Kabul, Afghanistan - The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden through the Swedish Embassy in Kabul and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have joined hands to provide agriculture assistance to  84,000 vulnerable and food insecure smallholder farmers in three most food insecure provinces of Afghanistan, namely Daikundi, Ghor and Uruzgan.

Under this project, the vulnerable smallholder farmers in the most food-insecure areas will receive improved and certified wheat seeds and training on improved agriculture practices, which will enable them to rebuild their agricultural livelihoods and enhance their resilience to future shocks. These smallholder farmers will also receive kitchen gardening and vegetable cultivation kits that will help them have access to additional food and nutrition sources. 

To support the most food-insecure families to recover from the shocks and rebuild their community water structures, the project will also assist them with cash to support the rehabilitation of water structures and flood protection walls. 

The project will be implemented by FAO in close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock (MAIL). The project is supported by the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden, which has provided funding of USD 2 million for its implementation.

 “I am pleased to announce a new Swedish contribution through FAO of more than USD 2 million for improving food security and nutrition in Afghanistan - said H.E. Caroline Vicini, Swedish Ambassador to Afghanistan - Food security and livelihood crisis are affecting millions of citizens in Afghanistan. Sweden, together with other donors are joining efforts to respond to the emergency needs of hundreds of thousands Afghans affected by conflict and natural disasters such as drought and floods.”

FAO emphasizes the importance of agriculture in Afghanistan

“A large number of people in Afghanistan rely directly or indirectly on agriculture as their main means of livelihoods, and rebuilding their agriculture-based livelihoods will help strengthen their resilience and their coping capacity”, said Rajendra Aryal, FAO Representative in Afghanistan. “I would like to sincerely thank the Government of Sweden for their generous support to protect the livelihoods of the vulnerable smallholder farmers in three provinces of Afghanistan”, he added.

Agriculture is the backbone of the rural economy of Afghanistan and is a way of life for most of the population in rural areas. The agriculture sector contributes about 30 percent of the national GDP. The frequency and intensity of drought have however increased over the years in Afghanistan unfortunately, and the 2018 drought directly affected more than two-thirds of Afghanistan resulting in around 13 million people being most severely impacted. At least 300,000 people were internally displaced due to the 2018 drought. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis indicates that around 10.2 million people are in severe acute food insecurity and require urgent humanitarian action to protect their livelihoods. Out of these, around 7.8 million people in a crisis situation (IPC Phase 3) and 2.5 million people in an emergency situation (IPC Phase 4).

FAO is working with various donor agencies and partner organizations to support the most vulnerable and food-insecure farmers in the worst affected provinces of Afghanistan.

Since December 2018, FAO has supported 1.9 million vulnerable and food insecure farmers in Afghanistan’s 21 out of 34 provinces. The livelihoods assistance includes the provision of wheat seed packages, fertilizers, animal feed, vegetable seed packages, hand tools, fodder crop seed, and rehabilitation of community-based water infrastructure to improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers.