SOCIAL VULNERABILITY OF COASTAL COMMUNITY DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF COASTAL REGION OF SINDH

Abstract

Climate change is neither an overnight phenomenon nor does it spans on days and months. It is a gradual process that takes years to makes coastal communities socially vulnerable. Social vulnerability is the susceptibility of individuals to the natural disasters. It has been witnessed that global coastal communities have social vulnerability due to climate change. Similarly, the coastal community of Sindh is also linked to social vulnerability due to climate change. The current study intends to explore the social vulnerability of fishermen of coastal communities due to climate change. The qualitative research is widely accepted to find out the social vulnerability. The research population of this study is fishermen living in the Thatta, Sujawal, and Badin districts of Sindh province, Pakistan, selected through the purposive sampling. In each district, 10 IDIs ((In-depth Interview) and 3 FGDs (Focus Group Discussion) were conducted with fishermen after building rapport among them. The sample size included 30 IDIs and 9 FGDs in the study. The study revealed that climate change (cyclone, flood, etc.) and decrease in freshwater lakes have a tremendous effect in lowering fishermen socioeconomic status; reducing their livelihood resources, low income, and poor health of fishermen. Moreover, the increases in expenditure to sail for fishing, and the exploitation by middlemen have also been noticed by this study.

Keywords: Social Vulnerability, Climate Change, Fishermen, Coastal Region, Sindh,