Rihana looks happy with her poultry farm chickens in her house. @FAO

Rihana, a young woman from a remote village in Khedir district, Daikundi Province, comes from a particularly poor family. Hunger was the worst of all the challenges they faced. “Due to extreme poverty and lack of access to food or basic health care, my younger brothers and sisters were always hungry and repeatedly fell sick.” Rihana says. The cold weather and long winters in this district, whose capital lies at nearly 2500m, didn’t help.

Severe drought, the lack of employment or other sources of income and rising prices of basic necessities have made a previously harsh life almost unbearable in this remote area of the central highlands. The young woman observes that “many families in the community are unable to meet their basic needs, so they sell what they have and try their luck in other places, hoping to find work”.

There are many such communities throughout Afghanistan, especially in remote rural areas struck by climate change, where life has become so difficult that inhabitants migrate towards towns or neighboring countries. It is for them that the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) developed, with Asian Development Bank support, the “Sustaining Essential Services Delivery Project” that has been implemented throughout 2022 and 2023.

One activity under this project has been to introduce backyard poultry farming in all rural provinces of Afghanistan, benefitting 20 000 households. About 17 000 of these are headed by women. Each household received 30 pullets (young hens), 150 kg of feed, 3 feeders, 3 drinkers, and essential poultry coop equipment.

In collaboration with community leaders, FAO’s local implementing partner, Future Generations Afghanistan, identified some of the worst-off families for support. Rihana fortunately was one of those qualifying for a poultry package. Like all other beneficiaries in Afghanistan, she also received technical training on Best Poultry Management practices, to ensure that she is equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary for successful poultry farming (as well COVID-19 awareness and prevention measures).

Rihana happily told the programme monitors, “Now my young brothers and sisters have access to enough nutritious and healthy food. We often eat eggs, and we have enough poultry products to sell, so we can buy additional food and essential things.”

This is a small example of how a modest contribution in kind, together with adequate training, allows some households to survive the harsh conditions of rural Afghanistan, and can empower young women and men to take control of their destiny without abandoning their homes. A few cases of successful rural livelihoods support can help change the mood in a community from despondent to hopeful, providing the key for future growth. We hope Rihana’s poultry farm will continue being successful.