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| November 2, 2005 | Wednesday | Ramzan 28, 1426 |
$167m needed for immediate relief
ISLAMABAD, Nov 1: The coordination committee on food, nutrition and early recovery of agriculture sector has suggested $167 million for immediate relief in the quake-hit areas of the NWFP and Azad Kashmir.
The suggestion was made in a meeting attended by representatives of the Food Assistance Organization, World Food Programme, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development, USAID, the relief commissioner and agriculture secretaries of federal, AJK and NWFP governments.
The FAO, ADB and WFP presented needs’ assessment and requirements for short, medium and long term programmes, totalling $558 million and including immediate requirements of $167 million.
The immediate requirements include $113 million for food and nutrition and $54 million for early recovery of agriculture and livestock with the following key areas of intervention during November: provision of farm inputs (seed and fertilizer), seed and food storage bins and sheds for cattle and their food.
The FAO has already initiated procurement of agricultural inputs worth Rs30 million under the Technical Cooperation Programme which will be supplemented by other donors and federal and provincial governments.
Meanwhile, Minfal has decided to release 530,000 tons of wheat for immediate requirements, which include 80,000 tons for the AJK and 30,000 tones for the WFP for urgent distribution. They have been advised to ensure urgent distribution of the grain to the most vulnerable population.
The WFP informed the meting that 2.3 million people were food insecure in the quake-hit region and assessed requirement was 212,000 tons of food, including 160,000 tons of wheat plus oil, sugar, rice etc.
The World Bank, ADB and IFAD have also agreed to reallocate and provide more than $100 million from their on-going programmes to the AJK and NWFP governments for early recovery of their agriculture sector.
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