Zahid Hussain Gardezi, Chairman of Mango Growers Association (MGA), said that the US Agency for International Development has spent $3.1 million to help Pakistani mango growers get their fruits ready for export, and the US government has overturned the ban on imports of Pakistani mangos.
But high transportation costs and strict regulations mean that few mangoes are likely to make the transatlantic trip this year, and the USAID project will target European markets instead, he said. Talking to this scribe, he said that under USAID supervision, 80 Pakistani mango farm owners received training and funding to streamline sorting, washing, packaging and storing processes so that the fruits meet global certification standards. The growers are expected to pay half of infrastructure costs, with US funds covering the rest.
Farid Khakwani, who owns a mango farm near the central city of Multan, said that he invested more than $100,000 in his new processing line but he hopes to recoup the investment with access to new markets. "There is little chance of commercial exports of mangoes from Pakistan to the US increasing significantly," USAID told the mango growers in a recent document. "Logistics are too costly." During a visit to Pakistan almost a year ago, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had said that she hoped that Americans would soon enjoy eating the Pakistan's "delicious" mangoes, thanks to US assistance.
Now these prospective American mango eaters increasingly look to go hungry. Mangoes have long been used by local politicians to woo voters and by Pakistani leaders to smoothen relations with their Indian counterpart. So, it's no surprise that US officials saw opportunities in the king of fruits.
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