A $200 million loan from the World Bank has been granted to help Punjab's agriculture industry and fund small farmer-owned ventures.
Days after the South Asian nation and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) came to an agreement at the staff level for the release of US$1.17 billion, the US international financial organisation authorised the provision.
The scheme will assist enhance the supply of water to 1,400,000 million acres of land and will benefit about 190,000 farmers.
According to a statement from the World Bank, the $200 million in investment intended to revolutionise the agricultural sector by using climate-smart technology. It also planned to raise the earnings of small farmers and create resilience to catastrophic weather events.
Since it provides for around 73 percent of the nation's total food output, the international lender said that the agricultural sector in the most industrialised province is crucial to both the nation's economy and food security.
In addition to encouraging farmers at the community and household levels to adopt climate-smart farming practises and technologies, the Punjab Resilient and Inclusive Agriculture Transformation Project sought to increase agricultural productivity by providing small farms with efficient and equitable access to water.
Najy Benhassine, the WB's country director for Pakistan, claimed that the South Asian nation's agriculture industry suffered from food shortages brought on by climate change, particularly severe droughts in the Punjab province, losses in crop yields and livestock, damage to irrigation infrastructure, and infrastructure losses.
According to him, the project is in line with the Punjab Agriculture Policy 2018, which encourages a significant expansion of water conservation initiatives, improving sustainability and resilience in the face of climate change, and private sector involvement to help increase the productivity of the sector.
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