Agribusiness support fund impact reviewed

The impact of funds disbursed through Agribusiness Support Fund (ASF) was reviewed at the monthly meeting of the Agribusiness Development & Diversification Project (AD&DP), Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (Minfal) in Lahore on Wednesday.
AD&DP Project Director Arshad Hashmi told Business Recorder on telephone from Lahore that besides ASF the meeting also discussed the progress on the targets achieved on the cases pertaining to Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF). The meeting was also attended by Minfal Additional Secretary Saleem Khan and representatives from all the four provinces.
Other items on the agenda included environmental M&E workshops schedule, CSF awareness seminars schedule, and progress on contract negotiations by State Bank of Pakistan. A presentation was also made by livestock specialist from Sindh. Progress on targets for September and projects under block allocation also came under discussion.
The first meeting of the subcommittee on production, processing and marketing under the AD&DP was held in Islamabad on August 10. The Task Force which was constituted by Advisor to Prime Minister Dr Salman Shah for horticulture finance and competitiveness had at the initial brainstorming meeting on July 12 decided that an implementation committee would be formed and chaired by Minfal Secretary. The implementation committee would then form operational subcommittees to be chaired by Secretaries of relevant line ministries. The subcommittees are: hortibusiness finance, infrastructure, quality, standards and regulations, and production, processing & marketing.
Each subcommittee has a secretariat, provided by Minfal, and coordination of the exercise is also provided by Minfal with the continued assistance of Competitiveness Support Fund (CSF).
The first meeting of the subcommittee had established informal ''core'' working groups covering individually production, processing and marketing which lie at the heart of the value chain. At each stage that the horticulture industry fails to achieve international standards, there are economic costs relating to low efficiencies.
There are many agencies that are working in the field to provide policy recommendations as well as technical solutions. However, there is lack of coordination and lack of focus on priorities. The subcommittee for production, processing and marketing will act as a catalyst to assist these various agencies to co-ordinate their efforts and to allocate resources more efficiently between projects and interventions.