ISLAMABAD: The Australian government, under the first phase of its ‘Australia Balochistan Agribusiness (AusABBA) programme’, has increased the gross value of agricultural produce in the six districts of Balochistan by over $9.1 million and helped farmers increase their household income.

According to the project document prepared by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations which implemented the project in cooperation with Balochistan government, the initiative has helped enhance crop yields and livestock productivity in Balochistan and introduced farmers to new technologies, better ways manage their farms and increase production in addition to improving community-based water management.

The conclusion of the first phase of the project witnessed significant improvement in food and nutrition security and income of over 30,600 poor households in 340 rural communities in the province.

The Australian-funded programme covers six districts of Chaghai, Kech, Kharan, Nushki, Punjgur and Washuk.

The programme helped farmers from several adjacent communities of the districts to form farmers’ marketing collectives, strengthen their linkages to the markets, and increase their sales of surplus produce.

The programme also encouraged farmers establish small local agribusiness, and a recent study has shown that the farmers’ marketing collectives approach can increase farmer profits by up to 34 per cent.

Building on the success of the first phase, the second phase of AusABBA has been launched which will run through 2023 and focus on training female and male farmers to help strengthen supply chains and eventually connect them with markets for Balochistan-specific commodities, such as onions, fruit trees, goat, sheep, meat, seeds, wood and dates.

The programme will target women’s economic empowerment – at least 25pc of the beneficiaries will be women – thus ensuring the economic benefits also improve the nutritional status of families. Homestead gardens, sheep fattening, vegetables and dates grading and packaging, fruit drying and seedling production are among the culturally suitable activities that women can engage in.

The goal of the programme will be to contribute to “people in South West Balochistan [so that they can] live more prosperous in a food-secure environment”. During the second phase of the programme, households in the six districts, engaged in agricultural livelihoods will be helped adopt suitable, profitable and diversified strategies in an enabling environment that increase their incomes, food security and nutritional status.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2019