning statistic unveiled by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in a recent survey. Despite a significant number of women employed in agriculture - 67 percent of the country's working women - only 1.5 percent of agricultural households are officially female-headed.

This stark gender gap in land ownership is mirrored in financial and digital empowerment, where only 14 percent of women hold full-service banking accounts, compared to 56 percent of men, and an even smaller 11 percent possess mobile-wallets. The SDPI stresses the urgency of these findings, as climate risks mount, with 2022 floods alone causing over $30 billion in damage and necessitating $16.3 billion for resilient reconstruction.

Alarmingly, half of the nation's population remains unrecognized as active agricultural workers. The SDPI highlights that women farmers shoulder the brunt of climate shocks, borrowing to survive, yet the formal financial system fails to recognize their contributions. Over 90 percent of surveyed women farmers experienced extreme climate events, leading to crop losses, while more than 80 percent reported reduced income.

Over half of these women turned to borrowing, or selling livestock to cope, a strategy that could undermine future income. The study's findings underscore the need for more inclusive, climate-responsive financial solutions for women farmers, who are integral to Pakistan's agricultural resilience in the face of increasing climate vulnerability.