Rehabilitation: Over 77,000 farmers provided assistance in FATA

UN food agency vows to continue supporting returning TDPs

ISLAMABAD: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, with help from Japan’s International Cooperation Agency (JICA), have provided assistance to 77,200 households in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) to rebuild their lives.

The assistance was provided to 33,143 households in Khyber agency and 44,057 households in Kurram agency so that the people, who mostly rely on subsistence farming and livestock, can produce food and earn a decent income for their families.

Provided under the Project for Assistance to the Recovery and Development of the Agricultural Economy in Fata, the assistance ended on July 31. It helped restore farm productivity and agriculture-based livelihoods by rebuilding assets, and strengthening skills of returning temporarily displaced people, and by developing the capacity of the public and private sector service providers.

To mark the end of the project, a ceremony was held at the FAO Representation office in Islamabad on Tuesday.

“It is important that we assist the government of Pakistan in fulfilling its responsibilities in enabling the safe return of the displaced people to their homes,” said FAO Representative Minà Dowlatchahi.

“We assisted a significant number of displaced people and helped them begin a better life by revitalising agriculture based livelihoods, economy and contributing to a more stable society. We hope that this partnership will continue so that we can play our part in ensuring better and healthier lives for the people of Fata,” she added.

Fata Secretariat Production and Livelihood Secretary  Abdul Latif Khan while appreciating the project, said that assistance from JICA and the Japanese Japan not only helped the people of Fata to fulfil their economic and food security pressing needs but also played an important role in maintaining peace in the area by creating livelihoods and job opportunities.

“We had supported the recovery of Fata including rehabilitation of community infrastructure,” said Japanese Ambassador Takashi Kurai.

“In addition to the assistance, the recovery of livelihood of returnees is very important for living stable lives and ensure a stable return of TDPs and this project is a part of this assistance,” he said.

Japan, Kurai said, will continue assisting people of Pakistan including returnees in Fata and temporarily displaced people (TDPs) to keep peace in the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2017.