MANSEHRA: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rural Economic Transformation Project (KP-RETP), in collaboration with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has launched a microfinance scheme for Mansehra farmers to help them enhance yields.
‘This project has evolved a comprehensive strategy for farmers, including public-privateproducers partnership development and farmer-owned agribusiness hub initiatives, Mohammad Ishfaq Khan, the KP-RETP director, told a meeting of farmers here on Monday.
Farmers from across the district attended the event and interacted with representatives of KP-RETP and IFAD. Mr Khan said 400-member farmers’ societies had been formed to help increase agricultural yields and improve livelihoods.
He said funds had been allocated to these societies to finance professional farmers to use modern ploughing and harvesting machines to bring barren lands under cultivation.
‘KP-RETP will evaluate the post-funding outcomes, assess beneficiary progress and measure the overall effectiveness and sustainability of supported interventions, with a focus on capturing tangible impacts on livelihoods and income generation,’ Mr Khan said.
The KP-RETP director directed officebearers of the farmers’ societies to bring more and more peasants into their networks to benefit from the project.
He said that the government wanted to address core issues of farmers, particularly those settled in rural parts of the province.
Correspondent