3/24/22, 2:33 AM Apple Value Chain

The Apples of Balochistan

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Apple is one of the major contributors to the agricultural

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economy of Balochistan province. Apple accounts for 52% of

the total fruits produced in the province and its traded value in
2018-19 was recorded to be about 29.4 billion PKR.

Apple production in Balochistan (2016-17)

Source: Directorate of Crops Reporting Services, Balochistan

Production Volume (tonnes)

5000 100000 or more

80
40
15

Percent share of Apple among all fruits

produced (in Tonnes)

There are about 18,000 people working as farmers within the

apple value chain in Balochistan. In addition, actors are
involved in production through picking, packaging, transport
and selling them to various markets across Pakistan and
within Balochistan. The PAFAID initiative aims to pilot
improved practices among value chain actors in the five major
apple producing districts including Quetta, Killah Saifullah,
Killah Abdullah, Pishin and Kalat. In the inception phase of the
project, populations of the various value chain actors,
including farmers, middlemen, wholesalers, retailers and cold
storage facilities were estimated with the support of
Balochistan Agriculture Department and a proportional
sample was drawn for a baseline survey. The following
visualization shows the geographical spread of the various
value chain actors reached in PAFAID’s initial survey.

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Anecdotal evidence suggests that women and youth are

actively involved in the apple value chain. However, they often
remain economically excluded or do not earn the same wage
as their male colleagues. The Global Wage Report 2018/2019
of the International Labour Organization (ILO) found that
women constitute 90% of the bottom 1% of wage earners in
Pakistan. The report also highlights the wage and gender
wage gap situation in Pakistan. According to the report,
Pakistan has the second highest overall average hourly
gender pay gap of the 73 countries for which comparable data
are available. In particular, the gender pay gap for Pakistan
was identified to be 34%, which is more than double of the
global average.

Different varieties of apples such as Tor Kulu (Red Delicious),

Shin Kulu (Golden Delicious), Kaja, Amri and Mashadi are
produced in 5 selected districts of Balochistan.

Choose an apple variety

Kaja

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Apple farmers are also threatened by climate change, the

biggest challenge of our time. According to a report by the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and
Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering
and Management Sciences (BUITEMS) (2015), many regions
of the province have been experiencing drought since 2013
due to lower precipitations rates (which is one fourth of the
usual rainfall i.e. 200-250 mm) and mass installation of tube
wells. Extensive pumping of groundwater and poor
groundwater governance has resulted in a steep decline in
water tables, particularly in the upland Balochistan where
majority of apple production is carried out. Climate change
also causes extreme weather events like floods across
Balochistan.

The degree of impact brought by drought to the districts of

Balochistan is presented below. The districts chosen for the
PAFAID project are also labelled.

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Farmers lose up to 40% of their production due to pre- and

post-harvest losses. Pre-harvest losses mainly occur during
production as a result of fruit dropping, pest and diseases
attack, drought like conditions, high temperature and
inappropriate variety selection. The extent of pre-harvest
losses reported by apple producers and pre-harvest
contractors was 5-10%, however, recent locust attacks can
cause even higher losses for the sector. Post-harvest losses
include losses during harvesting, fruit picking, handling,
packaging, transportation and processing. According to the
focus group discussion conducted as part of the PAFAID data
collection, the extent of post-harvest losses varied between
20-30% of total production.

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Various value chain actors, particularly farmers also lack the

required technologies and technical know-how on adequate
on-farm practices to maximize their own revenue and improve
their own livelihood. Lack of resources and training often
results in additional losses in the post-harvest phase. As it
was observed during the fieldwork for PAFAID surveys with
farmers, only a small fraction of the respondents, on average
5.1% of farmers, had received any training on the application
of improved production practices.

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At this stage, apples from Balochistan are mostly sold in

national markets with less than 1% apples being marketed
abroad. In the local markets, commission agents are playing
an important role to move products to larger Pakistani cities.
Data from PAFAID’s initial survey also shows the location of
the commission agents to whom the apples from the five
selected districts and other apple producing districts are sold.

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UNIDO works on the enhancement of the productive and

compliance capacities of relevant actors in the apple value
chain in Balochistan so as to contribute to poverty reduction
through economic growth. If you want to learn more about our
project and hear about upcoming events, please subscribe to
our monthly newsletter.

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