By Qudsia Bano ISLAMABAD, April 28 (INP-WealthPK): The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Louis Dreyfus Company BV (LDC) have inked a $100 million financing agreement to assist smallholder farmers in recovering from the economic hardships brought on by the Covid-19 and improving their resilience to climate change impacts, reports WealthPK. Since Covid-19 posed a major economic threat to developing and underdeveloped countries, the ADB aims to support small farmers in these countries. LDC's activities in Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, and a few other developing countries will be aided by loan, which will fund coffee, cotton, and rice inventories for nearly 50,000 smallholder farmers. This will help secure food supply chains and stabilize incomes for smallholder farmers, as well as mitigate the impact of pandemic-related supply chain disruptions. "Smallholder farmers, who are already vulnerable to climate change, are facing greater challenges as a result of the pandemic, resulting in income loss, crop and food waste, and supply chain disruptions," said Ashok Lavasa, ADB Vice-President for Private Sector Operations and Public-Private Partnerships. "The ADB's assistance will help to ensure reliable offtake to farmers, allowing them to invest in climate-resilient farming practices while preserving their livelihoods and assets,” said Ashok. “This project directly assists smallholder farmers to manage their limited resources more efficiently and maximize the benefits of irrigated agriculture by integrating infrastructural and agricultural interventions,” he said. "The project will improve local governments' ability to maintain these irrigation systems, enhance rural economic growth, and aid in reduction of poverty in rural areas,” he added. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the Covid-19 outbreak slowed several channels of Pakistan's economy. As a result, the provisional GDP growth for 2019–2020 has been recalculated at –0.4%, with agriculture as the sole sector exhibiting positive growth at 2.7 percent. The Punjab government predicted near-term economic damages to the provincial GDP of between $3 billion and $5 billion due to the pandemic. In the worst-case scenario, the government estimated that Pakistan may lose $20 billion due to a few months of lockdown. Small and medium-sized businesses were impacted, particularly in the manufacturing cities of Sialkot and Lahore. Punjab suffered restricted export demand for its primary sectors, with job losses likely to hit approximately $2.2 billion. However, the ADB initiative will help the farmers grow and make resources available to them, which will benefit themselves and the country as well.