The United States Announces New Support for Pakistan's Agriculture

Office of the Spokesman

Washington, DC

July 19, 2010

After the bilateral Strategic Dialogue meeting in Islamabad today, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced $21 million in USAID-supported projects to boost Pakistan’s agricultural productivity and to open new market opportunities.

• Rural Development Dairy Project: The U.S. will support a public-private partnership designed to improve the status and ability of women to manage agricultural business. The program will focus on providing technical training for Pakistani women to manage dairy-related enterprises and do business both domestically and internationally. Although located in southern Punjab, the program is expected to have as many as 16,000 beneficiaries throughout the country.
  
• Mango Export Project: To promote the export by sea of Pakistan’s world famous mangos, the U.S. will support a three year infrastructure program in partnership with leading mango farms in southern Punjab and northern Sindh to jointly finance infrastructure such as hot water treatment facilities, sorting and grading machines, blast chiller, and cold storage facilities. On June 15, the U.S. began the process that will allow for trial shipments of Pakistani mangos to the U.S. later this year.