www.ismaili.net

Poverty rising in rural South Asia at an alarming rate

KARACHI: Poverty is rising in rural South Asia at an all-time high rate, with the rural areas of Pakistan making up approximately 80 percent of the country’s poor despite of efforts to control these rates through demographic shifts to urban areas, and accessibility to base commodities made easier.

Throughout the 70s and 80s, several rural development programs were initiated to balance out these numbers, but as the urban population increases, the contemporary issues faced by the rural communities of Pakistan take a back seat. Habib University’s Yohsin Centre for Social Development arranged a lecture about these social movements, community organizations, and development programs, as part of their Public Lecture Series held recently.

Having had more than 40 years of working experience in the fields of rural development and poverty mitigation, he said that there are two pillars, the administration, and political, that can cause shifts in a nation’s development. However, the administration, from the president to the patwari, and the political, spanning from the national assembly to the union council, are not mandated to resolve conflicts arising in the rural community. “Both these pillars have their own targets to meet, thus a third pillar must be fostered; that is, the socio economic pillar, where the people making up the community are the grassroots of a nation”, he passionately revealed.

“Rural development is talked about because contemporary society believes we’re moving towards a fully urban society,” said Shoaib Sultan, “but the demographic shift has taken away from the emphasis on rural development”. The portfolio of work generated by the speaker offered the participants a reminder that preoccupation with urban landscape and development shouldn’t shift the emphasis completely from rural economy and its effect on national and global developments. “The number of farmers committing suicide (due to sheer helplessness) has doubled since the last decade because of this”, he lamented.

Shoaib Sultan Khan has been with the Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP) since 1982, and with the organization, has redefined rural development in the region of South Asia. Through poverty alleviation and rural development models drawn up by him, regions as far off as Andhra Pradesh have now had 45 million people successfully settled. According to the speaker, a “process approach” was utilized in order to gain positive results in rural development, as opposed to U.N backed developmental programs that had a blueprint to their processes. His own model garnered such an outcome due to the relationships and understanding the needs of the people from a culturally significant perspective.

Major developmental concerns spanning urbanization, poverty, inequality, and human rights violations due to the “three giants” working against the poor, i.e, the landlord, the money lender, and the shopkeeper, must be given guidelines so that they’re properly organized and regulated, in order to build upon the historical forces that shaped civil society in the past. Connecting the lecture with the Social Development and Policy program as part of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences school at Habib University, the speaker recounted the theories utilized in forming dialogues wherein the development policy currently being worked upon was detailed.

The state of the region of South Asia was examined briefly, wherein it was revealed that 20% of the world’s population consumes 80% of global resources. He said, “Mobilization of the poor is absolutely critical, to enable them to participate directly in the decisions that affect their lives, we must plan ahead and give them the voice they deserve”.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/sindh/20-O ... rming-rate

Commemorating UN designated 11 December “International Mountain Day” in Gilgit-Baltistan

GILGIT: The United Nations General Assembly has declared 11 December as International Mountain Day to raise awareness on the importance of mountains to life.

This year WWF-Pakistan, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), GB Tourism Department, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance, Gilgit-Baltistan Association of Tour Operators (GBATO) and Serena Hotel Gilgit joined hands to celebrate the day by organising a seminar on Mountains: Promoting Mountain Products for better livelihoods.

Yasmeen Qalander, Manager Institutional Development, AKRSP emphasised on sustainable promotion of mountain products for the improvement of livelihoods and also highlighted the role of AKRSP in initiating various programmes in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral for the betterment of mountain communities.

Source:
■Daily Pakistan – Commemorating
■Daily Pakistan – Mountain Day Today
■United Nations Mountain Day Background

un-designated-11-december-international-mountain-day-in-gilgit-baltistan/

Must watch this unmatched presentation of Gilgit-Baltistan

Gilgit-Baltistan, our homeland, is the land of scenic valleys, lofty peaks, singing waterfalls, raging rivers, dangerous glaciers and beautiful, kind, people, who are custodians of rich cultural traditions. A befitting tribute to our region. Strong lyrics. Beautiful editing and amazing sites and sounds. Enjoy the documentary produced by the GB Tourism Department in collaboration with the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP).

https://www.facebook.com/thepamirpage/v ... 703347617/

http://www.thethirdpole.net/2016/03/10/ ... -pakistan/


The “smart villages” of northern Pakistan

Expansion of small hydropower and microgrids could tackle poverty in remote mountainous villages in the Hindu Kush Himalayas
Electricity from micro hydropower projects powers computers in Chitral [image by Sarhad Rural Support Programme]

Electricity from micro hydropower projects powers computers in Chitral [image by Sarhad Rural Support Programme]

Abdur Rehman Cheema , March 10, 2016

Life is tough in the remote villages of the Hindu Kush Himalayas of northern Pakistan, far from the reach of power grids and at the mercy of floods and extreme weather. But by harnessing the glacier fed rivers that tumble down the steep mountains, communities are transforming their lives and future prospects.

“Before the [energy from] hydropower [plants] when clothes needed washing we had to go to the river all day. Now it just takes two hours”, says Gulasim, a women from Bumboret in Chitral, one of the most picturesque Kalasha valleys of northern Pakistan.

Micro hydropower plants have made the use of washing machines possible [image by Sarhad Rural Support Programme]

Micro hydropower plants have made the use of washing machines possible [image by Sarhad Rural Support Programme]

Nawab Ali, from Chaketal village in the nearby Swat valley, says electricity has improved the life of children, who now have enough time to play and to help in the fields during the day because they can do school homework with electric lights at night.

Pakistan has four decades of experience building micro hydropower plants with the cooperation of local communities to bring electricity to these isolated regions. Since 2014, Pakistan’s Rural Support Programmes Network has worked with the “Smart Village Initiative” started by a team based at Cambridge and Oxford universities in the United Kingdom, to further expand energy.

Read also: Chitral pioneers community hydropower schemes

About 70 million people in Pakistan have no access to electricity – the majority of them in rural areas. There are about 3 million households where grid connectivity is not feasible, according to Alternative Energy Development Board of Pakistan. Small hydropower projects and microgrids that generate their own electricity can plug this gap. Yet Pakistan is only producing 128 out of a potential of 3,100 MW of electricity from small hydropower projects.

Read also: How clean energy could transform Pakistan

Farmer unloading dried persimmons from an electric dryer in Peochar, Swat [image by Sarhad Rural Support Programme]

Farmer unloading dried persimmons from an electric dryer in Peochar, Swat [image by Sarhad Rural Support Programme]
“Smart Villages”

The “Smart Village Initiative” covers six regions in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Central and South America and aims to provide energy access for remote off-grid villages, where local solutions are both more realistic and cheaper than national grid extension. It brings together scientists and engineers, entrepreneurs, villagers and civil society organisations, policy makers and regulators through country level workshops.

Just like a “smart city”, a “smart village” means providing access to affordable, reliable and clean energy for households and businesses. This energy access particularly benefits women who suffer from the drudgery of collecting fuel wood and the health consequences of breathing in cooking smoke from traditional biofuels, such as animal waste.

In Pakistan the growth of micro hydropower projects has been led by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme and the Sarhad Rural Support Programme, who have both received the prestigious Ashden international award for their work. They worked with rural support programmes and local village organisations to help communities build micro-hydropower projects across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit–Baltistan, Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir districts. Communities contribute time and labour (known as “sweat equity”) which creates a sense of ownership and helps sustain the projects. The projects typically generate between 5-100 KW of power.

Locals contribute the effort to build and maintain the power projects [image by Sarhad Rural Support Programme]

Locals contribute the effort to build and maintain the power projects [image by Sarhad Rural Support Programme]
By 2015, the Sarhad Rural Support Programme had constructed 166 micro-hydropower projects and brought power to around 275,000 people. Similarly, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme has supported 191 micro-hydro schemes producing 14.35 MW of power. The government and NGOs provide initial financial and technical support but the hydropower plants are maintained by the communities in the long run for the benefit of future generations. Over 90% of these micro-hydro systems are well maintained at affordable cost, according to follow up surveys, and these projects have transformed the education, health and lifestyle of communities.

Obstacles remain

There are a number of obstacles to expanding access to energy. First, the lack of government policy support hinders expansion in remote rural areas. Pakistan’s state regulator, the Alternative Energy Development Board, needs to establish a framework to support off-grid energy solutions. The 2013 National Power Policy does not provide details of how the government will do this. The second big obstacle is the lack of access to finance and capital – and failure to engage the private sector.

While hydropower has taken off, other technologies, particularly solar, have struggled. In this case the lack of cheap energy storage remains one of the main hurdles. In Balochistan, where solar power has brought electricity to remote rural communities, consistent supply can only be ensured by better storage. Further research and development is needed for manufacturing a low cost long life battery for energy storage. The federal government and research institutions must develop partnerships with international research groups engaged in such projects. For example, researchers at Cambridge University are designing more efficient lithium-oxygen batteries to replace the typical lithium-ion batteries. It is such breakthroughs that will transform the villages of the region, and allow their residents to fully access to the opportunities of modernity.

Dr. Abdur Rehman Cheema is a development studies academic and practitioner based in Islamabad. He is Team Leader Research at Rural Support Programmes Network, Islamabad.

Pakistan Innovation Summit for Education - PISE

From April 12-15, 2016 Pakistan Innovation summit for education-PISE joining hands with Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) to organize the first ever, technology Summit.

Karakorum Innovation Summit-KIS, is a 4 days immersive workshop, jointly organized by PISE and IDIN.

Karakoram Innovation Summit-KIS aims at conducting a hands-on experience workshop to engage youth in creating low-cost and practical innovations to improve the quality of life of local population. It will harness the power of Information and Communication Technology for social development. KIS being the first ever Techie Innovation Summit, will be a unique opportunity for the youth of this region, to demonstrate their skills and play a key role in finding ICT based solutions for the social issues being faced in Gilgit-Baltistan.

https://www.facebook.com/PISEorg/photos ... =3&theater

Hydropower helps households in off-the-grid areas of Pakistan | CSMonitor.com

Small-scale hydropower plants are proving a key way to provide power in remote regions of Pakistan, while at the same time helping protect the environment.

Hydropower helps households in off-the-grid areas of Pakistan - CSMonitor.com

By Saleem Shaikh, Thomson Reuters Foundation: AHMEDABAD, PAKISTAN — In her home in the remote Hunza valley, Gul Mehreen smiles as she places a tea kettle on the electric stove in her immaculate kitchen.

As she makes tea for guests, the farmer jokes about “how amazingly enjoyable” cooking has become since a small-scale hydropower generator was installed nearby. Her visitors nod and burst into happy laughter.

In this picturesque village, perched above the gushing turquoise waters of the Hunza river, and with a view of the 8,000-meter (26,000-foot) Rakaposhi mountain, in Pakistan’s Karakoram range, women once had to walk for miles to collect firewood each day.

[…] The village’s community-run micro hydropower station – built in 2008 by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme with backing from the United States Department of Agriculture and the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund – produces about 190 kilowatts of electricity an hour.

Source: CSMonitor.com

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1065388/mou ... ver-power/


The Express Tribune > Pakistan
Hunza hydropower plant makes lives easier, reduces deforestation
By Reuters
Published: March 14, 2016


AHMEDABAD, PAKISTAN:
In her home in the remote Hunza valley, Gul Mehreen smiles as she places a tea kettle on the electric stove in her immaculate kitchen.

As she makes tea for guests, the farmer jokes about “how amazingly enjoyable” cooking has become since a small-scale hydropower generator was installed nearby. Her visitors nod and burst into happy laughter.

In this picturesque village, perched above the gushing turquoise waters of the Hunza river, and with a view of the 8,000-metre Rakaposhi mountain, in Pakistan’s Karakoram range, women once had to walk for miles to collect firewood each day.

For the last eight years, however, hydropower has supplied the village’s energy needs, and life has gotten much easier, said Mehreen, who has an electric stove, electric oven and electric lights, fitted with energy-saving bulbs.

“With the availability of electricity we have been relieved of such burdensome work,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “The initiative holds great meaning in our lives.”

The village’s community-run micro hydropower station – built in 2008 by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme with backing from the United States Department of Agriculture and the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund – produces about 190 kilowatts of electricity an hour.

That’s enough to supply power to 144 homes in Ahmedabad and nearly 110 in the nearby villages of Sultanabad and Faizabad.

Such small-scale hydropower plants are proving a key way to provide power in remote, off-grid areas of power-short Pakistan, while at the same time helping protect the environment.

More trees, less risk

Besides making life easier for people in the villages, in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan province, hydropower has slowed deforestation – rampant in many mountain areas of Pakistan – and cut landslide risks as more trees are left standing to hold the soil, local people say.

The forgotten land

“Now no one chops down trees to harvest fuelwood,” said Ghulam Raza, an environmentalist who works in the area with a range of non-governmental organisations. As a result, natural forests in the mountains nearby “are coming back to life,” he said.

Social development activist Ghulam Sarwar, who works for the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, said hydropower has changed Ahmedabad from a village that “lived in darkness” to one where children can now study by electric light at night, and no longer miss school to help their families collect firewood.

“Now our children don’t skip school. They find enough time at home to study and finish their schoolwork even after sunset,” said Ali Gohar, a member of the community committee that maintains the hydropower plant.

Community leaders say if they can find the funding, they intend to expand the project and provide electricity to an additional 1,400 households in nearby Karimabad and Altit villages.

Shahana Khan, a development projects manager for the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, said small-scale hydropower is a natural for mountain villages with access to rivers, and is a good way of ensuring access to clean energy.

A key, she said, is that such facilities “are owned, run and maintained by the communities.”

Potential for more?

Pakistan could generate around 100,000 megawatts of hydroelectricity, through both large and small hydropower projects, according to a 2006 report by the Pakistan Alternative Energy Development Board.

Sixty per cent of that could come at spots identified in the river-rich, mountainous northwest of the country, it said.

A journey into the heart of the mountains

Jamil Uddin, who manages development projects in the Gilgit-Baltistan region for the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, said his organisation, in collaboration with Pakistan’s Alternative Energy Development Board and the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, plans to install more than 100 small-scale hydropower plants in the upper Indus Basin areas of Chitral district and Gilgit-Baltistan province in next few years.

Much of the funding, from international and national non-governmental organisations, is already in place, he said.

Uddin said the plants will cut deforestation, reduce Pakistan’s carbon footprint and provide off-grid mountain communities with affordable, clean and reliable electricity.

Ahmedabad’s women, including Nasreen Gul, a 27-year-old vegetable farmer, say the benefits are clear.

“When we burned wood for fuel, the smoke from the stove would spread throughout our home and we would cough and feel pain in our eyes,” she said.

“Now cooking food and doing other chores in the kitchen has become considerably easier and stress-free. We use an electric stove as electricity is much cheaper and readily available,” said Gul – who now has an electric iron and an electric washing machine as well.

In conversation with Apoorva Oza, CEO, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, India


“The ground reality is largely getting professionals to work in rural areas. Therefore, a mixed staffing process has been implemented of a few professionals and training the locals in groups”

…says Apoorva Oza, CEO, Aga Khan Rural Support Programme. Rural economies grow if the agriculture grows along with job creation. But it needs investment and not subsidies. He believes that corporate houses need to a find tools to measure the process part of development.

VIDEO at:

https://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2016/ ... mme-india/

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Dawn | BISP can never alleviate poverty: expert

Shoaib Sultan Khan says poor people have potential to bring a change in their lives by working in groups


Poor people cannot do anything individually because of so many hurdles in their lives but they have the potential to change their lives.

They should make organisations or groups to address their issues and such an organisation should be run by one of them.

Mr Khan is one of the pioneers of rural development programmes in Pakistan. He worked as a civil servant for 25 years and then served in the Geneva-based Aga Khan Foundation for 12 years and Unicef and UNDP for 14 years.

Since his retirement, he has been involved in the RSPs on a voluntary basis.

Mr Khan said in 1992 Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited Gilgit-Baltistan and was impressed by the social activities being carried out by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP). The prime minister told Mr Khan that the programme should be started at the national level.

“Later, I was called for a briefing during which Mr Sharif said he would provide Rs10 billion to start the programme in 102 districts. I said once the director of the programme is nominated, he cannot be dismissed and the government can ask me about the programme but cannot tell me how I should work,” he said.

“The prime minister laughed and said it was strange that the government would provide funds but cannot interfere in its utilisation. However, he approved the project and the then finance minister, Sartaj Aziz, released the first installment of Rs500 within seven days. “I was informed that Rs500 million would be released after every six months,” he said.

Mr Khan said an endowment fund was established with the first installment but after four months the then president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, dismissed the government of Mr Sharif and his successor, Benazir Bhutto, announced that the amount had been allocated illegally.

In reply to a question, Mr Khan said in 2005 PTI chairman Imran Khan engaged him to work for the betterment of the people of Mianwali and a number of steps were taken.

Chairman of the forum, Fazlur Rehman, said the aim of the forum was to invite legends who served the country and made a difference, and give an opportunity to the youth to interact with them.

Interestingly, Mr Khan reached the venue of the event a few minutes before the organisers for which the organisers had to apologise to him.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2016

http://www.dawn.com/news/1261784

NEW WEBSITE

Aga Khan Rural Support Programme Pakistan

http://66.116.172.35/akrsp/

Documentary - Rural Community Empowerment in Indo-Pak by AKRSP

VIDEO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LESawHwescY

Published on Feb 24, 2017


The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) has extended its community development services to India. It has successfully implemented the Rural Development Models in Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan) and now started in India. By working in rural areas of India it has reshaped the lives of deprived and marginalized rural communities through their socio-economic development.


Category
Film & Animation


License
Standard YouTube License

http://pamirtimes.net/2017/03/22/akfed- ... er-sector/

The Aga Khan community company IPS, to invest in power project in Hunza and has allocated $30 million ....

Islamabad: Industrial Promotion Service’s (IPS) Regional Chief for Asia, Matthew Scanlon called on Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman, today.

Chief Minister Hafeez has said that the chief of IPS, which is a subsidiary of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, has expressed interest in the energy and power distribution sector in Gilgit-Baltistan. Laying transmission lines and improving the distribution mechanism will lead to reduction of power loss, said Hafeez in a press release.

Secretary for Water and Power, Zafar Waqar Taj was also present during the meeting. He informed the IPS chief about the power sector related issues in the region, identifying areas for potential investment.


IPS has reportedly agreed to create a power grid in Hunza District, and also allocated thirty million dollars for the project.


It is pertinent to note that IPS has invested in power sector in Central Asian countries, and also in Africa, with successful results.

Women Empowerment: G-B govt, AKRSP sign agreement

GILGIT:

The Gilgit-Baltistan government and Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) have signed an agreement for the economic empowerment of women. Rs36 million from the G-B government and Rs30 million from AKRSP will be collected to provide technical skills like embroidery, handcrafting, to women to take full advantage of their potential. G-B Chief Minister Hafeezur Rehman told that a third party audit system, introduced for transparency and success of the project will submit a report to the government in this regard. Public-private partnerships and entrepreneurship are being encouraged to curb unemployment and generate jobs for the youth, he said. The government is focused on the development of agriculture and dairy sector to get self-sufficiency in food.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1358428/wo ... agreement/

Speakers emphasize scaling up mountain-specific innovative and climate smart solutions

ISLAMABAD: ‘Drastic climate impacts and other demographic changes in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region call for building resilience of mountain communities and equipping them with smart technology and innovative solutions’.

This was stated by speakers during a two-day international conference titled ‘Mountain Specific Innovative solutions for potential scaling-up in Pakistan’ jointly organized by WWF-Pakistan, Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP), International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and Pakistan Agriculture and Research Council (PARC) in Islamabad.

Speakers informed that over the past few decades, climate change has had drastic impacts on the HKH region, which is transforming as a result and risks related to natural hazards are becoming aggravated. The conference intended to highlight the growing impacts of climate change, threatening the safety, survival and resilience of mountain communities that call for an immediate and broader spectrum of climate change adaptation strategies and actions to be included in regional disaster risk reduction policies.

More...
http://outpost.pk/national/1002-speaker ... tions.html

AKRSP commemorates 35 years of community service

ISLAMABAD: The Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP) commemorated 35 years of empowering communities since 35 years through the Odyssey of Synergies, a development expo and panel discussion at the Serena Hotel.

The expo included a photography exhibition highlighting the achievements AKRSP within each of the major components of work, including social organisations, natural resource management, community infrastructure development, credit and savings, enterprise promotion and women’s development.

More than twenty-five stalls showcased the produce and products of the northern valleys, where AKRSP has been harnessing community potential for 35 years. Community members brought herbal products, organic honey and unusual herbs, mushrooms and dried fruits to sell to an enthusiastic audience in Islamabad.

Purveyors of gemstones and jewellery, woodcraft, rugs and carpets, sweaters, handicrafts and accessories travelled to Islamabad with the support of AKRSP.

AKRSP Chairman Aziz Boolani welcomed the guests to the panel discussion and said, “AKRSP supports the institutional and economic development of local communities as well as strengthening the collaboration and linkages between local communities and government departments, elected bodies and other development and environmental agencies.” He added that AKRSP has been supporting micro-level development in the mountainous rural areas of Pakistan, using participatory approaches.

“AKRSP currently focuses on fostering inclusive and competent local institutions that contribute effectively and sustainably to local development and increasing income and employment opportunities for local communities, particularly poor and vulnerable, including youth and women,” he said.

The keynote speaker for the evening, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Sartaj Aziz, said, “I congratulate the AKRSP on having created a model of community and rural development that has been replicated in various other places. I have been familiar with AKRSP since 1983 when I visited the program with Shoaib Sultan while visiting Pakistan.” He added, “I subsequently returned to help create NRSP. The journey to the next 5, 10 years will be much faster than the past 35 years. I wish you much greater success in the future.”

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/0 ... y-service/

AKRSP Odyssey of Synergies

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIu_VYGVw9w

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Akrsp Gilgit-Baltistan Chitral featured his album: Treasures of Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral: Development Expo.

https://www.facebook.com/akrsp.gilgitba ... 5989893956

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Aga Khan Rural support program: An unending tale of service

‘Odyssey of Synergies’ showcases AKRSP’ 35-year long achievements

Zubair Qureshi

Islamabad

The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) commemorated 35 years of empowering communities through the Odyssey of Synergies, a development expo and panel discussion at Serena Hotel here on Thursday.
The expo included a photography exhibition highlighting the achievements AKRSP within each of the major components of work, including social organizations, natural resource management, community infrastructure development, credit and savings, enterprise promotion and women’s development.

More than 25 stalls showcased the produce and products of the northern valleys, where AKRSP has been harnessing community potential for 35 years. Community members brought herbal products, organic honey and unusual herbs, mushrooms and dried fruits to sell to an enthusiastic audience in Islamabad. Purveyors of gemstones and jewelry, woodcraft, rugs and carpets, sweaters, handicrafts and accessories travelled to Islamabad with the support of AKRSP.

Aziz Boolani, Chairman AKRSP, welcomed the guests to the panel discussion, sharing the ethos and successes of AKRSP, “AKRSP supports the institutional and economic development of local communities as well as strengthening the collaboration and linkages between local communities and government departments, elected bodies and other development and environmental agencies. AKRSP has been supporting micro-level development in the mountainous rural areas of Pakistan, using participatory approaches.
AKRSP currently focuses on fostering inclusive and competent local institutions that contribute effectively and sustainably to local development and increasing income and employment opportunities for local communities, particularly poor and vulnerable (including youth and women)”.

He said, “The development model adopted by AKRSP has been widely replicated both within AKDN and outside it. A network of Rural Support Programmes now exists all over the country with the mandate to design and implement strategies for alleviation of rural poverty. In South Asia and other parts of the world, programmes based on this model have been set up to promote grassroots development through involvement of local communities. We are very grateful to the organizations that have supported AKRSP over the past 35 years”.

The keynote speaker of the event, Sartaj Aziz, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, said, “I congratulate the AKRSP on having created a model of community and rural development that has been replicated in various other places.”

https://pakobserver.net/aga-khan-rural- ... e-service/

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https://pakobserver.net/aga-khan-rural- ... e-service/

ISLAMABAD: The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) celebrated 35 years of interventions to enhance the capacity of local communities in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral with a panel discussion and an expo at Serena Hotel on Thursday. The day-long expo included crafts and produce from the northern areas.

AKRSP was established in 1982 by the Aga Khan Foundation with a mandate to improve the quality of life for local communities through social and economic development efforts, AKRSP Chairman Aziz Boolani told participants of the event.

“We have three principles which are organizing communities, generating capital and enhancing human resource. The aim is to improve the quality of life of the underserved,” he said, adding that though a lot of improvements have come about in the target regions, a lot more needs to be done.

“Change cannot be brought about by a single organization and we are grateful to our donors. The AKRSP model of working with communities has been replicated across the region. As of today, we work in 10 districts of GB and Chitral. When are looking into how to mitigate unemployment, achieve gender empowerment and address the changes posed by opportunities like the China Pakistan Economic Corridor,” he said.

More...
https://www.dawn.com/news/1386755

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Aga Khan initiative harvests water in parched villages

AHMEDABAD: In Surendranagar district, there are at least 60,000-odd odd families which may not bear the brunt of the acute water crisis. This is because of the roof rainwater harvesting systems installed in the villages by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP). Villagers have enough water to take care of their drinking water needs.

Shah Karim Al Hussaini, the Aga Khan, the 49th hereditary Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims worldwide is on a four-day visit to Gujarat till Sunday. The CEO of AKRSP-India, Apoorva Oza, said that the institute has attempted to fulfil the Aga Khan’s vision of serving the poor in India and implement sustainable development models.

“At a time when Gujarat is staring at a major water crisis due to diminished Narmada water, the AKRSP has done sizeable work in drip irrigation, lift irrigation, and roof rainwater harvesting in districts such as Surendranagar and Junagadh,” Oza said. AKRSP works mainly in Junagadh, Surendranagar, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Gir Somnath, Narmada and Dang districts.

More...
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cit ... 061211.cms

Reflections on the Diamond Jubilee

Jubilees have traditionally been occasions for Mawlana Hazar Imam to launch new projects and programmes, such as the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in India, which was launched during his Silver Jubilee. As we approach the end of Hazar Imam’s Diamond Jubilee visit to India, we asked Aga Khan Rural Support Programme India Chief Executive Officer Apoorva Oza to share with us his reflections on the Programme.

Full interview

https://the.ismaili/our-stories/reflect ... nd-jubilee

Shoaib Sultan Khan The Man Who Fought Poverty for India and Pakistan

The South Asian region is the most populated region in the world and is the home of over 1.7 billion people. According to the World Bank, 309 million of them are ‘extremely poor’! The South Asian region houses over 34% of ‘extremely poor’ people in the entire world and is marginally doing better than the Sub-Saharan Africa. While there is a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), effective cooperation between its constituents remains a distant dream. In fact, the region threatens to push the world into a nuclear war every now and then, thanks to a long history of conflict between two of its largest nations, India and Pakistan.

Considering this, the leadership provided by Shoaib Sultan Khan in bringing the solution to rural poverty from Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) to Pakistan, perfecting it in Pakistan, and later helping India scale it to up to great heights, is nothing short of extraordinary. He took me through his journey, and while he constantly credited other individuals and co-incidences for his achievements, I could see a pattern of him building institutions and creating leaders.

Profile

Shoaib Sultan Khan was born in pre-partition India in 1933 and joined Civil Services of Pakistan (CSP) in 1955. He resigned from CSP in 1978 and dedicated himself to rural development. Through his work with Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), he provided the world with a holistic rural development program. He started Pakistan’s largest rural development program, National Rural Support Program (NRSP). India’s National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), a rural poverty alleviation program with a massive budget of $5.1 billion and benefits 350 million people is inspired by the work he did in Andhra Pradesh. Through the leaders he created and institutions he built, he went on to support over 150 million individuals and 30-40 thousand households escape poverty in India and Pakistan. He was awarded with the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1992 and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.

More...
http://theleadershipreview.org/features ... -pakistan/

Heritage Museum set up to showcase Chitrali relics

CHITRAL: A Heritage Museum was established in Laspur to take care and showcase the artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural and historical importance of Chitral.

The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme with the financial support of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation has established the Museum under its WES project.

Artifacts and objects, including ancient agricultural tools, weapons used in wars in the past, domestic tools and traditional Chitrali poshak were placed at the museum for the visitors to come and have a glimpse of these unique jewels of Chitrali tradition. All the artifacts and objects displayed at the Museum are collected by Amirullah Khan Yaftali.

The museum is fully decorated and it is expected that the tourists and history loving people would visit it in a large number to watch these relics from the ancient times. The museum would be opened to public in the coming days.

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https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/318339 ... ali-relics

Chasing the sun in Samastipur

How solar irrigation in Bihar has helped double yield

At a time when farmers across the country are in distress, solar power-irrigated agricultural fields at Chakhaji village in Pusa block, Samastipur, Bihar, are lush green. Standing resplendently are bumper crops of peas, tomatoes, a variety of vegetables and tobacco.

Since the solar power irrigation project was launched towards the end of 2016, dividends have been good. There is no more dependency on the polluting diesel pump sets or the vagaries of State electricity to pump water into the fields. Solar panels herald improved irrigation, carbon-free air and increased earnings for farmers.

Successful model

Two experienced organisations in the development sector, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) and the International Water Management Institute/Tata Power, joined hands and worked out a successful business model over five years, since 2011. Now five entrepreneurs are providing water for irrigating 180 acres of land at a charge.

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https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/sp ... 005940.ece

Drinking water scheme Bihar

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVBKlg_8a0Y

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Mobile Voice message system

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... E48kX8MLaE

Scrambling up the entrepreneurial ladder in Khandwa

Gurpreet Bhatia, AKRSP’s cluster manager at Pandhana, has found that incomes of people maintaining poultry increases by Rs 10,000 every two months.

Mohan Bare, 36, a Bhil adivasi from Ardale village, Pandhana block of Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh, is setting new goals for landless tribals who wish to soar and seek recognition as entrepreneurs. It is the humble goat, training in goat rearing, hand holding by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme- India (AKRSP-I) and personal endeavor that has enabled Bare to become the most successful goat breeder in the 28 villages of Pandhana block.

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http://www.asianage.com/india/all-india ... andwa.html

Celebrating International Day of Rural Women

In the eastern Indian state of Bihar, the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme is implementing a rural livestock development programme for women entitled Project Mesha. Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the programme builds the knowledge and skills of women as pashu sakhis or “friends of the animals”. The women, who function as goat nurses within their communities, are trained to provide basic, low-cost preventive health services for livestock. These services are not only intended to improve the health and productivity of goats but also designed to increase the financial independence of women in general. Pashu sakhis themselves have significantly increased their earnings.

https://www.akdn.org/gallery/celebratin ... ural-women

Fueling Prosperity in Northern Pakistan

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF2paonzsYk

An in-depth look at the Aga Khan Rural Support Program's Micro-Hydel Projects in Pakistan.

Improving Farmer Livelihoods, One Drip at a Time

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Sounds straightforward. The problem is that smallholder farmers usually do not have the resources to pay the remaining amount for drip and they cannot obtain formal credits because they often lack documentation and collateral. Without formal credit institutions to service them, farmers are left with no choice but to borrow money at exorbitantly high rates from informal moneylenders. So, despite the GGRC subsidy, drip irrigation remains a luxury that only medium and large-scale farmers can afford.

To bridge this gap, C&A Foundation in partnership with Aga Khan Foundation and Aga Khan Rural Support Programme India, established a community funding mechanism to provide interest free loans to smallholder cotton farmers in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. With their loans, farmers have been able to pay the remaining amount, avail the GGRC subsidy, and install drip irrigation on their cotton farms. As farmers repay their loan, within a period of two years, the amount goes back into a “revolving fund”, which is managed by the community farmers groups and is used to give further loans to other farmers.

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https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/improvin ... ublished=t

Baltistan Farmers Increase Production And Profits

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I have personally witnessed the successes of the Satpara Development Project and the way these interventions are transforming the agriculture and livestock sectors in the region.” Farzana Bibi, a farmer who benefitted from this project and attended the event also stated, “It's a great honor to own a greenhouse and become an entrepreneur. Today I am able to sell my fruits for four times more than what I was earning before. Thanks to USAID!" Commenting on the strong partnership between USAID, the Aga Khan Foundation, the Government of Gilgit-Baltistan, and the local farmers, USAID Acting Deputy Mission Director Jeff Goebel noted, “Because of your efforts, thousands of farmers in Gilgit Baltistan now have economic opportunities they may not have even dreamed of just a few years ago.” The Satpara Development Project, funded by USAID and implemented by the Aga Khan Foundation and the Aga Khan Rural Support Program, is a continuation of the U.S. support that helped build both the Satpara dam and its power generation stations.

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https://www.urdupoint.com/en/agricultur ... 89560.html

Smokeless Chulha

Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCo4US1YviA

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Drinking water through solar energy

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJzqj1c3BuA

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Solar Irrigation for livelihoods dangs

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkM9LCGTGps

Participatory Irrigation Management

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBjVKukLg18

Supporting farmers to move to become more organic

In April 2015 the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) started an organic cotton project in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh with the support of the C&A Foundation.

Nimar, in the south west of the state, is a dry and hilly traditional cotton-growing area with a significant tribal population. The project aims to improve the livelihoods and incomes of 7,000 tribal farmers living there through the promotion of organic cotton cultivation.

Photos at:

https://www.akdn.org/gallery/supporting ... rce=Direct

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Water for Livelihoods - Stories of Pipalpada village of The Dangs, Gujarat

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCsTPIcNfjM

https://www.dawn.com/news/1467113


RSPs under threat
Humayun Khan
March 02, 2019


I BELONG to a rapidly diminishing generation whose adult years are co-terminous with the existence of Pakistan. We have seen all the ups and downs the country has gone through in its 70-year history and, as we fade away, we have to admit that the graph has generally proceeded southward. We bequeath to our progeny a land riddled with all possible evils; corruption, nepotism, militarism, economic disaster, extremism and injustice. Our children have nothing, really, to thank us for. Now, they and we have high hopes that the new dispensation will bring us back to the straight path, though we must remember that such hopes have always been dashed in the past.

In the quest for a better Pakistan, the new leadership is targeting the most condemnable evils that beset the country and we must pray that the cleansing process will be carried through to its end.

This continuous deterioration has been largely caused by rapacious leaders who have set the worst possible precedents. But there has also been a tendency to do away with good practices which could improve the lot of the common man. We elders remember the example we set for developing countries in the 1960s. We recall that PIA was a model airline which helped set up the giants in the field today. Our progress in science received worldwide recognition with the award of the Nobel Prize to Dr Abdus Salam. Have we done anything to sustain such achievements? On the contrary, our reaction to Dr Salam’s success showed where our priorities lay.

Rural support programmes have benefited about 50 million people across the country.

One of the most shining examples of our success is in the field of rural development. Pioneered in urban Karachi by the late Akhtar Hameed Khan, its development philosophy brought a new approach to grass-roots development that put the community at the heart of the process. It was promoted in Pakistan by a civil servant who was a disciple of the pioneer. Shoaib Sultan Khan began with a small project at Daudzai but showed his true mettle when leading the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in Gilgit, Baltistan and Chitral. Within a few years he had transformed the economic and social condition of the people who were amongst the poorest in the world.
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Perceptive donors were so impressed that financial support began to flow in from multiple sources. Even one of our former prime ministers, on seeing the results for himself, sanctioned a healthy endowment to replicate the process at the national level and today we see 10 RSPs (rural support programmes) covering the whole country, rendering services like electricity in Chitral and women’s empowerment in Sindh.

Shoaib Sultan won the Magsaysay Award and Sitara-i-Imtiaz was conferred upon him by the president of Pakistan, and has also been invited to address the UN General Assembly. UNDP even hired him to introduce the programme in Andhra Pradesh, India. The roaring success he achieved led to the Indian government making a provision of $5 billion in its five-year plan for the National Rural Livelihoods Mission, a countrywide programme of rural development.

What is it that has led to the fame of this approach to the reduction of poverty? As noted, the main quality is that it puts the community at the very centre. Through the process of social mobilisation, it enables the community to get organised, set up village councils in which the poor are fully represented and to identify their needs. The approach includes collaboration between RSPs and government departments, to implement schemes in which the community shares the costs by providing land, labour and all maintenance. Through this participatory approach, the community acquires a proprietary interest in the project and ensures its sustainability. Because of the direct partnership with government, the need for middlemen and contractors is avoided and minor schemes can be carried out at a fraction of the cost of similar government projects.

In a country where so many people live in villages this form of development is the most important and the most effective in that it directly addresses the needs of the poor, while giving them a sense of dignity at being the central actors in the process. The RSPs have benefited about 50 million people across the country, with the largest women’s participation of any programme in Pakistan.

By and large, all governments have encouraged this method of rural development, but they have never appreciated its full value. Today, the whole idea faces a great danger as various official agencies seem to be giving more importance to factors like security and foreign infiltration, than to the need to eradicate poverty and to promote real development. It must come as a great shock to all citizens that model organisations, on whose boards very senior officials sit, are being refused official registration and asked to explain outlays on projects and the source of donations over the years. This, obviously, at the behest of authorities whose main focus is on issues other than the welfare of the common man. It has a very adverse effect on donors and on civil society’s desire to participate in the country’s war on poverty.

Prime Minster Imran Khan is known to be an admirer of the work of the RSPs. He must not let agencies, which know little of grass-roots development, deprive his government of this chance of serving the needs of the poor. He does not have the resources to undertake massive projects. By focusing on grass-roots development, he can win the hearts of our impoverished millions at a reasonable cost. At least he should make it obligatory for everyone involved in the regulatory process to actually visit some RSP projects before making up their minds.

The writer is a former foreign secretary and chairman, Institute of Rural Management

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2019