The relationship between women's empowerment and household food and nutrition security in Pakistan.

Women's empowerment is considered to play a crucial role in food and nutrition security. We aimed to explore the relationship between women's empowerment and food and nutrition security, in rural Pakistan. METHODS: To estimate women's empowerment, we developed a Rural Women Composite Empowerment Index incorporating nine domains. For indicators of food and nutritional data we used data of 1879 rural households from Pakistan Rural Household Panel Survey (PRHPS). Food insecurity was measured through a caloric intake approach; nutrition insecurity was measured through recommended nutrient intake (RNI). Using the Rural Women's Composite Empowerment Index (RWCEI), we employed multi-level mixed-effect regression analysis. RESULTS: The domains of traveling safely (21%), time allocated to tasks (20%), and (lack of) domestic violence (19%) were the most significant domains in defining empowerment of rural woman. The prevalence of food and nutrition insecurity were 33% and 50% respectively. Regression analysis found a positive and significant relationship between women's empowerment and food and nutrition security-the proportion of household who were food and nutritionally secure in empowered households was 70% and 98% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Developing programmes and policies to improve the range of domains of women's empowerment requires a focussed policy agenda, bringing together policy makers from a number of different sectors including education, economy, communications, technology and agriculture. Women's empowerment has the potential to make positive changes not only in food and nutrition security, but in all aspects of family health and wellbeing.

Uncovering Pakistan's Environmental Risks and Remedies under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a journey towards economic integration of Eurasia. The CPEC contains US$62 billion investment projects on energy, infrastructure, and other development projects in Pakistan. However, CPEC could enhance climate change vulnerabilities for the faltering economy of Pakistan due to its three possible environmental risks and repercussions. Its major environmental concern is related to energy projects as three quarters of the newly planned energy will be generated from traditional coal-fired power plants. Traditional coal power plants are the major contributors to CO2 emissions and smog, which ultimately lead to global warming and climate change. Its second important environmental concern is linked with massive tree cutting for the construction of various road networks from Kashghar, China, to Gwadar, Pakistan. Tree cutting leads to enormous concentration of CO2 emissions along the road networks. Vehicle trafficking is its third important environmental threat. Karakorum highway is expected to carry up to 7000 trucks per day that will release up to 36.5 million tons of CO2. Despite all the environmental risks, the CPEC enables Pakistan to manage energy crisis and upgrade aging infrastructure. However, if appropriate remedial measures are not taken to diminish environmental risks, Pakistan will be among major contributors to CO2 emissions, and its rank will be worsen in global climate risk index, after completion of this project. Therefore, it is very crucial to assess possible environmental impacts of CPEC projects regarding energy, infrastructure, and transportation. Furthermore, scientists from both countries should collaborate to manage the environmental repercussions of CPEC projects.

Transgenic cotton and farmers' health in Pakistan.

Despite substantial research on the economic effects of transgenic insect-resistant Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton, there is still limited work on this technology's impacts on human health. Due to the inbuilt insect resistance, Bt cotton requires fewer pesticide sprays than conventional cotton, which is not only advantageous from economic and environmental perspectives, but may also result in health benefits for farmers. Using socioeconomic and biophysical data from Pakistan, we provide the first evidence of a direct association between Bt gene expression in the plant and health benefits. A key feature of this study is that Bt cotton cultivation in Pakistan occurs in a poorly regulated market: farmers are often mistaken in their beliefs about whether they have planted Bt cotton or conventional cotton, which may affect their pesticide-use strategies and thus their pesticide exposure. We employ a cost-of-illness approach and variations in the measurement of Bt adoption to estimate the relationship between Bt cotton and farmers' health. Bt adoption based on farmers' beliefs does not reduce the pesticide-induced cost of illness. However, adoption based on measuring Bt gene expression is associated with significant health cost savings. Extrapolating the estimates for true Bt seeds to Pakistan's entire Bt cotton area results in annual health cost savings of around US$ 7 million. These findings have important implications for the regulation of seed markets in Pakistan and beyond: improved regulations that ensure claimed crop traits are really expressed can increase the benefits for farmers and society at large.

Bt cotton and employment effects for female agricultural laborers in Pakistan.

The literature about economic and social impacts of Bt cotton adoption on farm households in developing countries is growing. Yet, there is still uncertainty about wider implications of this technology for rural development, including effects for landless rural laborers. Bt-related yield advantages may lead to intensified production and higher demand for labor. Building on farm survey data collected in Pakistan and using double-hurdle regression models, we analyze employment effects of Bt cotton adoption. Model estimates show that Bt adoption has increased the demand for hired labor by 55%. Manual harvesting, which is common in Pakistan, is a labor-intensive activity primarily carried out by female laborers. Accordingly, gender disaggregation shows that the employment-generating effects are particularly strong for women, who often belong to the most disadvantaged groups of rural societies. These results suggest that Bt technology can contribute to additional employment income for the poor and to more equitable rural development.

Genetically modified crops and food security.

The role of genetically modified (GM) crops for food security is the subject of public controversy. GM crops could contribute to food production increases and higher food availability. There may also be impacts on food quality and nutrient composition. Finally, growing GM crops may influence farmers' income and thus their economic access to food. Smallholder farmers make up a large proportion of the undernourished people worldwide. Our study focuses on this latter aspect and provides the first ex post analysis of food security impacts of GM crops at the micro level. We use comprehensive panel data collected over several years from farm households in India, where insect-resistant GM cotton has been widely adopted. Controlling for other factors, the adoption of GM cotton has significantly improved calorie consumption and dietary quality, resulting from increased family incomes. This technology has reduced food insecurity by 15-20% among cotton-producing households. GM crops alone will not solve the hunger problem, but they can be an important component in a broader food security strategy.