QUETTA: The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations on Tuesday signed a grant agreement for establishing a cold storage facility in Balochistan.

FAO Representative in Pakistan Florence Rolle, Bal­ochistan Agriculture Sec­r­e­tary Umaid Ali Kho­kar, FAO Provincial Intern­ational Programme Coordi­nator Waleed Mahdi, the project coordinator as well as government officials from the agriculture department and other FAO Balochistan staff attended the agreement signing ceremony.

The project, ‘The Horticulture Advancement Activity’ or THAzA, was funded by the United States Agency for International Department (USAID). It will support establishing the cold storage facility of 300 tonnes capacity to help farmers in Balochistan prolong the shelf life and marketability of their produce — ultimately resulting in increased profitable income and protecting farmers from financial losses during fluctuations in market prices.

The facility will increase incomes of farmers by strengthening connections bet­ween horticultural producers in Baloch­istan and markets across the country.

FAO signs grant agreement

The project, implemented in Balochistan and the newly merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is designed to improve completeness of the potential horticultural value chains within the target regions and markets.

In her opening remarks, Ms Rolle said that FAO was working with farmers and smallholder producers to make agriculture work for the most vulnerable communities through this project. “We have to show the people, especially the youth, that agriculture is an income-generating occupation that is worth investing in. We have to open up opportunities for job creation for the youth through competitive agricultural value chains and food processing,” she said.

Agriculture Secretary Umaid Ali Khokar said cold storage facilities were crucial to minimise post-harvest losses, however, it was one component that needs to be integrated in a cold chain network from the point of harvest to the point of purchase by the end consumer.

FAO International Prog­ramme Coordinator in Balo­chistan Waleed Mahdi exp­ressed the hope that the first-ever high-level grant in Balochistan would address the problems that farmers and traders previously faced.

He said the farmers in Balochistan could now reap the benefits of cold storage and would be able to store their produce for long and to avoid peak season glut in the markets and resultant low prices for producers.

Mr Mahdi said THAzA project supported through in-kind matching grants aiming to address major impediments in the trading of fresh horticultural produce.

He said that it was good to see that the FAO’s technical support to smallholder producers and government institutions had already helped increase productive capacities in fresh fruits and vegetables, and spurred access to high-quality support services.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2022