Establishment of a Food Security Surveillance Unit and integrated support to spring seed distribution and water resources management to drought and war affected rural population

The main goal of the project for alleviating the food crisis was approached through three major components with the following objectives:

• Food, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Information Management and Policy unit (FAAHM) component: this component of the project planned to enhance the World Food Programme and FAO capacity to provide timely, accurate and reliable information on the rapidly-changing conditions of crisis-affected populations. To this end, the project set up the FAAHM unit to ensure regular monitoring of and information access to: (i) the agricultural situation (crops and livestock); (ii) living conditions of the most vulnerable groups; (iii) food availability; and (iv) nutritional status. The unit served as a platform for country-wide information collection, analysis and exchange.
• Spring crop seed distribution component: the objective of this component was to support existing international efforts assisting at-risk farmers to strengthen their food security situation through the distribution of wheat seed varieties along with fertilizer procured with funding from other projects. Specifically, the component aimed at providing the largest number of Afghan families in central and north-eastern highlands with access to agricultural inputs in order to mitigate the impact of drought and war on their livelihoods.
• Water resources management component: the objective of this component was to increase the food availability and cash income of rural vulnerable families through the rehabilitation and improvement of irrigated agriculture.

This project initiated pilot surveys, which provided important baseline information for targeting follow-up assistance to the irrigation and water resources sector.