From Increased Workloads to Health Risks Amongst Women and the Elderly: A Case Study of the Impact of Ecological Breakdown through an Intersectional Lens in Baltistan, Pakistan

This study traces the ways in which climate breakdown affects women and elderly men in a village, Barah Valley in Pakistan administered Gilgit-Baltistan. The essay draws on intersectional perspectives, arguing that women and elderly men are disproportionately affected as they continue to engage in subsistence farming since in many sections of Pakistan it is the women who do the bulk of agricultural activities while younger men work in sectors other than agriculture in towns and urban areas of Pakistan. More specifically, the paper illustrates the ways in which water scarcity due to disrupted weather patterns and shrinking glaciers has led to food insecurities amongst the poor, increased women’s work responsibilities and affected the health of the elderly. The study additionally illustrates the women’s desires to improve their quality of life in the farming villages as well as their attitude towards interventions of international NGOs. The paper shows that while women desire improved infrastructure, elderly men reminisce about days of organic farming methods.

Much scholarship on climate crisis within Gilgit-Baltistan have examined its’ socio-economic impact and the ways in which the people adapt to their local realities. However, there have been less studies which focus on how the most vulnerable such as the poor, elderly, and women who have less power to be mobile and engage in decision making processes in the village experience climate breakdown. Data is based on focus group interviews in a village, a semi-structured interview with the directing manager of Agha Khan Rural Support Programme, informal conversations with farmers, people in the hospitality sector in Skardu, Shigar and Ghanche district of Gilgit-Baltistan, participant observation, and WhatsApp conversations.