10 August 2012
DFID's Livelihoods Adviser, Anna Ballance, recently visited Bamyan in central Afghanistan, to see how the Bamyan Agricultural Support Programme is transforming the lives of subsistence farmers who have endured over three decades of conflict.
Afghan farmers are able to sow their land better with the help of tractors. Picture: Catherine Belfield-Haines/ DFID
The Bamyan Agricultural Support Programme is co-funded by British aid from the Department of International Development and the New Zealand Agency for International Development (NZAid), and aims to help farmers who have endured over three decades of conflict. Here Anna recounts her visit:
"I've been working in Afghanistan for over a year now on making sure that projects the UK funds in the area of agriculture and livelihoods mean that farmers make enough money to support and feed their families, and get the opportunity to send their children to school.
"Recently I met a local farmer, Bismillah Khan who hails from the province of Bamyan. Bismillah has a farm of roughly two hectares, on which he grows barley, wheat, potatoes, pulses and vegetables. When his father was running the farm it took 2-3 people several days to plough a field with an ox.
"Now, through this programme, Bismillah has access to a tractor, which his cooperative has purchased. It costs a lot less to hire the tractor for one day, and saves so much time, his sons can go to school. Because the tractor is able to pull a more substantial harrow, the soil is ploughed more thoroughly, which helps with drainage and germination of the seeds. Although Bismillah's crop won't be harvested until September, it's already looking like he will get one and a half times more of the harvest than before he used the tractor. This means the family will have a guaranteed food and income source which is something they haven't always been able to rely on.
"Bismillah also explained that outside of the farming season the tractor was used for levelling roads and clearing silt from fields that had flooded, and he was looking forward to getting a trailer next, in order to transport his surplus to market.
"Another programme which is tackling issues around hunger is a UK funded high energy biscuit programme run by the World Food Programme. The programme has helped school children like 10-year-old Zarafshan, who attends a secondary school in Zamankor Village, in Panjsher Province, to get one packet of biscuits every time she attends school.
Full of energy: 10-year-old Zarafshan tucks into a biscuit. Picture: World Food Programme
"Girls like Zarafshan come from areas of Afghanistan that have high rates of malnutrition so these high calorie, high protein biscuits are also rich in vitamins and minerals, which gives them the energy to run around and learn more effectively. This means that girls like Zarafshan, who previously struggled to even attend school, are able to dream for the stars because they have the fuel to send them on their way".
On 12 August, Prime Minister David Cameron and Vice President Michel Temer of Brazil will challenge global leaders to step up efforts to improve nutrition and reduce the rate of stunting among the world’s poorest children between now and the next Olympics in 2016.
The Global Hunger Event will help to strengthen these commitments by identifying pioneering new ways of working to tackle malnutrition and bringing in new champions to support the global movement.
To find out more visit www.dfid.gov.uk/globalhunger