QUETTA: The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), in collaboration with USAID, has established more than eight hundred community organisations in Balochistan to increase the production, sale and revenues from crops and livestock.

“A total of 826 community organisations have helped improving incomes for 16,000 households in Balochistan,” said Patrick Evans, the FAO representative, in a statement on Friday.

The project would help communities and individual farmers increase the production, sale, and revenues from crops and livestock, the statement read.

It encompassed agricultural development activities in eight districts of Balochistan and Fata.

“The USAID is proud of the successful partnership we had in Balochistan with the government, the local people and FAO,’’ said Mr Evans, adding that he was pleased with the progress of the project creating job opportunities in the region.

“The farmers learned about new techniques, better breeds of livestock, seeds, and more efficient water management techniques,” he said, highlighting how the project would establish and train community organisations, farmers’ marketing collectives in grading and packaging, and help them find markets that pay better.

The project would also increase participation of women in income-earning activities, support improvement in provincial agricultural policies and the legal and regulatory framework for market-led and community-driven investments.

The USAID and the FAO also hosted a joint event in Islamabad to mark the completion of a $32 million USAID-funded Balochistan Agriculture Project that was implemented by the FAO.

Published in Dawn October 22nd, 2016