USAID launches agriculture support project for Pakistan

Over 5 years,the Agribusiness Project will help livestock and horticulture producers improve productivity and quality.

LAHORE: The United States Agency for International Development and the Agribusiness Support Fund will jointly implement a five-year project to increase competitiveness and productivity of the horticulture and livestock sectors of Pakistan.

“This project [USAID’s Agribusiness Project] is part of the US government’s broader commitment to help strengthen Pakistan’s economy,” said USAID director Dr Andrew Sisson. “The project will have a positive transformative effect on Pakistan’s agriculture sector and will assist in alleviating poverty through economic development.”

Although agriculture constitutes the largest sector in Pakistan’s economy, it accounts only for a small part of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Internationally, the horticulture and livestock sub-sectors generate the largest share of revenue in the agricultural sector but in Pakistan, these sectors are yet to reach their full potential.

The sectors are burdened by inefficient production and marketing systems, lack of awareness about supply and market chains and are unable to supply amounts of quality product to satisfy requirements of markets. USAID’s Agribusiness Project aims to solve these problems over the next five years.