The World Bank announced on Thursday that it intended to contribute up to $1.7 billion in flood-related assistance through both ongoing and new initiatives, as well as $22.2 million in funding for farmers who had been affected by the flooding.
The terrible floods have left the afflicted people in economic suffering, according to Martin Raiser and John Roome, regional directors for sustainable development for South Asia at the World Bank.
Raiser told Power Minister for Engr. Khurram Dastgir Khan that the World Bank “plans to offer flood-related support of up to $ 1.7 billion through existing and new projects,” according to a news statement issued here.
Raiser continued, “This might take the shape of bolstering social security programmes, fresh emergency operations to aid with recovery, and long-term resilience measures.” He recognised Pakistan’s policy move in favour of renewable energy as a positive development.
Tariq Bashir Cheema, the minister for food security, and John Roome met separately. He informed the minister that the bank will contribute $22.2 million to a specific programme to help farmers who had been devastated by floods.
Roome informed the minister, “The World Bank would assist Pakistan in this time of need through programmes intended to rehabilitate the devastated people.Both parties concurred that the World Bank’s Locust Emergency and Food Security (LEAFS) initiative should be used to aid in the recovery of the farming community in flood- and locust-affected areas.
Roome promised to ask the World Bank Group Board to provide aid to Pakistan as it works to recover from the devastation brought on by record flooding. Cheema thanked the World Bank Group for its assistance.
Cheema informed the group that the agricultural industry and the rural community had been decimated by rainfall and floods at the time. In order to restore normalcy, he continued, “at this crucial time, we are primarily concentrating on rehabilitation activities in the flood-affected districts.”
Cheema stated that the National Food Security Ministry intended to subsidise the inputs – seeds and fertiliser – for “the upcoming Rabi season on a cost-sharing basis” with the provinces, in order to support the farmers in flood-affected areas.
He said, “We intend to give farmers in the blunder areas one bag of fertilizers per acre as well as discounted wheat and oil seedlings. The distribution will be supervised by the provincial governments and the National Disaster Management Authority ” (NDMA).
Cheema asserted that the “suggested subsidies may be presented to the federal cabinet shortly” and projected that the “farmers will be able to bounce back on their feet after this support.” He said that the government was fully supporting farm ministries.
Separately, Cheema gave the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) instructions to develop a comprehensive plan by the end of this month to distribute fertilisers to the flood-affected districts.
Additionally, he gave his approval to the department’s proposal to hire technical employees to monitor disease and locust outbreak outbreaks. He forewarned that the recent rains and floods would make a second locust attack more likely.
