The Role of Post Crisis Donors’ Funded Projects in Sustainable Rehabilitation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Marble Processing Sector

Abstract

With the ever increasing donor funded programs throughout the world, the issue of effectiveness is also gaining attention. Various studies have been conducted by different writers but most of them only cover the social, political, or economic impacts alone. This specific paper attempts to study the impact of post crises donor funded projects on sustainable rehabilitation of Small and Medium Enterprises. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP)/Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) region of Pakistan was adversely affected by terrorism and floods. Direct damage to the businesses resulted in unemployment and increased socioeconomic problems in the region. After the launch of military operation in the year 2009 and the floods of 2010 the Post Crisis Need Assessment (PCNA) Study was initiated and then Mutli Donor Trust Fund- Economic Revitalization of KP and FATA (MDTF-ERKF project launched in KP and FATA. This paper focused upon the project’s performance with respect to the selected variables on the marble processing sector. The results indicate positive impacts of donor funded rehabilitation grants on production, employment generation, and investment in machinery of the marble processing sector. The analysis of data collected from 37 marble processing an average production of the sample showed an increase of 11,440 square feet of Tiles/Slabs. Similarly, the direct employment was observed to have increased by average number of 04 people. Most important to note is that the average investment in machinery increased by 3 Million Pak Rupees. However the practices regarding the solid and liquid waste management observed no change. There is a need of further study on impacts of grants on the profitability of the processing units, relation between the amount of grant and the investment mobilization by the beneficiaries in assets and working capital, and the reasons for absence of environmental responsibility component.

Keywords: Donor Funded Projects, Sustainable Rehabilitation, Employment, Production, Investment, Waste Utilization