Introduction
The U.S.-Pakistan Partnership for Agricultural Market Development (AMD) is a USAID funded project which aims to improve the ability of Pakistan’s commercial agriculture and livestock sectors to compete in international and national markets in the four target product lines; meat, high value and off season vegetables, mangoes and citrus. AMD will act as a catalyst for development and investment in target product lines by actively promoting cooperation and coordination amongst the value chain actors and ancillary service providers. AMD’s implementation strategy is underpinned by a strictly commercial and market driven approach with a clear focus on strengthening market access for its partner organizations, and support international marketing and sales efforts. The objective of the AMD project is to encourage investments in the four target product lines through matching grants and technical assistance, and empower stakeholders by developing synergies among them to accomplish together what they cannot do alone. AMD will support upgrading, streamline supply chains, provide technical assistance to optimize profit margins, increase participation of women entrepreneurs, and ultimately help make Pakistani meat, high value and off season vegetables, mangoes and citrus become more profitable and competitive.
Sustainable growth of exports and greater profitability depend on the competitive positioning of the sector. To address the high cost of shipping mango via air freight and the subsequent interruption in the cool chain, AMD has developed an innovative hybrid sea/air concept that leverages a combination of sea and air freight services to reduce costs and preserve quality.