AKDN’s programme in Pakistan is, in experiential terms, the most studied development programme in the Network. Many of the methods employed elsewhere by AKDN agencies, and replicated by other NGOs and governments, were tried first and then refined in Pakistan. AKDN’s earliest coordinated area development programme included community mobilisation, infrastructure development, microfinance lending and savings, agricultural programmes that encompass land reclamation, irrigation and forestry, curative health care, preventive community health schemes and world-class medical training, education from pre-primary to postgraduate levels, the introduction of clean-water supplies and sanitation facilities, the construction of mini hydro-electric plants in remote communities, and the restoration of historic buildings, monuments and housing. Activities are largely concentrated in the mountainous Northern Areas, North West Frontier (Chitral) and Baltistan provinces as well as in the Punjab, Baluchistan and Sind provinces.
A number of AKDN agencies create low-cost products and technologies that both improve the quality of life in human habitats and reduce the pressures on the natural environment. The Building and Construction Improvement Programme (BACIP), for example, has created over 70 products ranging from smoke-free stoves to earthquake-resistant construction methods. More