ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the World Bank signed agreements worth $305 million to support projects in the agriculture sector in Punjab and to improve the nutritional status of children and women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Strengthening Markets for Agriculture and Rural Transformation (SMART) in Punjab programme will get a loan of $300 million.

The SMART Punjab programme is aimed to help the provincial government promote transformational changes in the crop and livestock subsectors by focusing on activities contributing to three result areas: increased on-farm productivity and value of crops and livestock; increased value addition and competitiveness of crops and livestock; and enhanced resilience of smallholder farmers to climate change and natural disasters.

Each results area involves a specific combination of policy reforms, institutional strengthening and public investments. While the World Bank will provide loan of $300m for the project, the Punjab government will contribute $1,290 million towards the project.

The government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa will get an additional financing of $5 million on grant basis for the enhanced nutrition for mothers and children project.

The objective of the grant is to scale-up nutrition intervention in the province and improve the nutritional status of children under two-years of age, as well as pregnant and lactating women.

Agreements

Secretary Economic Affairs Division, Arif Ahmed Khan signed the loan and grant agreements on behalf of government of Pakistan while representatives of the provincial governments signed their respective project agreements.

World Bank Country Director, Patchamuthu Illangovan signed the loan and grant agreements and the project agreements on behalf of World Bank.

Meanwhile in a unique example of South-South collaboration, China and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pakistan signed a $4 million agreement to provide assistance over four months in crisis-affected areas of Fata and Balochistan.

At the signing ceremony, Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing said “the successful launching of the project renews our commitment to deliver strong support to the people of Pakistan. The project will support the people in restoration of their livelihood and help rebuild their lives”.

In future, China would continue to increase the grant assistance to Pakistan, enriching categories and sectors, expanding the input into areas with pressing demands, including Fata and Balochistan, he said.

China is providing $1 billion to improve people’s well-being and help the ‘Belt and Road’ countries meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Chinese ministry of commerce has signed a co-operation agreement with the UNDP under the ‘Assistance Fund for South-South Cooperation’, and in November last year China approved funding for Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal to meet immediate recovery needs of crisis-affected populations.

The Pakistan-China recovery initiative for Fata and Balochistan will contribute to meeting, among other goals, SDG 1 (no poverty), SDG 4 (quality education) and SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation).

Internews