Infrastructure, knowledge and climate resilience technologies enhancing food security: Evidence from Northern Pakistan

• Poor infrastructure and agricultural technology reduce food security (FS). • Income and knowledge mitigate poor infrastructure-related FS challenges. • Mixed effects of family-based socio-economic factors on FS. • Infrastructure enhances FS by income, productivity, and climate resilience. • Investing in infrastructure, knowledge, and climate-smart farming enhances FS. This study examines how infrastructure deficits, socioeconomic disparities, and climate vulnerabilities collectively impact household food security in District Torghar, Northern Pakistan, through cross sectional approach. Data from 379 households were analyzed through descriptive statistics, chi-square test, multiple regression, and structural equation modeling. Three key findings emerge. First, infrastructural gaps – particularly in transportation and irrigation systems – impedes household food security by limiting market access and increasing post-harvest losses. Second, human capital plays a critical role: educated households adopt more climate-smart practices, while ageing farmers experience greater vulnerabilities due to limited adaptive capacity. Third, structural equation modeling analysis reveals that infrastructure improvements directly enhance household food security and indirectly mitigate climate risks by promoting income generation and irrigation access. The study advances a climate-infrastructure-social reproduction framework, demonstrating that synergistic investments in: (1) climate-resilient infrastructure (e.g., flood-proof roads, solar-powered storage), (2) digital extension services bridging indigenous and scientific knowledge, and (3) gender-sensitive social protection for gaining smallholders can break cycles of food insecurity. These findings propose a replicable Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)-nexus model where climate-resilient infrastructure (SDG 9) bridges food security (SDG 2) and climate action (SDG 13) through three levers: hardened physical systems, democratized knowledge networks, and intersectional social protection-offering a pattern for marginalized mountainous regions worldwide.