prioritization and implementation plan - Cooperazione Italiana allo ...

ACCELERATING AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
The Agriculture and Rural Development Cluster
(ARD) Members: the Ministry of Agriculture,
Irrigation and Livestock, the Ministry of Rural
Rehabilitation and Development, the Ministry of
Energy and Water, and the Ministry of Counter-
Narcotics.
Situation Analysis
Afghanistan's rural areas are producing only a
fraction of their potential. The country has more
than enough water resources, but has yet to harness
them fully. Improved wheat seed, coupled with
fertilizer and irrigation, can increase yields by 50
percent. Less than 10% of water resources have
been developed, even though irrigation can double
or triple farm yields, as well as make possible the
production of higher-value crops. With
Government support, rural communities are pulling
together to implement community-level projects
that foster economic growth and productivity.
Afghanistan’s rural road network has also steadily
expanded, providing isolated farm communities
with access to inputs, markets, and basic services.
Rural communications have improved dramatically
with most parts of the country now having access
to mobile phones and modern communications.
Yet much remains to be done.
Afghanistan remains one of the poorest countries
in the world, and much of its poverty is situated in
rural areas. About 80% of the population depends
on agriculture and associated forms of rural
production. Seasonal and chronic unemployment
are common and increasing. The result is a high
degree of food insecurity, a socioeconomic
environment that is conducive to instability, an
illicit economy, and extreme poverty. Without
significant, visible change to living conditions in
the countryside, insurgents and narcotics
traffickers will continue to find willing clients
among Afghanistan’s impoverished villages.
Needed Response
The Agriculture and Rural Development Cluster
Goal is the “development of prosperous rural and
pastoral communities.” Achieving this goal stands
or falls on whether the government, civil society,
and the private sector can trigger dramatic
increases in job creation, rural employment, and
rural growth. To this end, five objectives are
defined that taken together can transform the rural
economy:
First, Afghanistan must develop a basic
information framework to inform government
policies for rural development. Second, it must
improve both the production quality and quantity
of agriculture outputs where small interventions
can have an enormous impact. Third, global
experience in developing countries shows that allyear
road access is among the top drivers of rural
transformation. Thus, linkages to markets as well
as access to credit must be improved. Fourth,
Afghanistan must improve food security and
services to create a healthy population able to
contribute to productive growth, and fifth, it must
establish a better regulatory and enabling
environment to counter the effects of conflict,
corruption, and the deterioration of Afghanistan’s
natural resources.
Finally, rural development has traditionally split
between large programs carried out by a central
government and highly localized communities that
largely bypass government activity. This must
change. New partnerships between the Afghan
Government, communities, and the private sector
are now guiding planning for the country’s
Agricultural and Rural Development Cluster.
The National Priority Programs presented below
together form a set of activities whose purpose is
to develop an enabling framework that
communities need to build up their productive
assets, reduce insecurity, and improve household
incomes across the countryside. They will also be
the main short and medium-term means to create
jobs, stabilize rural areas, and facilitate people’s
recovery from conflict. Two national labor
intensive programs outlined below are already
operational. Over time, rising production and
increased economic activity stemming from water
resources projects and improved production
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