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Conflict between the Taliban and Pakistani military forces in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), including the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, has led to a mass movement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to host communities and camps in safer surrounding districts. The overall socio-economic indicators in the IDP camps are dismal, largely due to inadequate health facilities, insufficient education opportunities and poor hygiene and sanitation amenities, compounded with a host of protection issues.
This EMMA pilot was conducted to investigate the effect of the IDP crisis on the firewood and tomato market systems in Jalozai Camp, 30 km outside of Peshawar. This report presents the results of the tomato market system study only. The tomato market was selected because it is an important income market for farmers in the area. The study compared how the market system was functioning in the Peshawar-Pabbi area prior to the arrival of the IDPs with how it functioned following the influx.
In normal times, farmers of varying scales produce tomatoes and other vegetables in addition to other, cash crops like wheat and maize, often through sharecropping arrangements. Regional traders act as middlemen between farmers and wholesalers and food processors in Peshawar. Retailers in Peshawar-Pabbi purchase from wholesalers, and households get their tomatoes from retailers. Private transport and government technical support are the most important services that contribute to the market system's function.
The IDP crisis has had very little impact on the overall tomato market system in the region. Very large quantities of tomatoes are produced and transported through Peshawar, and the production and consumption of the households in Jalozai camp are negligible. However, IDP households' expenditure on tomatoes has increased, since they no longer have access to land on which to produce vegetables for their own consumption, and because vegetable retailers in the camp have excessive market power and are charging much higher prices than retailers outside the camp. The market system is highly seasonal, with prices fluctuating according to changes in demand and supply, and producers are not always linked with producers or food processors, meaning that sometimes they overproduce, and some tomatoes rot in the field or are sold at a loss.
This report presents two main programming recommendations, support for kitchen gardening within the camp, and supporting extremely vulnerable individuals to start small businesses within the camp via small grants and business development training.