Helping Pakistan's farmers after the floods

development

projects

location Pakistan dates November 2010 – December 2011 project team Kauser Iqbal Khan Abdul Rehman Naeem Aslam

helping Pakistan’s farmers after the floods

The floods experienced in Pakistan following the monsoon rains in summer 2010 were the worst since 1929, affecting over two million people and covering 20 per cent of the land. In Khyber, Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, more than 200 mm of rain fell over a 24-hour period, and in Peshawar a record-breaking 274 mm.

so what’s the problem?

More than 1600 people were killed and over 3000 injured. Entire villages were swept away and millions of acres of agricultural land went under water, ruining crops. The floods also destroyed vital infrastructure, including wells and water channels, houses and animal sheds, personal seed stocks, fertilizers and agricultural equipment. The fact that it was nearly harvest time for many vital crops made the situation worse.

Many of the 170 million people who live in the region are smallholder farmers, which means that their livelihoods are extremely susceptible to the weather.

In the immediate aftermath it was very difficult to work effectively and efficiently. Aid agencies sprang into action and organizations like CABI worked to rebuild infrastructures that were damaged in the floods.

KNOWLEDGE FOR LIFE

what did this project do?

CABI began a project, funded by Welthungerhilfe (a German relief charity), initiating an agricultural recovery programme in one of the worst affected regions – Muzaffargarh district in the Punjab. Designed to address the needs of the flood-affected farming communities, the programme ensured they had enough food for the following year and were capable of supporting themselves.

The programme consisted of a free agriculture and irrigation support package, meaning that each floodstricken farmer in the region could sow one acre of wheat. It also provided short-term employment opportunities for skilled and unskilled labour (nearly 20,000 man days in total), as well as training for farmers in good agricultural practices (GAP). The aim was to help reduce the vulnerability of flood-affected people, and improve group organization and the management capacity of farmers.

After the initial success of this project, CABI received additional funding to carry out further rehabilitation work of the agricultural infrastructure to promote food security among the flood damaged populations in the Muzaffargarh district of the Punjab.

results Seed and fertilizers have been distributed to 7,000 farmers with fewer than five acres of land who suffered the worst damage in the floods, and have been trained in good agricultural practices. 2,500 farmers have also been trained in integrated pest management (IPM) of wheat. Diesel has been distributed to over 5,000 beneficiaries. We have reconstructed and rehabilitated 729 damaged tube wells, 12,450 m of lined flood damaged watercourses (111 in total) and 32,679 m of earthen portions of 36 water courses to carry water for farming.

We have also rehabilitated 10 fish farms, distributed 11,870 fingerlings (young fish) and food for the fish, and taught farmers how to manage them effectively.

2,100 women (one from each household) have been trained in kitchen gardening, and we have distributed the seeds of five vegetable crops to them so they can feed their families with a diverse diet and secure their income through selling their surplus yield.

Overall, the project has helped many farmers to turn towards sustainable agriculture, enabling them to feed their families with less outside help.

www.cabi.org/flood sponsor Welthungerhilfe

contact CABI, Opposite 1-A, Data Gunj Baksh Road, Satellite Town P.O. Box 8, Rawalpindi, Pakistan T: +92 (0)51 9290132 F: +92 (0)51 9290131 E: cabi.cwa@cabi.org www.cabi.org/sasia

ID-PKFlood-10-12

Kauser Iqbal Khan, Project Manager