Thursday, September 30, 2010

FAO appeals for $107m

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has appealed for US$ 107 million under the Revised Pakistan Floods Emergency Response Plan to assist approximately 743,250 families through crop, livestock, fisheries and forestry interventions and to strengthen cluster coordination.

A statement issued by the FAO said that to date, donor contributions amount to US$ 20.5 million, while FAO is assisting 423,000 flood-affected families (3.4 million people) to plant in time for the Rabi wheat planting season ending in November, it said. FAO is also assisting to save livestock and rehabilitate/repair small-scale irrigation.

It said that planting wheat will be possible in many areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Punjab, Balochistan as well as in parts of Sindh where flood water has already receded. Standing water covers 60-70 percent of Sindh, leaving farmers unable to plant and thousands of livestock stranded without feed.

The FAO said that if immediate action is not taken to protect and restore agricultural production, farmers will continue to suffer losses long after the floods recede. FAO is currently assisting 3.4 million flood-affected families in KPK, Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh provinces.

Beisdes 280,000 households receiving seeds and fertilizers to meet the Rabi wheat planting season, ending in November. About 10,000 households benefiting from rehabilitation/ repairs to small-scale irrigation infrastructure, 133,000 households are receiving animal feed and veterinary supplies/support to safeguard livestock survival.

Nation

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