The Alchemy of Glaciers

In Pakistan’s northern mountains, where glaciers both sustain life and threaten it, women are transforming climate risk into livelihoods with support from UNDP’s GLOF-II Project.

In Upper Chitral, Ayesha tends rows of beehives that have become her family’s lifeline after repeated climate-induced floods destroyed her home. Trained in climate-resilient beekeeping through the project, she now produces and sells honey in local markets, generating steady income for her household. “The bees carried me through when everything was washed away,” she says.

Across the region, similar transformations are unfolding. In Kalam, Parveen has turned her small kitchen garden into a thriving enterprise, producing vegetables at commercial scale after receiving training, seeds, and climate-smart farming techniques. Her harvest now supports her entire family. In Gilgit-Baltistan, Sumaira and Fatima run a growing micro-business extracting high-value oils from local produce such as sea buckthorn, walnuts, and apricots using machinery provided through the project, cutting costs, increasing output, and expanding their customer base. Nearby, Laila leads a women-run wool processing unit that has doubled production while eliminating the dangerous manual labour that once caused serious health risks for workers. The improved technology allows women to produce yarn and handicrafts efficiently, access larger markets, and earn sustainable incomes.

The GLOF-II Project goes beyond disaster risk reduction. By combining climate adaptation with skills training, equipment, and market access, it ensures communities, especially women, are not just protected from climate shocks but empowered to thrive despite them. In valleys where glaciers are rapidly changing the future, resilience is becoming a pathway to dignity,independence, and opportunity, one woman at a time.

“Before UNDP’s support, I could grow only five to six sacks of vegetables, selling each for 4,000 to 5,000 rupees. But in 2024, I was able to make a profit of around $2,500, making my garden the provider of the family.” – Parveen, Kalam

Story by Shameen Raza, Communications & Reporting Officer, GLOF-II Project, UNDP Pakistan