Saudi Arabia (SA) faces a water shortage, and it further challenges sustainable agriculture, industrial development and the well-being of people. SA uses more than 80% of its water resources for agricultural purposes. Groundwater extractions account for most of this demand, which is not sustainable. Hence, this study aims to analyze water management practices used in SA to propose viable and workable solutions to achieve sustainable management of scarce water resources. This study is based on a critical evaluation of information available on the water sector in SA. About 89% of the water demand in the Kingdom is non-sustainably met through over-pumping from groundwater resources and 9.3% by energy-intensive desalination. SA invested in dams and developed rainwater harvesting to enhance surface water availability and increase the recharge capacity of renewable aquifers. As there is a huge demand–supply gap, water demand management tools are the viable solutions leading to sustainability compared to supply enhancement that is capital intensive. A national agricultural policy, together with a water policy, can make agricultural systems more input efficient with higher productivity. Region-specific sustainable water resources management plans need to be implemented to match the demand–supply gap. Conjunctive water uses utilizing and prioritizing different water sources viz. harvested rainwater, treated wastewater, desalinized water, and groundwater, is vital in sustainable water resources management. In addition, climate change has exerted pressure on the available water resources and water uses as well as users, leading to adaptation for measures that are more sustainable in terms of water management. The most pressing problem SA faces in water resources management is the depletion and degradation of surface and subsurface water sources. SA has to implement many technological and legislative changes in addition to service management, conservation measures, paying a reasonable and justifiable price for water, and strengthening state agencies that will make water resources management in SA sustainable.

The sustainability of global food production has been facing many threats, including climate change. The adaptation to such threats is both a challenge as well as an opportunity, especially for woman-operated farms in Pakistan. The challenge is how to devise measures and look for options to counter its impact, while the opportunity lies in developing new techniques, skills, and interventions leading to innovativeness. As women farmers are constrained regarding resources, cultural, societal, and personal reasons in Pakistan’s context, they particularly need innovative behavior and decision power to adapt to climate change. This study aims to measure the decisional empowerment and innovativeness of women farmers and their role in adopting different climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices at the farm level. To this end, data from 384 farms where women were majorly involved are utilized in a multivariate probit model and propensity score matching to reveal various aspects of women’s role in adopting CSA practices. Results reveal that most women farmers lacked decisional power related to productive resources such as sale/purchase and renting of farmland, using farm machinery, and availing credit. Their decisional empowerment and innovativeness positively affected the adoption of CSA practices at the farm level. Females with more decisional power and innovativeness adopted more CSA practices than women with weaker decisional power and innovativeness. Therefore, the world can benefit greatly from giving more power to women in agriculture in terms of increased adoption of CSA practices, consequently improving food security and mitigating climate change. This outcome will assist in achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals of gender equality (SDG5) and climate action (SDG 13).

Managing and communicating flood risks necessitates a strong understanding of how people perceive risk. It has become critical to examine risk perception to implement effective disaster risk management (DRM) measures. Socioeconomic determinants have an impact on risk perception, which in turn affects future adaptive capacity and disaster preparedness. First and foremost, this research attempts to determine how Pakistani people in rural areas perceive flood risk, and second, to examine the factors that can influence rural residents’ perceptions of flood risk. The data for this study were collected through face-to-face interviews with 600 respondents (household heads) from Charsadda and Nowshera districts that were severely affected by the 2010 flood. A flood risk perception index was developed (using a risk matrix) using relevant attributes on a Likert scale and classified into two categories: high and low perceived risk. Furthermore, a binary regression model was used to examine the influence of socioeconomic and institutional factors on rural households’ risk perception. Flood risk was perceived by 67 percent of the total sampled participants in the study regions. The results of binary logistic regression demonstrate that flood risk perception is strongly linked to socioeconomic variables such as age, education, house ownership, family size, past flood experience, and distance from the nearest river source, as well as institutional factors such as access to credit and extreme weather forecast information. The findings of the current study additionally revealed that flood risk perception varied among household heads based on education (1–10 years perceived high flood risk (51.47%)), age (age greater than 40 years perceived high flood risk (52.83%)), and monthly income levels (lower monthly income group perceived high flood risk (73.02%)). The findings of this study shed light on rural households’ perception of flood risk and the factors that shape such perceptions. These findings can assist provincial and local disaster management authorities in better understanding flood risk and adopting local actions that could be used to respond to flood and other climate-related disasters.

Global food security challenges have been burdened by a rapidly expanding population and its attendant food demands. Safer and higher-quality agriculture is one of the most essential solutions for addressing the growing problem. In agriculture that is safer, the quality of irrigation from a safer water source will boost food security. Groundwater is one of the most widely utilized water sources for agriculture. Safeguarding groundwater against contamination and preserving water resources is a rising global concern. Herein, previous literature studies were analyzed to determine the groundwater potential for food production of the various continents around the globe, as well as the various types of groundwater contamination, the sources of groundwater contamination, and the best methods for combating groundwater contamination in order to guarantee safe irrigation for agriculture and thus achieve food security. Consequently, the natural and anthropogenic activities that degrade the quality of the groundwater and transform it into contaminated water from harmful organisms, residues of organic and inorganic soluble and non-soluble salts of the groundwater from chemical, leachate from landfills, sewage systems, and biological contamination, are the major issues in safer agriculture, causing a number of problems in the growth of agricultural crops and leading to a negative impact on food production as well as on the health of the population. Proper identification of different sources of contamination and proper methods to prevent contamination from reaching groundwater, as well as governmental and institutional frameworks to combat contamination and treatment methods to treat contaminated groundwater, will contribute to the future achievement of food security by ensuring a safer irrigation method and agriculture.

The sustainability of organic agriculture is associated with the farmers’ experience, quality of information provided, management of risks, and compliance with legislation. The objectives of this study were to identify the sources used by the organic farmers to gain information related to organic production, and to assess organic farmers’ perceived attitudes towards extension services. To address the research objectives, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 organic farmers in central Pennsylvania. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim, categorized and coded, then thematically analyzed using an interpretive description methodology. The results showed that the extension services were not identified as a primary source of information that was frequently used by the organic farmers. Other organic farmers and organizationa for organic agriculture were the two primary sources of informaiton. The organic farmers were very adept at building social capital in seeking informaiton to address their issues and problems. The primary challenges faced by the organic farmers were the control of insects and weeds, and weather-related issues. The results highlighted that in addition to identifying viable information sources, factors such as adaptive capacities to climate change and certification were key to successful production in organic systems. The present study provides rich and deep information on how farmers perceive organic agriculture and extension services. The outcome of the research undertaken will enable planners, policy makers and the related Cooperative Extension personnel to better understand perceptions of the farmers to devise viable and workable policies and plans that address the concerns and challenges of the farmers.

Natural hazards early warning systems (EWS) are built on a solid technical and scientific foundation. However, a significant focus must be on those at risk and a systems approach that considers all the key risk factors. A people-centered flood EWS has proved to be more successful at conveying risk messages and protecting lives during times of crisis. The present study intends to analyze the gender perspective of flood early warning systems in Pakistan by using four components of a people-centered approach. The data acquired from the different sources in this study (including institutional key informant interviews = 30 and community focus groups = 32) is analyzed using a paradigm of gender analysis. The findings regarding gender analysis revealed that there was a lack of participation from women in the risk assessment process, and the institutions did not pay enough attention to the conventional knowledge and views of women and men. In most cases, women were not given hazard alerts since they only receive information about possible risks from men. Women were still reluctant to participate in the planning process for disaster response and capacity building because of societal norms and impediments. In addition, the study revealed that the EWS did not satisfy most of the requirements specified in a people-centered gender-sensitive EWS owing to the bureaucratic approach, lack of residents’ engagement, communication breakdown between people (at risk), and official risk messages.