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ISLAMABAD: A World Bank report has urged Pakistan to strengthen its water management and agricultural adaptation strategies, as the country ranks among the world&rsquo;s most vulnerable to inefficient water use under drying conditions.&nbsp;The report, titled &ldquo;Continental Drying: The Global Evidence on Drying Trends and Their Socioeconomic Implications,&rdquo; identifies Pakistan among the top four countries facing severe inefficiencies in agricultural water consumption, particularly in regions where freshwater resources are rapidly declining.&nbsp;According to the report, one-third of inefficient water use in irrigated agriculture occurs in areas already facing water scarcity, a challenge most pronounced in countries such as Pakistan, Algeria, and Tunisia.&nbsp;The study highlights that climate-related shocks, such as droughts and irregular rainfall, have historically led to major productivity and welfare losses in Pakistan. During the 2002 drought, agricultural productivity declined by 19.6%, with rainfall shortages accounting for nearly three-quarters of the loss. Despite farmers&#39; short-term adaptation efforts, overall agricultural output fell by 4.4%, leading to higher food prices and a 1.9% decline&nbsp;in national welfare.&nbsp;The World Bank notes that Pakistan, due to its large agricultural base and high water stress, remains critical to global food supply chains and climate stability. It recommends investing in water-saving technologies, crop diversification, and climate-resilient irrigation systems to safeguard livelihoods and boost productivity.&nbsp;The report also emphasizes regional cooperation on transboundary water management and calls for improved data monitoring and governance reforms to ensure equitable water distribution between sectors.&nbsp;The World Bank further highlights that efficient trade mechanisms played a key role in mitigating welfare losses during past droughts, suggesting that continued participation in regional and global food markets could help Pakistan buffer future climate shocks.

Climate & Environment

World Bank report says one-third of inefficient water use in irrigated agriculture occurs in areas already facing water scarcity, a challenge most pronounced in countries such as Pakistan, Algeria, and Tunisia.

Pakistan urged to boost water efficiency amid global drying trends

Reuters

<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KABUL: Eight-year-old Noorullah and his twin, Sanaullah, spend their days hauling yellow jerrycans on a wheelbarrow through Kabul&#39;s dusty alleys instead of going to school - an ordeal for one family that reflects Afghanistan&#39;s deepening water crisis. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once supplied with water from their own well, the family of 13 has had to queue at communal taps or pool money for costly water tankers since their supply dried up four years ago. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With climate change increasing the frequency of droughts and erratic rainfall in Afghanistan, aid agencies say Kabul is among the most water-stressed cities in Asia, with shortages fuelling disease, malnutrition and school dropouts. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Afghanistan Analysts Network, an independent Kabul-based research group, in a report this month warned the city&#39;s groundwater could run out by 2030, with other Afghan cities also running dry. The crisis is deepening inequality, as poor families spend up to 30% of their income on tanker water while the wealthy dig ever-deeper private wells. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The twin boys queue with dozens of children at a communal tap, where shoving and shouting often flare into fights as the heat builds. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Standing in line for hours <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Noorullah, who has epilepsy, said he once collapsed with a seizure while fetching water. His brother added, &quot;Sometimes we stand in line for three hours. When the heat is too much, we feel dizzy.&quot; <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Their father, 42-year-old shopkeeper Assadullah, feels there is no choice. Sitting outside his small shop with empty water barrels stacked nearby, he said, &quot;From morning until evening, my children go for water six or seven times a day.&quot; <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&quot;Sometimes they cry and say they cannot fetch more, but what else can we do?&quot; <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The shortages have gutted his income too. On a good day, he earns $2&ndash;$3, however, he often closes the shop to help his sons push their loads. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&quot;Before, we used to receive water through a company. It lasted us three or four days. Now even that option is gone,&quot; he said. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the family&#39;s yard, his wife, Speray, washes dishes in a plastic basin, measuring out each jug. She said her husband has developed a stomach ulcer and she contracted H. pylori, a bacterial infection linked to unsafe water. &quot;I boil water twice before giving it to our children, but it is still a struggle,&quot; she said. Snowmelt once replenished Kabul&#39;s water basin <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kabul&#39;s population has surged past six million in two decades, but investment in water infrastructure has lagged. War wrecked much of the supply network, leaving residents dependent on wells or costly tankers, and those are failing. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just a few streets from Assadullah, 52-year-old community representative Mohammad Asif Ayubi said more than 380 households in the neighbourhood faced the same plight. &quot;Even wells 120 metres (nearly 400 feet) deep have dried up,&quot; he said, a depth once considered certain to reach water. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Droughts and erratic rainfall patterns have limited the snowmelt that once replenished Kabul&#39;s water basin and left the riverbed dry for much of the year. &quot;Kabul is among the most water-stressed areas,&quot; said Najibullah Sadid, a water researcher based in Germany. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">UN envoy Roza Otunbayeva warned the UN Security Council earlier this month that droughts, climate shocks and migration risk turning Kabul into the first modern capital to run out of water &quot;within years, not decades&quot;. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For Assadullah, the wish is simple. &quot;If we had enough water, my children wouldn&#39;t have to run around all day,&quot; he said. &quot;They could go to school. Our whole life would change.&quot;

A girl carries empty barrels to fetch water, amid serious water crisis in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 28, 2025. 

Asia

Eight-year-old Noorullah and his twin, Sanaullah, spend their days hauling yellow jerrycans on a wheelbarrow through Kabul's dusty alleys instead of going to school - an ordeal for one family that reflects Afghanistan's deepening water crisis.

Articles tagged with "Water crisis"

Pakistan urged to boost water efficiency amid global drying trends

Water crisis in Kabul sends children from classrooms to water queues