File photo. Jay Directo—AFP
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Monday approved a $554 million financial package—comprising new and reallocated funds—to support Pakistan’s recovery and reconstruction efforts following this year’s devastating floods, as well as to strengthen the country’s disaster and climate resilience.
According to a statement issued by the bank, the financing includes a $475 million loan and $3 million technical assistance grant from the ADB, as well as a $5 million grant from the Japanese government. It said the funding would support the restoration of irrigation, drainage, flood risk management, on-farm water management and transport infrastructure in the flood-hit regions of Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh.
Additionally, read the statement, the ADB’s Emergency Flood Assistance Project would incorporate climate and disaster resilience measures into the design of the restored infrastructure, adding that an additional $71 million from existing loans had been repurposed to support flood-response efforts.
“This year’s floods, which affected 33 million people and brought enormous damage to infrastructure and agriculture, are a devastating reminder of Pakistan’s acute vulnerability to climate change,” said ADB Director-General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov. “This project will help to rebuild critical infrastructure in affected areas and restore rural livelihoods,” he added.
The bank said the $475 million loan would aid in the reconstruction of about 400km of roads; about 85km of the N-5 highway; and about 30 bridges. It would also help restore and upgrade irrigation and drainage structures, including canals and on-farm water facilities, to restore livelihoods, and strengthen flood risk management structures to mitigate future risks to agricultural land, communities, and assets.
“More people are expected to fall into poverty as a result of the floods and the food-insecure population is likely to double to more than 14 million people in the most affected districts,” said ADB Principal Transport Specialist Zheng Wu. “In close coordination with the government and other development partners, this project will provide crucial support to restore agriculture and other priority infrastructure to support socioeconomic recovery from floods,” he added.
According to the breakdown of funds provided by the ADB, the $5 million grant provided by the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific would support staple crop cultivation in Balochistan and provide at least 60,000 farm households with higher quality, certified rice seeds for increased productivity over 54,000 hectares of land. It would also, it said, support women’s livelihoods in agriculture by providing farming equipment.