NWFP AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

dropped

In accordance with the Country Assistance Strategy, the Agriculture Sector Investment Project will support liberalization efforts towards output/input markets, particularly for wheat, cotton, rice, sugar and fertilizers. The project will link research and extension services to the farmers' needs, and support the privatization process, by divesting selected public enterprises. The project components include: 1) policy and institutional reforms, which comprises liberalization of output prices, such as wheat, and marketing of inputs, such as fertilizers. Divestiture of the Rice and Cotton Export Corporations will be achieved, to enhance the privatization process, and the in-house capacity of the economic wing of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Livestock will be strengthened; 2) public sector investment, to finance public investment programs in research, extension, fisheries, rural roads, as well as livestock and social forestry. Operations and maintenance costs, will be included; 3) private sector development, to provide funds for the establishment of an autonomous National Agricultural Development Foundation, which will assist the private sector with the provision of market information, technology, and overseas product promotion, by facilitating partnerships abroad, while NGO's and women's groups will facilitate cost-effective extension services.