The scenic valley of Chitral is well-known for its high quality varieties of apricot, apple, grape, walnut and pear.
Back in 2015 when flash floods hit the area, approximately 76,000 fruit trees were lost in addition to severe damage to infrastructure, public and private properties, agriculture land, standing crops and livestock.
However the resilient communities bounced back and restored their agricultural activities mostly relying on traditional agriculture practices. According to estimates, more than 60 % of the apricot in district Chitral is wasted post-harvest. Realizing the need to employ better techniques to reap maximum benefit from their produce, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Agricultural Research Station Chitral began working with communities and introduced them to concepts of enterprise development, value addition and marketing.
Training for the trainers was recently conducted for 16 women members of Farmer Enterprise Groups from Charun, Mulkhow and Kosht Union councils. Sessions spread over 5 days, built their capacity for using modern techniques in picking, processing, packing and preservation of good quality apricot.
Appreciating the young women associated with production of apricot and its value added products, Minà Dowlatchahi, FAO Representative in Pakistan said, “Adding value to agricultural production in rural areas offers a tremendous potential to boost incomes and employment for women. At the same time, it will contribute to reducing poverty and will improve nutrition in the households. FAO believes in providing equal access to women and men to food security and healthy diets, for all.’
Participants found the training useful and said they looked forward to return to their villages and impart the skills they learnt at the training to other women associated with the delicious local varieties of apricots.
In collaboration with UNICEF, IOM, HANDS and ACTED as consortium partners of the Multi-Year Humanitarian Programme Pillar I and Agha Khan Rural Support Programme as implementing partner, FAO is working to improve food security and restore agriculture based livelihoods of 6,000 vulnerable households in Chitral.