People of five dzongkhags can look forward to improving and increasing their agricultural productivity in the next five years as part of the Food Security and Productivity Project. The Agriculture Ministry will implement the project from end of November this year.
Worth US$ 9.5m, the project will focus on five major commodities of rice, maize, vegetables, cardamom and citrus production in Chhukha, Dagana Haa, Samtse and Sarpang. Under the project four major irrigation channels will also be constructed. The five dzongkhags were identified based on the prevalence of poverty and malnutrition, and also considering the potential for commercialisation of the crops.
“Food insecurity in those 24 gewogs are is concerning. We really do not have that level of hunger, as we can observe in some parts of the world. But it is still a issue in the remote areas because of the remoteness, inaccessibility to quality food,” said Jigme Dorji, the Project Director with the Agriculture Ministry.
Alongside improving agricultural productivity, the project will help reduce Bhutan’s food imports. It will also combat malnutrition in children by improving home grown school feeding programmes for 3,000 students in 16 gewogs. Women’s role in development will also be strengthened as 30 per cent of the project’s beneficiaries are women.
“This project will ensure equal participation in the project activities, representation in the farmers group and pro-active environment and decision making by the women,” said the Agriculture and Forests Minister Yeshey Dorji.
The Agriculture Ministry developed the Food Security and Productivity Project in partnership with the World Bank and the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.
