Islamabad, June 13 (IMI) - The Government of Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank today signed the Letter of Agreement for grant support to 8,000 poor and vulnerable households headed by women and the disabled in largely inaccessible areas devastated by the October 2005 earthquake.

The US$5 million grant, from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), financed by the Government of Japan, will help targeted households, many of whom live at high altitudes, resume cultivating crops and thus rebuild their livelihoods.

Signing the agreement in Islamabad were Peter Fedon, Country Director at ADB's Pakistan Resident Mission, M. Ismail Qureshi, Secretary, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock, and Khalid Saaed, Secretary, Economic Affairs Division.

The Project is designed to deliver urgently needed agricultural and livestock supplies, including farming inputs, goat and poultry units, and animal feed and animal sheds, training in health and sanitation, and rehabilitation of community-based small infrastructure. It thus aims to instill self-confidence to enable the communities to participate in income-generating activities and eliminate dependence on aid.

“The revival of subsistence-level crop and livestock husbandry activities will ensure food security, and secure livestock from perishing in the cold without shelter," Mr. Fedon says. "Physical infrastructure identified and prioritized by the communities themselves including drinking water supplies and sanitation facilities will be also restored.�

The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Livestock (MINFAL) is the Executing Agency. Project implementation and management support will be provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN). FAO will be responsible for the procurement and delivery of materials and supplies needed to union council headquarters. FAO will also provide technical backstopping in agriculture and livestock interventions.

The subsidiary implementing agencies at the field level will be the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), National Rural Support Programme (NRSP), and Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP). They will be responsible for community mobilization, participatory identification of community needs, and delivery of materials from the union council headquarters to the beneficiaries.

The grant complements ADB's Earthquake Emergency Assistance Project (EEAP) package, which is supported by an Asian Development Fund (ADF) loan of $220 million and a grant of $80 million approved on 13 December 2005.

The JFPR was set up in 2000 with an initial contribution of Y10 billion (about $90 million). The Fund now stands at over $360 million, of which $193 million have been committed for 82 projects.

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asia and Pacific region through pro-poor sustainable economic growth, social development, and good governance. Established in 1966, it is owned by 65 members – 47 from the region. In 2005, it approved loans and technical assistance totaling $6.95 billion and $198.8 million, respectively.