From limitative component to resource for a socio-economic sustainable development

 

Fondazione Cariplo (Announcement to create International Partnerships)

3 years, from October 1 2010 to September 30 2013

Basha Valley, Central Karakorum National Park, Gilgit-Baltistan Region, Pakistan

Karakorum International University, Gilgit, Gilgit-Baltistan Region, Pakistan

Data related to Pakistan presented by FAO for the period 2004-2006, show as on 138 million people leaving in the country, more than 36 million are living under the minimum standard nutrition threshold, with a general trend increasing quickly. This situation appears more critical for the populations living in the mountains areas of Central Karakorum National Park buffer zone and in general in the Gilgit-Baltistan region. Their subsistence is principally based on agriculture and breeding, activities strongly conditioned from the extreme environmental conditions of the remote areas of this region. In these situations the politic of humanitarian helps often revealed to be valid only for brief periods, but surely not able to activate processes which allows durable and consolidated improvements. The shared approach is to develop activities and synergies by transferring knowledge and know how to local communities and by directly involving populations in the different programme phases.

Implementation of a support service able to sustain the agricultural development of the Gilgit-Baltistan Region. An important economic activity will be induced by this support service. In this way the local disadvantaged communities will benefit both from this generated economic activity and from the valorisation together with the organised management of water resources. The project is divided in accordance with the following directions:

• local community involvement and analysis of their primary needs;
• assessments of agricultural areas and of their potentialities, in order to assess availability of clean water for irrigation purposes through the mapping of existing water resources;
• implementation of a laboratory dedicated to water analyses and monitoring, with the aim of obtaining water resources suitable for not-contaminated agricultural products, for the subsequent working and marketing phases, and finally for human concumption;
• implementation of a water system able to augment both the cultivation yields and the drinking water availability;
• increase in agricultural production through the transfer of technologies and competencies;
• realization of a centre dedicated to the manifacturing of exceeding agricultural products together with the development of a network for their commercialization;
• creation of an induced economic activity and improvement of socio-sanitary conditions.

The project main objective is to improve water resources in the Gilgit-Baltistan Region in Pakistan. This will be achieved by transforming water resources from a limitative factor into a primary and essential resource for a sustainable socio-economic development, which instead is primarily related to agriculture in these areas.

Improvement of socio-economic conditions in the area through sustainable agricultural development, generated by the valorisation of water resource.

1. Satisfaction of primary needs of local communities, finalized to improve sanitary conditions, reduction of malnutrition and increase of economic conditions.
2. Sustainable activities, directed to territory and biodiversity conservation of CKNP buffer zone.
3. Transfer of technical knowledge and technology.
4. Direct involvement of local populations, guaranteeing thus the prosecution of project activities also after project end.
5. Project repeatability.
6. Dissemination of contents.
7. Train Italian University Student to Global Awareness Education.

The realization of this pilot project foresees several activities, described below, which have as basic thematic the rational use of water resources. Each activity will be developed through the involvement of local communities and populations.

• Action 1: Informative campaigns and involvement of local communities.
• Action 2: Analysis of availabilities of drinking and irrigation water and assessment of local needs.
• Action 3: Realization of a water analysis laboratory and training of local technical staff.
• Action 4: Water quality monitoring programme.
• Action 5: Establishment and Implementation of water system.
• Action 6: Increase of agricultural productivity.
• Action 7: Market analysis, production and commercialization of agricultural products.
• Action 8: Dissemination of project results.
• Action 9: Global Awareness Education.