IFAD sponsored programme for Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir

According to officials of Pakistan, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will launch next year the second phase of community development programme in Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir with a financing of $36.45 million.

The six-year programme is aimed at improving the livelihoods and incomes of 250,000 rural, poor households with the institutionalisation of community-driven development within the government development framework.

The project has been submitted for approval to the IFAD Executive Board which is meeting in Rome on Dec 11. IFAD loan will be highly concessional which also includes grant in the amount of $2.91m.

The programme will cover all 10 districts of POJK, with an estimated total population of 4.4m. Within 1,771 revenue villages, approximately 4,200 community organisations have been established under various programmes; 800 villages have yet to be covered under the CDD approach with the establishment of new community organisations.

POJK has an estimated population of 4.4m; approximately 50pc fall within the poverty score card band of 0-34 (326,904 ultra-poor to poor households).

Moreover, 88pc of the POJK households are rural, with very small average arable landholdings (0.9ha per household). These small landholdings and limited irrigation facilities have limited local agricultural production.

Dilapidated condition of community services in POJK

According to the planning and development department of POJK, Around 50 percent of the total population in POJK  has no access to piped water, 78 percent of the total households do not have tap water connections.

Healthcare facilities in POJK are well below par even according to even Pakistani standards. Average population per doctor in Pakistan is 1127; whereas in POJK this ratio is 4,799. Similarly, infant mortality rate is worst in POJK vis-à-vis mainland Pakistan.

According to a 2013 report of the planning and development department of POJK, 87 percent of the households own land/farm in POJK; and the average farm size is 5.53 acres but due to unavailability of institutional credit, small farmers are unable to purchase modern agricultural inputs and technology which are extremely expensive in POJK due to high transportation costs. Consequently, small farmers are forced to engage in primordial farming techniques. An obvious downside of this is low agricultural productivity.