**2. Research Methodology**

#### *2.1. Area of the Study*

In two districts of Sindh's Tharparkar desert, the resistance of rural households to food insecurity was studied. Drought has been the most dangerous risk for the study region because of its severe consequences on food, income, health, people's adaptability, and livestock survival. A resilience index was used by scholars to measure the inhabitants' resilience to the severe dry circumstances. Income and food access, agricultural assets, non-agricultural assets, access to basic services, social safety nets, sensitivity, adaptive capability, climate change, agricultural methods and technology, and enabling institutional environment were used to generate the household resilience index.

The Tharparkar region was vulnerable since it relied heavily on natural resources for its livelihood. Any community's access to water resources supported their survival even in the most adverse conditions. Because Nagarparkar was close to publicly accessible water, it was more robust than Islamkot, which had no water nearby [36].

Climate change is now a reality, exacerbating the misery of people who live in arid ecosystems. Rainfall has decreased, temperatures have risen, and the frequency of extreme events has increased in the semi-arid desert of district Tharparkar. People of Tharparkar have been coping with drought and aridity of the terrain for thousands of years by employing traditional wisdom. However, global shifts in weather patterns, as well as worsening social and economic situations, have forced the people of this desert region into a precarious position. From the perspective of changing climatic patterns, this research analyzes the link between climate-induced natural disasters, notably drought, and food insecurity and water scarcity.

Drought in the district has shifted from its typical pattern of little or no rainfall to increased but unpredictable rainfall, posing a greater threat to people's livelihoods and, as a result, a multiplier effect on water and food poverty. In the absence of social protection and basic essentials for existence during a drought, women are particularly vulnerable. Women, for example, have traditionally carried the burden of managing water resources, resulting in increased workload during droughts and water scarcity [37]. The research for this paper has been conducted on the basis of data collected from Tharparkar region of Sindh province in Pakistan. The Figures 1 and 2 shows the directorial regions of the district of Tharparkar, Sindh in overall map of South Asia and Pakistan, respectively.

Figure 2 shows the location of Mithi weather station. The main localities of the region of Thar are predominately plain deserts together with some mountain peaks greater than 3000 m. The main cities of the Tharparkar where this study has been conducted are Mithi, Diplo, Islamkot, Nagarparkar, and Dhali. Mainly the climate of all these areas is extremely hot in daytime, but at night the temperature of the region decreases. Tharparkar is listed among top hottest areas of Pakistan with extreme temperature in summer ranges between 35 to 45 ◦C, while in winter it ranges between 9 to 28 ◦C. Additionally, the rain gauge station within Tharparkar is located at Mithi that has recorded 277 mm of rainfall annually, but this differs significantly yearly [38].

(**b**)

**Figure 1.** (**a**) Location of Pakistan in South Asia; (**b**) location of Tharparkar district in Pakistan. Both are highlighted with an arrow.

**Figure 2.** Location of Mithi weather station (Meteorological Station); the data is collected for this station that was established in 2004.
