News
Saturday, September 24, 2011
FAO seeks $18.9 million for Pakistan flood reliefROME: A UN food agency launched an appeal for $18.9 million on Friday to help farmers in Pakistan hit by floods it said were even more disastrous than last year.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said that the money was needed “to address the most time-critical needs of millions of rural families in Sindh and Balochistan.”
The call for funds is part of the latest UN appeal for Pakistan, and aims to provide emergency livestock support and critical agriculture packages to more than 300,000 needy families, it said in a statement.
Heavy monsoon rains that began in mid-August destroyed or damaged 73 percent of crops and 67 percent of food stocks in affected districts of Sindh, and have killed nearly 78,000 head of livestock, the FAO said.
“Millions of people are destitute and face an uncertain and food-insecure future.”
The agency said the disaster struck before families affected by last year’s flooding were able to even start recovering, especially as Sindh did not receive as much assistance as other provinces in 2010.
“The floods and rain deepen the risk of losing more vital livestock assets and, for some, missing another opportunity to plant wheat and other essential crops,” it said.
The FAO said a top priority was to prevent further losses among at least five million cattle and other livestock at risk, by supplying them with feed and treating them against diseases and worm infestations.
“Around 80 percent of people in the affected area depend on agriculture - including livestock - for a living,” FAO senior emergency and rehabilitation coordinator Luigi Damiani said. afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk