Changes on Livelihoods of Inhabitants in the Gojal District, Northern Pakistan

Abstract

The livelihoods of Wakhi which are characterized with irrigation agriculture and transhumance in the Gojal district of Pakistan have been changed since mid-1980s. Especially in recent several years, the changes accelerate more by the influences such as reopening of Karakoram-Highway (KKH) and the national economic growth of Pakistan. Many tourist accommodations opened beside the KKH and around the dammed lake, on the other hand, the traditional agro-pastoralism become reduced in each villages. However, these present conditions have a big problem for the sustainability of the regional communities in Gojal.