USAID to support agri and livestock sector

The programme manager of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Nazeer Ahmed Esani, has said the USAID wants to support the livestock and horticulture sectors in order to increase the exports from Pakistan.
Addressing a seminar titled ‘Agri Business Support Fund’ at the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HCCI) here Monday, Esani said the USAID aims to help create 1.3 million jobs in those sectors through increasing the international trade.
“Pakistan will be given $90 million under the Agri Business Support Fund,” he said and added that the small growers and traders should be benefiting from this support program.
He further said that the project would also benefit the fisheries sector through the improvement of value chain.
The USAID official noted that there was great potential for multiplying production through adoption modern technology and farming skills in the horticulture sector.
He observed that the agriculture sector contributes around 23 percent of the total Pakistani GDP and that about half of it comes from the livestock.
Esani informed that the grants would be given on the projects which were implemented on the modern lines as to add value to the products.
“The processing of fish and meat, cold storage, packaging, milk storage in the dairy farming and producing value added items from the milk are some of the schemes the fund will support,” he apprised.
He advised the interested people to submit their requests to the USAID by June 30.
“Our experts will vet the proposals before the approval,” he added and informed that detailed information could be obtained from the USAID’s website.
Earlier, the HCCI’s senior vice president while addressing the seminar said the project could benefit Hyderabad which had huge potential for fisheries, livestock and horticulture. “We hope to see investment in these sectors, creation of more jobs and more importantly adoption of the modern practices in these professions,” he expressed.
The HCCI’s vice president Abdul Saleem Arain requested the USAID officials to provide complete details to the chamber so that they could help in the success of the fund.
HCCI members Kamran Shafiq, Syed Yawar Ali Shah, Abdul Sattar Khan and others also addressed the seminar and briefed the USAID officials about the potential of investment in these sectors.
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