The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved $535 million in financing for Pakistan to support two projects aimed at enhancing social protection and promoting climate-smart growth in the livestock and aquaculture sectors. The additional financing for the Crisis Resilient Social Protection (CRISP) Program seeks to fortify the country's social protection system and build resilience among poor and vulnerable households. Concurrently, the Sindh Livestock and Aquaculture Sectors Transformation (LIVAQUA) Project will foster climate-smart practices among small and medium producers in Sindh.
“The catastrophic floods that hit Pakistan in 2022 were a tragic reminder of the importance to build resilience to such disasters, including by strengthening both social protection and sectors that support economic growth and recovery,” said Najy Benhassine, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan. "It is also imperative to help the vulnerable absorb climate shocks through innovative climate-smart technology and contingency planning.”
The CRISP program will receive $400 million to enhance its ongoing efforts. This funding aims to equip Pakistan’s social protection system with robust policy frameworks and delivery systems for more effective crisis responses. The program focuses on long-term policy actions to improve the national cash transfer program's effectiveness, coverage, and Federal-Provincial coordination.
"Since its inception, the CRISP program has achieved significant results with regular safety net support to more than 9 million families and a demonstrated capability of quickly reaching 2.8 million families during the recent floods," said Amjad Zafar Khan, Task Team Leader for the Project. “The additional financing would not only assist families in becoming more resilient to climate and economic shocks but also encourage provincial capacities to take up a larger role in social assistance.”
LIVAQUA will receive $135 million to finance interventions promoting climate-smart production, value addition, inclusive market access, and sectoral growth opportunities. The project includes improving sector policies, strategic frameworks, evidence-based decision-making, capacity building for public and private providers, disease surveillance, diagnostic services, breeding programs, food safety initiatives, and green technology development.
LIVAQUA will be implemented across all districts in Sindh using a phased approach. It is expected to benefit over 940,000 farm families directly, including 930,000 livestock households and 10,000 aquaculture producers. Measures are included to ensure female farmers' participation in the project.
“The project will improve the livelihoods of small and medium livestock and aquaculture producers, increase their resilience to animal health and climate-related shocks, strengthen the overall growth of these two sectors in Sindh, improve food security and nutrition broadly while reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Myriam Chaudron, Task Team Leader for the project.
Pakistan has been a member of the World Bank since 1950. Since then, it has received over $46 billion in assistance from the institution. The current portfolio includes 55 projects with a total commitment of $14.7 billion.