ISLAMABAD: The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations said on Wednesday that more than 11,000 families displaced from Kurram and Khyber tribal regions had received agricultural funding provided by the Japanese government.

The $5 million project, covering the period from July 2015 to June 2017, will deliver assistance to 26,000 households or 182,000 individuals in the two regions.

Activities include distribution of quality seed for Rabi and Kharif seasons, rehabilitation of fruit orchards and watercourses, establishment of fruit nurseries, land reclamation, animal vaccination and supplemental feeding for animals.

Through such initiatives, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations works to reduce poverty and economic inequalities.

“We are pleased to work with the government of Japan to support the return of TDPS (temporarily displaced persons) to their homes,” said the FAO Country Representative in Pakistan, Patrick T. Evans, at a meeting of the project steering committee chaired by the Economic Affairs Division and attended by representatives of the government, Embassy of Japan and FAO here on Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2016