Islamabad, 1 March 2023 (TDI): The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) and the Government of Pakistan signed an agreement worth $5 Million to help the Pakistani farmers affected by the floods of 2022, on Tuesday.
The funding is provided in response to the Government of Pakistan’s request for assistance in its post-flood recovery and reconstruction efforts.
It is aimed at restoring irrigation, drainage, flood risk management, on-farm water management, and transportation infrastructure in flood-affected provinces of Baluchistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh.
Notably, the collaboration between FAO and the Baluchistan Agriculture & Cooperatives Department (BACD) marks the first time that FAO has received funds from a government in its capacity as an Asian Development Bank recipient (ADB).
In this vein, the Government of Pakistan and ADB held a grant signing ceremony at the Economic Affairs Division (EAD), Islamabad.
Kazim Niaz, Federal Secretary for Economic Affairs; Takahiro Yashi, Japan’s Executive Director to ADB, and a representative of the Japanese Embassy in Pakistan were present during the event.
Also read: US, FAO join hands to support flood-affected Pakistani Farmers
The project comes on the heels of ADB’s approval of a $5 million grant to provide emergency flood assistance, strengthen the country’s disaster and climate resilience, as well as food security.
The ADB Grant, which is part of a larger $475 million Emergency Assistance Loan (EAL) and $3 million technical assistance grant approved by ADB in December 2022, was funded in turn by the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific (JFPR).
Aims of project
Through this project, FAO will guarantee that 60,000 farm households will receive climate-adaptive rice seeds for the upcoming Kharif sowing season. It will boost productivity in the four Baluchistan districts most negatively impacted by the floods.
The seeds will be sown over approximately 30% of the target districts’ total rice cropping area. FAO will also help women’s agricultural livelihoods by providing them with long-lasting farming toolkits and protective footwear for safer rice transplanting.
About Food and Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is an international organization that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. It was founded on 16 October 1945.
FAO helps governments and development agencies coordinate their activities to improve and develop agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and land and water resources.
It also conducts research, provides technical assistance to projects, operates educational and training programs, and collects agricultural output, production, and development data.
