ISLAMABAD, Jan 18: The Asian Development Bank has approved a loan of $36 million to help reduce poverty and to improve environmental management in six coastal areas of Sindh.

The project focus includes job creation, community-driven development and methods for households to cope with environmental degradation in parts of Thatta and Badin districts, where million people live in poverty.

Environmental degradation is a significant concern in this area around the Indus River delta, where losses of agricultural land and declining inshore fishing stocks have occurred.

Over six years, the Sindh Coastal Community Development Project will provide opportunities for environmentally sustainable growth at household, community, and institutional levels.

At the household level, improved development of mangrove planting, crab and prawn ponds, bivalve and seaweed rafts and training for a variety of skills will create income-generating opportunities. Households will also benefit from access to micro loans and savings services.

At the community level, organisation of village groups, leadership training and community-managed development funds will increase self-reliance and improve access to water, roads and other basic services.

At the regional level, the project will support the development of a coastal zone management and monitoring plan. Surveys of water quality and fisheries in near-coastal areas as well as work to enhance public sector responsiveness to local needs are planned.

The most urgent issue to be faced on the Sindh coast is poverty and environmental decline that households are likely to face, says Betty Wilkinson, an ADB rural development specialist.

The project will address these challenges by providing households with the information and skills to boost their incomes in environmentally sustainable ways. Communities will decide on and use resources to collectively improve their circumstances. The project will help develop organisations to be responsive to communities and their economic and environmental conditions and needs.

The Coastal Development Authority of Sindh will manage the project working with local, national and international non-government organisations as well as with local and provincial government offices and community groups.

The ADB’s loan comes from its concessional Asian Development Fund and carries a 32-year term, including a grace period of eight years. Annual interest is 1 per cent during the grace period and 1.5 per cent for the rest of the term. The government will meet $3.36 million of the total project cost of $40 million and the beneficiaries will contribute $650,000.