ISLAMABAD: Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved the emergency flood assistance project - additional financing worth $5 million aimed at supporting operational priority on addressing remaining poverty and reducing inequalities and accelerating progress in gender equity.
The project documents noted that the additional financing is emergency assistance and is aligned with the ADB Strategy 2030.
It will support Operational Priority (OP) 1 on addressing remaining poverty and reducing inequalities; OP 2 on accelerating progress in gender equity; OP 3 on tackling climate change, building climate and disaster resilience, and enhancing environmental sustainability; and OP 4 on promoting rural development and food security.
This will support (i) urgent provision of climate-resilient seeds for staple crop cultivation and (ii) women-led livelihoods to meet basic household needs.
It will support rural farm households, including women, in the four districts in Nasirabad Division that have canal-irrigated cropland. It will provide 60,000 out of a total of 188,000 households in the target districts with climate-resilient rice seed (2023 Kharif [summer] sowing crop).
The seeds will be sown on 54,000 hectares (ha) out of a total of 139,000 ha of rice cultivated area in the province. The proposed additional financing will also provide women from the targeted farm households with durable farming tool kits to assist them in undertaking farming activities.
Protective footwear will also be provided for safer rice transplanting. The additional financing will also incorporate measures to strengthen community resilience to disasters caused by natural hazards.
The Government of Pakistan undertook a post-disaster needs assessment in September and October 2022. This was supported by a team of development partners comprising ADB, the European Union, the World Bank, United Nations agencies, and other organizations.
The Government of Pakistan also prepared the 2022 flood response framework in December 2022. This provides the basis for the development of a disaster recovery framework and arrangements for an effective, efficient, and coordinated post-flood recovery and reconstruction plan.
The damage and losses in the agriculture sector in the country were primarily in crops, with 82 percent damaged or lost, followed by livestock (17 percent), and fisheries and/or aquaculture (one percent).
About 1.78 million ha of agricultural land have been damaged, and 0.8 million livestock are estimated to have perished. In Balochistan province, agriculture accounts for one-third of the provincial gross domestic product and provides livelihoods for about 68per cent of the population.
The province has borne a heavy impact because of its high poverty levels, making it more vulnerable to disasters like floods. Out of its 37 districts, 35 have been impacted. At least 9.2 million people have been affected out of a population of 12.3 million. In Balochistan, 15 percent of the crop area is estimated to have been inundated (about 490,000 ha) by floodwater.
More than 500,000 livestock are estimated to have been lost, affecting about 36per cent of households keeping livestock. The remaining livestock are at risk because of the loss of animal feed and disease.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.