USAID to provide $16m for flood-hit farmers

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced that it will provide $16 million to support wheat planting, prevent further livestock losses and de-silt irrigation systems in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, one of the provinces most severely affected by floods.

 

The assistance, which will be provided through the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), marks the start for the organisation’s $107 million appeal in the United Nations’ Pakistan Flood Emergency Response Plan announced in New York on Friday.

The appeal came following the worst natural disaster on record in terms of farming and production losses, the FAO said on its website on Thursday.

“With this donation we will be able to rapidly purchase inputs, especially wheat seeds and fertiliser, which should help keep production going during the all-important planting season for wheat,” said Luigi Damiani, FAO’s senior official leading the efforts in Pakistan.

The funds will cover around a quarter of the total wheat seed requirements for the Rabi planting season in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The Rabi season runs from September until late October.

Wheat a staple diet

The FAO said unless the farmers receive seeds over the next month they will not be able to plant wheat, the staple diet of rural people, for a year. Although much land has been affected by the floods and cannot be planted immediately, many farmers will still be able to plant wheat on the land that is workable.

The FAO said the money will also fund cash-for-work projects to clean and repair irrigation systems and provide women farmers with much-needed vegetable seeds to boost family nutrition. The programme will also provide supplementary feed and veterinary support for livestock to prevent disease outbreaks.

More than 160,000 households will benefit from the donation, providing food security for over 1.3 million rural farming people. The programme places special emphasis on women, female-headed households and families with children under five years old, the FAO said.

The floods have left around 10 million people vulnerable to hunger, destroying food stocks, around a quarter of standing crops in flood-stricken areas and killing more than a million heads of livestock.

 

The Express Tribune

Markup on agricultural loans: PML-F proposes waiver for flood-hit farmers

Pakistan Muslim League (Functional) PML-F on Tuesday proposed the government to waive mark-up on agricultural loans to flood-affected farmers of Sindh besides extending the loans' returning date. It also demanded formation of an independent commission to ascertain the reasons behind beaches of river embankments that led to flooding on a greater area in the provinces rendering thousands homeless.

The demand came at the party's provincial council meeting held here. The meeting demanded an exemplary punishment to the responsible persons, besides urging the government to consider the functional league's formula for immediate rehabilitation of the flood-hit people. A resolution adopted in the meeting urged the government to speed up efforts for restoring peace in Karachi.

Expressing concerns over increase in cases of abduction for ransom in interior parts of Sindh and targeted killings in Karachi, the meeting demanded of the government to bring the culprits to justice. The resolution maintained that the government should undertake the responsibility to make a sizeable cut in the prices of essential commodities, which have soared during the last two months.

It said the government was expected to reduce power tariffs as the country's water reservoirs have been filled to their full capacity to produce low-cost electricity. It criticised the government policy and urged it to withdraw unnecessary increase in the tariffs.

Later, speaking at a press conference, Senior Vice President of PML-F, Imtiaz Shaikh informed reporters about his party's proposals for resettling the flood-affected people of Sindh, saying a document has been evolved in this regard. He said the government should write off the mark-up on agricultural loans besides extending the payback date of the lending amount.

President Sindh Chapter of PML-F, Pir Sadruddin Rashdi dispelled the impression that the merger of two leagues was ever aimed at dislodging the present PPP-led government from power, saying it was only for strengthening the league. "The merger will support Muslim League and strengthen it and was not aimed at blackmailing the government," he said, adding the move should be seen as a constructive development.

When asked what political path would be for PML-F after its merger with PML-Q, as its merging group is sitting on opposition benches while it is in the coalition government with PPP, he said, "PML-F is sailing three boats- opposition, government and the establishment". Rashdi maintained that his party was totally against the forced change in the government. He insisted his party would continue supporting the government but would never compromise on good governance, saying deterioration in the good governance would lead the country to a fall.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2010