Multi-Sector Damage Needs Assessment - Flood 2011 in Sindh and Balochistan Provinces, Pakistan - October 2011

KEY FINDINGS

• The total number of affected people in the notified calamity hit areas is estimated at 5.2 million. Of them, 1.1 million are still displaced as of October 2011 and were living either in temporary shelter, in schools and other public buildings, sleep in the open or reside with host‐families.

• The brunt of the impact of the flood was on housing and agricultural crops: 34 percent of households have lost their houses and 60 percent of the houses were partially damaged. The average paddy crop loss is estimated at 77 percent and cotton production lost 92 percent for those who cultivated the crops.
An estimated 34 percent of the communities were still flooded as in October 2011 and about 20% of the households may not be able to grow rabi crops in November and December 2011.

• 40 percent of households reported that their main economic activity has been discontinued. An additional 48 percent reported that their economic activities were disrupted by the flood. On average a household lost 202,550 rupees in income (not taking into account asset losses). This adds up to a total estimated financial income loss between one trillion to 1.2 trillion rupees.

• A total number of households facing severe food insecurity are estimated at 2.5 million people of whom almost half a million were facing hunger.

• At the household level, the morbidity situation is worrying with more than 24 percent of children suffering from diarrhoea, 28 percent from high fever / malaria, 6 percent from measles and 11 percent from coughing or wheezing. Elderly and young children are most vulnerable.

• There has been a drastic decline in school attendance rates, particularly among girls, since the flood.
The main reason for taking children out of school was that the school is currently not functioning, accessible or is used as a collection centre for displaced households.

• The flood has had a significant upward impact on commodity prices: the price of paddy increased by 25% on average and the purchasing power of labour decreased by 13 percent. However, most households have access to markets and commodities are readily available. Therefore cash and voucher programmes could be promoted in most areas except in some districts such as Nasirabad, Tharparkar and Kalat where communities have to travel more than 2 hours to get to the nearest market.

• The most urgent needs expressed by community members include food, cash and shelter, followed by medical support and clothing/blankets.

• Housing, health, animal support and agricultural inputs were listed by most households as the immediate needs for recovery.