14 September 2009
A DFID-funded programme is helping to increase farming outputs across Afghanistan. The Horticulture and Livestock Programme (HLP), delivered through Afghanistan's Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), gives farmers access to techniques and materials that improve their productivity and therefore their livelihoods.
On the horticulture side, the programme establishes associations where farmers learn new techniques and share best practice. It also helps to set up new fruit-growing nurseries and provides seedlings to rehabilitate old and established ones.
Said Mehedi is the manager of a nursery that grows seedlings for local farmers in Balkh province, northern Afghanistan. The programme provides Said with cuttings which he then grows to generate more cuttings. These are bought by his customers, creating a ‘value chain’ in which he and the farmers both have a role.
Said's nursery also helps the local economy by employing local women to tend the crops.
“I have received money and technical assistance from the programme," he says. "In this nursery, I grow grapes, almonds, apricots, pomegranates and apples. I have been part of the programme for two years now and it is proving to be very successful. Access to water is a big issue in this region, and the farmers here used to struggle to grow crops simply to feed their families. With access to better techniques and products they can now produce more than enough to do this, and to take what they do not need to local markets to sell it.”
The livestock element of the programme involves activities including training in how to feed and care for animals and the provision of district vets. Female poultry associations have also been created in which each member is given 15 chickens each. The eggs produced provide food for the women's families or can be sold on for a profit.
Facts and stats
- The HLP programme is active across 11 provinces in Afghanistan - Balkh, Sari-Pul, Jawzjan, Samangan, Baghlan, Kunduz and Takhar in the North and Panjshir, Parwan, Kapisa and Kabul in the central region. Poultry management is active in six of these.
- DFID has committed £7 million of the £19 million needed to deliver HLP. Other donors are the World Bank and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).