Project on legal crop production completed

PESHAWAR: US Mission to Pakistan, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Thursday celebrated the successful completion of a $984,000 project that provided more than 4,000 farmers with alternatives to illicit crop production in the Bajaur, Khyber, Torghar, and Mohmand districts.

According to a press release, Director of the Embassy’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) section Mark Tervakoski, FAO representative Rebekah Bell, KP Agriculture Minister Mohib Ullah Khan, and Director General of the Agriculture Extension Department Abid Kamal participated in the ceremony.

Under the INL-funded project, FAO provided alternative livelihoods to farmers formerly engaged in or vulnerable to illicit crop cultivation. It said 4,000 farmers, including 1200 women, received wheat, onion, corn, cucumber, sunflower, and olive tree seeds, as well as training and agriculture machinery and tools - including shovels, spray pumps, tractors, and leveling and harvesting machines to grow high value licit crops.

The release said that more than 24,800 household members benefited from diversified livelihood opportunities, which promote sustainable economic growth that eliminate communities’ dependency on illicit crop production.