Agricultural assistance to flood-affected farmers meets winter sowing season

Remembering the awful smell of decayed animals and spoiled wheat, Salahudin, a member of a village organisation in Pashtun Garhi says, “We had nothing to eat or drink, we had lost our crops, our livestock and all our belongings. Our fields, houses and streets were filled with up to four feet of silt; it took us over three weeks to clear the silt from our houses to be able to live in them again”.

Nowshera and Charsadda districts were the worst hit by the floods in KPK, with some 200 acres of fertile land washed away in Pashtun Garhi alone.

“We need seeds, fertilizers and tools to reclaim our lands and livestock. We have lost all our wheat and seeds due to the floods. The next wheat sowing season starts in less than a month and if we don’t get seeds in time we will miss out on the next crop as well, which might result in famine as warned”, said Siddique Akbar, a farmer in Pashtun Garhi.

World Vision’s early recovery programme has involved assessments and prepositioning supplies to provide seeds, tools, fertilizer and expertise to 400 farmers in the four villages of Nowshera and Charsadda. These farmers have been provided with tractors through their respective village organisation to rehabilitate and prepare their lands for sowing wheat.

In the next two weeks World Vision is planning to distribute 60 kg of wheat seeds, as well as agricultural tools and also conduct training in livestock and agriculture.

“The targeted community are mostly farmers and are happy with our livelihood interventions in agriculture and livestock as it will provide them sustenance in the future”, said Zubair Ali Shah, World Vision Cash for Work officer.

As flood-affected families return to their places of origin and seek to rebuild their lives, World Vision Pakistan will focus on Health and Nutrition, Water and Sanitation, Food Security and Child Protection, in addition to Livelihood Recovery, Disaster Risk Reduction, Education and Advocacy across all sectors.

In the Punjab and Sindh provinces World Vision continues to focus on emergency relief, providing food, water, shelter and health assistance.

To date, World Vision has reached more than 436,415 flood-affected people with medical care, tents, shelter kits, hygiene kits, food and other supplies in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, Punjab and Sindh provinces. The organisation has set up 19 Child Friendly Spaces and 4 Women and Infant Friendly Spaces in KPK, Punjab and Sindh.

World Vision has been working in Pakistan since 1992, primarily focusing on relief interventions, livelihood recovery and advocacy.

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