The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is launching an emergency project through its Technical Co-operation Programme (TCP) in Pakistan to help impoverished farmers increase agricultural production. According to a statement of United Nations Information Centre (Islamabad), the project is the part of FAO's global Initiative on Soaring Food Prices (ISFP), which aims at facilitating the supply response of small farmers and rural households in an environment of high product prices and input costs, through programmes, which will improve the access of farmers to key production inputs (water, seeds and fertilisers). FAO Assistant Representative Syed Mohammad Ali, while commenting on the food crisis in Pakistan said: "Soaring food prices have hit this country particularly poor hard. An increased demand for food, rising price of energy and input costs, along with, Pakistan being frequently struck by natural disasters in the past few years has severally undermined the local food production." Anticipating the widespread impact of soaring food prices, in December 2007, FAO launched ISFP to help vulnerable countries put in place urgent measures to boost food supplies. For the medium and long term, FAO is aiming at a more comprehensive assistance programme towards agricultural development by targeting investments to boost agricultural production and income generation, monitoring and response mechanisms including safety nets, and small farmer urgent assistance programmes. The FAO's initial response under the ISFP in Pakistan includes TCP project worth 500 000 dollars through the third quarter of 2009. FAO Emergency Co-ordinator Dr Faizul Bari said, "Under the approved TCP, FAO is focusing on Rabi planting activities 2008/2009 from October until December 2009 to bolster wheat production in deficient areas. In addition, FAO is providing fertilisers, which are petroleum-based and thus also out of reach of poor farmers as oil prices break new records every day. In total, FAO will be providing 250 metric tonnes of wheat seed, 250 metric tonnes each of urea and DAP to 60,000 people in the remote and food in-secure districts of Kohistan, Shangla and Batagram of NWFP." Sowing will begin in October 2008.