Improved water-management practices and their impact on food security and poverty: empirical evidence from rural Pakistan

Using a comprehensive data set collected through field survey of 950 farmers across Pakistan, the current study evaluates water-management practices and their impact on food security and poverty. The results show that rural households mainly adopted four water-management practices (bund making, deep plowing, the adoption of stresstolerant varieties, and irrigation supplements) and that the wealth, education, and gender of the farmer (male) positively influences the adoption of improved water-management practices. The propensity score matching approach shows that the adoption of improved water-management practices improves wheat and rice yields, household income and food security levels, and reduces poverty levels. The food security levels of households adopting improved water-management practices are higher: in the range of 3-12%. Higher wheat yields are in the range of 26.8-70.4 kg/acre and higher rice yields are in the range of 48.4-85.2 kg/acre. Higher household income levels are in the range of rupees 2,573-4,926 and the lower poverty levels are in the range of 2-7%. Hence, agricultural policy should promote improved water-management practices among rural households.