Afghanistan

Conflict-laden Afghanistan remains one of the tougher countries to monitor, with limited food security data for the region available since the early 1990s. . Its projected life span at age 44 and a child mortality rate of 199 per thousand live births both indicate that Afghanistan remains highly food-insecure, and that its nourishment issues need vital national and global attention.

FAO's main in-country programmes

Special Programme for Food Security
FAO has assisted Afghanistan in the field of food security since 2004, when the Special Programme for Food Security was implemented in four pilot sites as a community-driven project in the provinces of Wardak, Takhar, Nangarhar and Badakhstan over a five year period commencing March 2004, and with a total budget of US$904 000. It supported 40 village-based organizations involving 6 653 members and granted them capital funds for actions aimed at household food security through improved agricultural productivity and livelihoods. There is a strong commitment to rehabilitate the agricultural sector in Afghanistan and both international financial institutions and bilateral donors are actively involved. For example the World Bank is implementing an emergency irrigation rehabilitation programme with a budget of US$75 million as a soft loan. The World Bank, Asian Development Bank (AsDB), Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), United States for International Development (USAID), the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the Government of Iran are potential partners in promoting national food security and in combating poppy production through development of alternative livelihoods.

National Programme for Food Security (NPFS)
Following the interest of the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) in upscaling the SPFS in Afghanistan, FAO supported the government in the formulation of a National Programme for Food Security (NPFS), which intends to start activities in four provinces, 30 districts and 3 000 villages and progressively cover all villages within the ten years of the NPFS’s Phase 1 (2008-2012) and phase 2 (2013-2017). The first phase budget is US$366 million and would cover approximately one million households. The NPFS, which is the highest priority within MAIL’s master plan over six other programmes, was submitted for funding to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) for the fiscal year 2008 for a budget of US$52.8 million. However, the NPFS only received US$2 million for emergency actions. MAIL now seeks direct donor funds for implementing the programme.

Regional Programme for Food Security (RPFS)
Afghanistan is a member of two regional economic organizations, the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO - http://www.ecosecretariat.org/) and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC - http://www.saarc-sec.org/main.php).

The formulation of a Regional Programme for Food Security started in 2005 with a leading role played by FAO in close consultation with ECO member countries to promote regional food security. Following a donor conference to raise support for the RPFS implementation hosted by the Government of Turkey in Antalya in May 2008, discussions are being held with potential partners. The ten regional programmes under ECO, which are envisaged to be implemented mostly over a five-year period are partitioned into two sub-groups: trade and production.

FAO has assisted the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in formulating a Regional Programme for Food Security addressing regional constraints to food security and socio-economic vulnerability. This RPFS includes ten project concept notes for a total value of US$122.8 million. The 15th SAARC Summit endorsed it in August 2008. The summit also issued a declaration on food security (http://www.saarc-sec.org/data/summit15/colombostatementonfoodsecurity.htm).

Emergency Prevention System for Transboundary Animals and Plant Pests and Diseases EMPRES animal health component
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) / H5N1 was officially reported in 2006 and 2007 in domestic poultry, without transmission to human populations. The FAO/ World Organization for Animal Health (FAO/OIE) Crisis Management Centre - Animal Health (CMC-AH) deployed a mission in March 2007 to facilitate an epidemiology-training workshop for veterinary field staff in Kabul and evaluate the occurrence of HPAI and the risks of disease spread to other areas within and across country borders. To cope with HPAI on the longer-term, FAO is also assisting Afghanistan through three regional and one national project (if needed, FAO can also intervene via HPAI global projects), aiming notably at the creation of a regional network specific on Avian Influenza (includes Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan).

FAO is also implementing a regional project to combat other animal diseases such as Foot-and-Mouth disease and Peste des Petits Ruminants, which are also strongly affecting Afghanistan and more generally West Eurasia. With the support of this project, Afghanistan was also able to complete all the activities to be recognized officially free from Rinderpest by OIE in May 2008.

EMPRES Desert Locust Component
Together with India, Iran and Pakistan, Afghanistan is a member of the FAO Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in South-West Asia (SWAC) as the Desert Locust is able to reach the southern part of the country during upsurges. However, there is no EMPRES programme in this region although the four SWAC members called for its establishment, mainly to support training and applied research. The Secretariat, provided by the Locust Group and located at FAO headquarters, is investigating possible donor interest.

The Moroccan Locust and, to a lesser extent, the Italian Locust regularly affect Afghanistan. This country is part of a regional Technical Cooperation Program (TCP) project, which was approved in February 2009 and includes nine countries from Caucasus and Central Asia . This project, which aims at improving national and regional locust management in the region, was prepared on the basis of the experience gained within the EMPRES programme in other regions and its long-term objective is inspired by the EMPRES approach, which promotes preventive control in order to reduce occurrence and intensity of locust outbreaks and prevent their development into major upsurges.

Emergency and Rehabilitation
Since October 2001, FAO has collaborated with the international community to increase its agricultural rehabilitation activities in Afghanistan. Following the United Nations appeal for assistance to Afghanistan in November 2001 in which FAO participated, an Emergency Rehabilitation and Coordination Unit (ERCU) was established within the FAO Representation in Kabul. Since that time, the ERCU has implemented a programme of activities to support and enhance food security and restore livelihoods throughout the country. FAO’s mandate in Afghanistan is to support the rehabilitation and development of the agricultural sector. Its objectives are to strengthen food security and nutrition, promote sustainable agriculture and rural development, support national capacity building, ensure sustainable management of natural resources, and contribute to the development of viable alternative livelihoods.

In response to the harsh winter and drought in 2007/2008 the ERCU distributed a total of 1 557 tonnes of animal feed to 13 120 vulnerable livestock holders in 30 districts of seven provinces in Afghanistan. The ERCU has also distributed 644 tonnes of animal feed in seven districts of two provinces to 3 220 vulnerable livestock holders during 2009, and also plans to distribute an additional 693 tonnes of animal feed in nine districts of three provinces. The distribution will take place in October/ November 2009, which will benefit 3 465 vulnerable livestock owners.

During autumn 2009 the ERCU distributed 1 937 tonnes of certified wheat seed, 1 937 tonnes of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and 1 937 tonnes of urea to 38 740 vulnerable farming households in 24 districts of six provinces.

National Medium Term Priority Framework (NMTPF)
Formulation of the NMTPF initiated in 2008. A first draft NMTPF (2009-2013) was completed in February 2009 and shared Government as well as FAO respective technical services for review and comments. The NMTPF process is ongoing in parallel with the new United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) formulation.

ONE UN – One Programme
Afghanistan UN Country Team has approved UNDAF for the next coming four years (2010-2013). The main three areas of concern are (i) Governance, peace and security, (ii) Sustainable Livelihoods and Agriculture Development and (iii) Health and Education. It is now signed by the Government. FAO has a number of joint projects with other UN agencies and Co-chairs the Food Security and Agriculture Coordination. It has successfully led in 2 Millennium Development Goals (MDG) joint projects that have been approved.

last updated: 27 June 2011