IFC to help Sindh set up grain storages
IFC will provide advisory services to the government in attracting private investments into the new grain storages aimed at ensuring food security.
Sindh Secretary for Food, Kamran Naveed Baloch and IFC Regional Director Waseem Siddiqui signed the agreement at the CM House on Monday.
Under the agreement, modern grain storages will be built in different districts of Sindh. Work on the project will start after finalising a feasibility study, which will be carried out by the food department.
The multi-grain storages, capable of holding up to 500,000 tons, will improve the quality of stored crops and reduce wastage. Sindh is the second largest wheat-producing province, accounting for around 16 per cent of the country’s production of the grain - a staple vital for food security.
Talking to the media, Sindh Food Minister Nadir Magsi said that initially these grain storages will be built in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur divisions and wheat can be stored in silos for about three years. “There will be five big silos in Karachi, which will be near the highway,” he added.
He said that the feasibility study will assess the cultivation and estimated production of each district, following which the storage capacity of the silos will be fixed.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that USAID will bear the major cost of the consultancy services of IFC and other international consultants for the project.
Baloch said that the involvement of private sector will save considerable amount of public money, as investors will bring their equity into the project.
He added that the public-private partnership agreement will ensure efficiency, transparency and accountability, thus providing quality service in the shape of fresh grain and stopping pilferage.
The challenges, especially in the wake of the recent devastating floods, have made the construction of modern grain storage facilities indispensable to cater to the fluctuating demand of wheat, he added.
IFC’s chief regional representative for the Middle East and North Africa and country representative for Pakistan Nadeem Siddiqui said that IFC is assisting Pakistan in enhancing its grain storage capacity by helping to mobilise the private sector to improve agribusiness-related infrastructure. IFC is also assisting the government in its work to liberalise and develop the sector, he added.
With additional input from APP.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 21st, 2010.
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