US envoy launches USAID’s $24m programme

PESHAWAR: US Ambassador Donald Blome on Thursday launched $24 million five-year USAID’s Economic Recovery and Development Activity (ERDA) aimed at improving economic opportunities in the merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s programme

“For 75 years, the United States has helped Pakistan to advance economic growth and build a brighter future for its people. The project we are launching is a continuation of that partnership,” Donald Blome said in his opening remarks at the launching ceremony of the project held at a hotel here.

Following the 2010 floods, he said the US government helped restore the irrigation water supply to the hardest-hit areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, enabling farmers to plant wheat and avoid food insecurity.

“Since 2014, the US government, through USAID, has helped more than one million displaced persons to rehabilitate their agriculture-based livelihoods in the newly merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In response to the 2022 floods, the US government has committed approximately $200 million in flood relief and recovery,” the ambassador recalled, adding that in collaboration with their Pakistani partners, they provided urgently needed food, water, medicine, and shelter to 2.5 million people.

Under the USAID programme, the US ambassador said they had provided seeds and fertilizers to flood-affected farmers in time for the wheat planting season.

He said in order to mitigate the effects of future flooding, the United States government was helping Khyber Pakhtunkhwa build a massive irrigation system to develop the districts of Tank and Dera Ismail Khan for agricultural use.

As the floods have illustrated, Donald Blome said the United States, Pakistan, and other countries around the world must work together to address the effects of climate change. “Just as the United States supported Pakistan’s “Green Revolution” in the 1960s - improving crop yields, boosting economic opportunities, and increasing food security and life expectancy for Pakistanis - I believe a “Green Alliance” framework can help us meet the climate, energy, water, and agriculture needs of Pakistanis going forward,” the US envoy said.

Agriculture, he added, was a critical component of Pakistan’s economy, saying strengthening and modernizing the agriculture sector in KP through this project is a critical step to ensuring food security, economic stability, and climate resilience in Pakistan.

He said ERDA will promote enterprises in agriculture and related sectors, which in turn will stimulate private sector-led economic growth in KP. This growth, he felt, was urgently needed to reduce poverty, advance Pakistan’s Tribal Decade Strategy for 2020-2030, and achieve Pakistan’s global development goals. I am confident that by working together to support climate-smart agriculture development and promote micro, small, and medium businesses, we will improve food security and create economic opportunities for the most vulnerable populations in KP.

“In addition to the agricultural sector, the project will focus on four other sectors that have great potential to create new jobs and generate additional income. They are: mines and minerals; tourism; information and communication technology; and the social services sector,” Ambassador Donald explained.

He also thanked the KP government and particularly Additional Chief Secretary Shah Mahmood Khan and his team for their support in making the project a reality.