ISLAMABAD: The World Bank said on Friday it had approved $200 million for Pakistan’s Punjab province to transform its agriculture sector by adopting climate-smart technologies.
Agriculture is the largest sector of Pakistan’s economy. It is concentrated in Punjab, which accounts for 73 percent of the country’s total food production, according to World Bank data.
Being one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, Pakistan for the past few years has been observing extreme weather patterns that have affected its crops and driven it toward food insecurity.
The $200 million Punjab Resilient and Inclusive Agriculture Transformation Project (PRIAT) is by the World Bank seeks to provide equitable access to water for small farms in Punjab and enhance small farmers’ incomes.
“In recent years Pakistan’s agriculture sector has suffered from losses in crop yields and livestock, damage to irrigation infrastructure, and food shortages due to climate change, particularly severe droughts in the Punjab province,” Najy Benhassine, World Bank country director for Pakistan, said in a statement.
“This project aligns with the Punjab Agriculture Policy 2018, which promotes massive expansion of water conservation efforts, enhancing sustainability and resilience in the wake of climate change, and private sector participation to help boost the productivity of the sector.”
PRIAT aims to help about 190,000 small, family-owned farms and 1.4 million acres of irrigated land in rural communities in the province.
“The agriculture sector has a huge opportunity to both build climate resilience and improve economic conditions by generating access to domestic and international markets,” Guo Li, task team leader for the project, said.
“PRIAT will help accelerate the government’s efforts to transform the agri-food system through market-oriented production activities that add value, increase competitiveness and generate higher incomes for farmers.”