Poverty and Environment

• Pakistan is a low-income country and out of 78 developing countries it was ranked 64 th in the 1997 Human Poverty Index, signifying that 34% of the population lives below the poverty line. According to latest estimates, 47.5% of the people live below the poverty line, which means that minimum income per person is Rs. 50. (Dr. Munir Ahmad, Islamic Society of Satistical Sciences - Dawn Lahore, August 14, 1999) 

• Incidence of poverty in the urban areas is highest in Punjab and lowest in NWFP in the rural areas

• Percentage of households below the poverty line in rural areas:

> Punjab 31%
> Balochistan 27%
> Sindh 18%
> NWFP 15%

• Incidence of poverty on the urban areas is highest in Punjab and lowest in Sindh

• Percentage of urban households below the poverty line:

> Punjab 25%
> Balochistan 23%
> NWFP 14%
> Sindh 10% 

• Poverty, combined with population increases, land constraints and lack of appropriate technology results in environmental degradation. The degrading environment not only affects population but also the national economy.
• The total loss due to environmental degradation is estimated to be 3.4% per annum of GDP (UN 1997).

Factors leading to Poverty

Poverty is a major concern in the environmental degradation of the country. Conversely, environmental degradation and poor natural resource base is the third most important factor contributing to rural poverty (Jazairy 1992).

Population Growth

Pakistan is the 7 th most populous country in the world and 4 th most densely populated. The population is around 140 million and the density is 169.93 persons/km. Birth rate has remained fairly constant since 1947, however, the crude death rate has dropped by 50% resulting in the 3% annual growth rate. The UN estimates that with the same growth rate Pakistan would become the third most populous country in the world by 2050. 

This growth combined with the falling quality and quantity of resources, results in resource capture whereby elite groups alter the distribution of resources in their favour and exploit them commercially beyond their sustainable capacity. This ecologically marginalises the poor or weaker groups. They suffer from extreme poverty as a result and either rely on common resources or move to other areas (mainly urban). The resulting high population density in the receiving areas generates further environmental damage and poverty. The poor become vulnerable and fulfil their immediate needs regardless of the long-term impacts of the process through which these needs are met. Scarcity of resources induces parents to have more children in order to have more 'hands' available. Population growths in rural areas means lower farm supplies and consequently people are pushed towards agriculture intensification. 

Impacts on health

The poor cannot deal with the impacts of a degraded environment. Their habitats are environmentally vulnerable and they do not have access to many facilities. As a result they are prone to diseases because they reside in low-income houses usually in industrial areas and have little choice in the quality of their nutritional intake. This increases their vulnerability to diseases, which they do not have the capacity to treat. They have minimum access to health services and spend long hours in polluted work places (factories) or work as unskilled labour. In the rural areas also, the poor usually work as labour on somebody else's farm and the incessant use of pesticides and fertilisers increases their exposure to health risks. 

Degradation of the urban environment

Urban growth is estimated to be 4.6% per annum. This is mainly a consequence of the high rate of rural-urban migration that contributes to the rapid decay of urban environment. Estimates indicate that 6 million (16%) people are unemployed and this is expected to increase by 500,000 annually. The increase in population, unemployment, and pressure on agricultural lands means migration to urban areas. 

The migrants usually are poor and are forced to live in urban slums. Out of the total population 45% of the people in Sindh and 50% in Punjab live in one-room houses. They often are not linked to water supplies and sanitation. The reason is their lack of financial resources and the administration does not provide these because that might give them legal status. They also do not invest in their residences as they either do not have the money or are afraid of being evicted. 

When the utility services are not available, unhealthy practices are adopted. Waste is dumped out in the open and becomes a source of water contamination. 

Insecure land ownership

It is important to have land ownership security to ensure proper land management practices. Usually, absentee landlords who give it to the landless villagers on lease own land in the rural areas. Since this is for the short term, the villagers have no incentive to invest in soil conservation, afforestation and other such practices. The government also does not provide any incentives to encourage investment in land and resource conservation.