Tillage, undoubtedly, is one of the most crucial practices to ameliorate crop productivity and maintain soil health.

The present study computes and compares multidimensional poverty with unidimensional estimates of poverty for District Mandi Bahuddin of the province of Punjab for two periods (2010 and 2014). By employing the FGT and Alkire-Foster Methods, we calculated unidimensional and multidimensionality levels of poverty and found an increase in absolute and relative poverty levels in 2014 compared to 2010. The multidimensional poverty in terms of household assets has also increased over time, however, the relative proportion of Educational and Health poverty towards MPI remains higher, thus calling for a holistic approach to identify multidimensional poverty in the social sector and design effective poverty alleviation and social welfare programmes in the rural areas.

Climate change exacerbates severe and differential impacts across diverse classes and genders, influencing their livelihoods, food insecurity vulnerabilities, and adaptation measures. Through an intersectional and social justice approach integrated with grounded theory, we documented field observation with individual narratives and amplified voices from a wide range of individuals, including internally displaced people, women, smallholders, landless tenants, daily wage laborers and community leaders in fragile districts of Bannu and D I Khan in Pakistan. We found a growing impact of climate on these households' food security including socio-psychological stress and stigmas. In addition to formulating an interpretive framework, our results highlight the significant role of socio-religious, cultural, gendered, behavioral, environmental, and institutional factors in shaping individuals' climate-induced food security vulnerabilities, and their ability to adapt to climate extremes. These individuals employed several mitigation strategies to cope with food insecurity, including diversification of non-farming livelihoods, increased reliance on social and communal networks and informal credit markets. The study emphasizes on considering the interplay between socio-economic classes, religion, social networks, and gender dynamics in relation to adaptive strategies to foster sustainable food systems and further suggests that existing policies and adaptation programs should benefit from incorporating community and individual narratives to tackle climate extremes.

Women's participation in higher education is mainly attributed to varying socioeconomic and cultural practices. By employing a survey and focus group discussion, we ascertained the social and cultural determinants and the impact on female higher education in the high mountainous rural areas of Gilgit-Baltistan province of Pakistan. Through analysing responses from 160 participants, we found that low levels of parental education, gender biases, safety concerns, and early-age marriages are some of the dominating sociocultural constraints on female higher education. Likewise, demographic and economic factors including the parents’ age, occupation, and level of income also influence the participation of females in higher education. It is imperative to engage various stakeholders such as local community, parents and religious leaders to address parental concerns and overcome the sociocultural restraints on female higher education, and for developmental practitioners to ensure access and opportunities for females in Gilgit-Baltistan.