CHAKWAL: The Europe-Aid Director for Asia and Central Asia, Dirk Meganck vows that European Union will continue its support for combating rising food prices and ensuring food security in Pakistan but farmers are worried about squeezed availability of water.
"A large population but it is also a country affected by big problems, big calamities while the greatest calamity has been the recent floods. The ones who have suffered the highest in this country are those living in the rural areas amounting 60 to 70 per cent of the population and the people living in these rural areas contribute greatly to the economy," he said while addressing a large gathering of small-scale farmers belonging to Farmer Interest Groups at Village Karsal in district Chakwal.
Chakwal is mainly an arid district with most of the population affiliated with agriculture but many people are leaving the area and preferring to settle in nearby cities not only because of the lack of basic social protection initiatives and employment opportunities but also due occasional spells of rain and vanishing underground water table.
The initiative lead by the European Union with implementing partners, FAO and WFP, has done so far a satisfactory job to start a 40 million Euros program to rebuild communities and to provide a sustainable environment.
"Our purpose is to support and help build your communities especially when they are affected by such calamities", Meganck stated.
Later, he distributed large quantities of Wheat seed, fertilizer and winter vegetable seeds among the small-scale male and female farmers of village Karsal.
The purpose of these distributions is to ensure that timely Rabi planting takes place in the flood hit Pakistan where the standing crops over 2.4 million hectares got washed away by the recent disastrous floods.
A number of agricultural lands were also visited by the delegation where farmers were planting wheat seeds with the help of the farm machinery provided by the European Union Food Facility and FAO.
The Rabi package distribution is a part of the 40 Million Euros Food Facility Project which aims at combating the rising food prices in Pakistan.
As a part of the EUFF initiative, the beneficiaries including small-scale farmers owning two to four hectares of land and the women who head households are receiving the Rabi Package which includes a 50kg bag of Wheat Seeds, a 50kg bag of Urea, 50kg DAP and vegetable seeds for Tomato, Turnip, Spinach and Peas, to produce adequate grain for their household consumption.
The European Union Food Facility is being implemented by FAO United Nations and WFP since May 2009 and it currently supports over 161,000 households of small-scale farmers in 17 most food vulnerable districts in Pakistan.
The average landholding of these farmers is 2 to 4 acres of land. In Punjab it focuses districts Chakwal, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Sahiwal.
Talking to the media the National Project Manager EUFF, Dr. Faiz-ul-Bari said the main purpose of the project is to increase sustainable food security for the most vulnerable households in food deficient areas of Punjab, Sindh, KPK and Balochistan by achieving the following results: like increased staple food availability; increased productivity as a result of improved irrigation/water harvesting structures; provision of storing facilities and agricultural tools, strengthened productive capacities and local governance.
Delegation emphasized that securing water for next generations, rain water harvesting and drip irrigation techniques, sprinkler system, better water channels and underground water ways could be the real catalyst of change in arid areas like Chakwal.
Dr. Faiz-ul-Bari said that in addition to the European Union Food Facility, FAO will support over 500,000 households in Pakistan with agriculture inputs during the current Rabi season, over 214,000 households with livestock veterinary and feed support while over 19,000 households will benefit from rehabilitation and repairs to the irrigation structures.
But, its fact that program is facing clear danger due to the non-availability of water and even drinking water facilities are vanishing from the area and beside crops, people are worried about their daily life as threats of "NO WATER, WATER BORN DISEASES and ARSNIC" playing a horrifying role.
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