Rs30 b require for rehabilitation of agriculture sector in AJK, NWFP: Sec. MINFAL

ISLAMABAD: Secretary Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL) Ismail Qurashi said that the total loss and reconstruction costs for agriculture sector in NWFP and Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) has been assessed to be around Rs30 billion covering crops livestock and irrigation infrastructure.

He was speaking at a planning workshop on "Damage and needs assessment and planning for post earthquake recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction of agriculture and livestock" here on Thursday at a local hotel.

The workshop was attended by the representatives of the government of NWFP and AJK, the donor agencies (DFID, WFP, EU, USAID, CIDA, JICA, SDC, IFAD, US Embassy, FAO, WB, ADB and UNDP and farmers of the affected areas.

The secretary MINFAL said that the earthquake had caused huge economic losses both private and public assets were destroyed, and normal agricultural production and trading activities severely disrupted.

He said that a large number of population of the affected areas lives in rural areas with livestock, crops and agro-forestry providing a significant part of needs of food and cash.

He said that these families have suffered enormously as livestock have been killed, crops and fields have been damaged, stocks of food and inputs buried as houses and stores collapsed.

He said that irrigation and other infrastructure have been affected and trees have been uprooted and at times entire fields have been lost due to landslides.

He said that after the earthquake, the ministry took various actions and steps for relief operation and damage and need assessment in the earthquake hit areas.

The secretary said that MINFAL in collaboration with governments of NWFP, AJK and Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) fielded two teams of local and foreign consultants and experts on October 15 to assess the damage.

"The final report of the damage and needs assessments will be ready by November 15 and handed over to the government for the international conference on earthquake relief scheduled to be held on November 19," he said.

He said that the ministry so far released 530,000 tons of wheat to meet immediate requirements of the affected people in quake-hit areas. The NWFP government was provided 3 lakh tons of wheat, AJK government 2 lakh tons of wheat and World Food Programme 30,000 tons of wheat by the government, he said.

He said that the two governments were advised to ensure urgent distribution of these food items to the most vulnerable population.

He hoped that after the workshop, the ministry was able to chalked out comprehensive plan for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the food and livestock sector.

He said that it would also help raising further financial support from national and international sources.

Later, the representative of the NWFP and AJK departments of agriculture presented damages to the agriculture and livestock sectors in their respected areas.

They said that there is an urgent need to construct shelter for livestock in quake-hit areas, as the harsh weather is onset and to provide them fodder.

They said that quake affected people need seeds to cultivate crops and money for their survival for next few months.