An agreement has been signed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Louis Dreyfus Company BV (LDC) to benefit smallholder farmers in Pakistan. Under this agreement, a $100 million loan will be provided to help small farmers to recover from the economic challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic. It aims to enhance their resilience to climate change impacts
LDC is a worldwide merchant and processor of agricultural goods. It started operations in Pakistan in 2015 and has become one of the country’s leading merchants of both rice and cotton and staunchly established merchants of edible oils and soybeans. The agreement is directed to support LDC operations in Pakistan by financing coffee, cotton and rice inventories for over 50,000 smallholder farmers.
In Pakistan, agriculture continues to be the main source of employment, livelihood and income for between 50% to 90% of the population. Besides, small farmers make up the majority, up to 70% to 95% of the farming population. They face the greatest challenges of integration and competitiveness in new markets and are constrained by a lack of basic public services, market liberalisation, and budgetary and capacity limitations. The loan will help secure food supply chains and reliable incomes for smallholder farmers and help offset the impact of supply chain disruptions due to the pandemic.
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