AT A GLANCE

Partners
FAO, UN-Women, Government-Ministry of Human Resource Development, Sindh Provincial Department of Labour, District Labour Departments, Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP), Pakistan’s Workers Federation (PWF), Civil Society, Directorate of Manpower Training Sindh, Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Human Resources Research & Development Board (SBBHRRDB), Micro Finance Institutions, Academia and Research Institutes

Target beneficiaries
About 11,800 rural families in 120 target villages translating into an estimated 64,000 Hari people, an ethnic group in Sindh Province, and 22,000 non-Haris (men, women, boys and girls who are on-farm and off-farm labourers) benefiting from the Project’s agricultural production and marketing, skills and business development, social security, social empowerment and capacity building interventions.

Geographical focus
Dadu and Mirpurkhas districts of Sindh Province in Pakistan

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

Sindh is the second largest province in Pakistan with a population of 34 million, one-fifth of the country’s total. More than half of its population live in rural areas, primarily depending on agriculture for their income and livelihoods.

In July 2010 unexpected monsoon rains flooded a significant part of Pakistan and Sindh was the worst-hit province. Nearly 1 million households suffered from agricultural losses estimated more than $20 billion. 90 percent of the rural populations in the province were directly affected because their primary occupations were the crop production and animal husbandry. The flood left a few other job opportunities for the rural residents such as blacksmiths, carpenters, water
carriers, weavers and barbers. The limited number of national identity cards given to the rural residents makes it very difficult for many people, especially women, to apply for formal banking credit and land ownership. About 85 per cent of the land is owned by less than two percent of the population.

In response to this devastating situation caused by the flood, the three-year project aims to restore and protect the livelihoods of the vulnerable rural population in Sindh Province who live under the tribal landholding and farming systems and who suffered from floods, droughts and insecurity. The specific objectives of the project are:

• To improve the livelihoods and economic security of rural communities through in-kind support to restore and/or protect the farm production capacities and off-farm income generating activities and create positive impact on their disaster reliance.
• To enhance the skills and knowledge base of men and women farmers, landless people and unemployed youth through technical support in good agriculture practices (GAPs), post-harvest management and vocational skills.
• To empower farmers’ organizations, water user associations (WUAs), women groups, and their Hari constituents to enhance their natural resource base (land, water, vegetation, etc) while strengthening their resilience to future shocks.

MAIN ACTIVITIES

• Conducting 33 training courses and providing tool kits for more than 600 men and women in various trades including fashion, engineering, construction, manufacturing, electronics, carpentering, and cooking.
• Conducting a tracer study to gauge the effectiveness of vocational training courses and measure the employment and income generation status of the trainees.
• Printing and disseminating two directories of microfinance providers for the target districts.
• Organizing training of trainers on flexible training approaches and a workshop on Green Jobs and Green Entrepreneurship- Start Your green Business (SYGB).
• Carrying out assessment of existing community and household-based disaster risk reduction (DRR) practices covering thematic areas related to all three UN agencies.
• Conducting a training on skills and DRR in 3 pilot villages in Mirpurkhas and integrating basic DRR practices into all vocational training courses in target districts.
• Conducting awareness sessions for landless peasants, thus informing them of their right to form trade Unions and start collective bargaining with their employers (landlords). These rights were given to Agriculture & Fisheries workers by the Industrial Relations Act-2013.
• Investing in training of labour inspectors to strengthen the occupational safety & Health enforcement at the Agriculture and Agri-Business establishments.
• Creating awareness on Child Marriage restraint Act with the purpose of increasing the human security.

PROJECT OUTCOMES

• Increasing access to micro-financing for 500 excluded Hari men and women through the establishment of informal group-based revolving funds, savings and loan schemes.
• Strengthening the technical capacities and skills of 500 landless and unemployed men & women farm labourers and youth in occupations that are compatible with the local culture. This is done through the identification of income generation and employment opportunities and then providing those needs based vocational trainings.
• Increasing off-farm income generation opportunities for 100 landless, unemployed and marginalized men, women and youth to develop linkages required for small business development.
• Strengthening the existing and introducing new community-based DRR practices in 120 target communities as coping mechanisms against future disasters and human insecurity and as an integral part of the agricultural production, vocational training and social security packages benefiting an additional 3,000 non-Hari farm families.

For Further information please contact:

Mr Abid Niaz
National Project Coordinator
Tel: +92 21 34549525-8
Email