The Food Security and Agriculture Cluster (FSAC) has been a central part of the humanitarian response in Afghanistan since 2008. FSAC is co-led by the World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with non-governmental organization (NGO) acting as co-chair, currently the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR). Over 172 partner organizations

Newsletter FAO- Afghanistan Issue 4 - March 2016

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The Government of Japan has provided a total of US$13.52 million to help the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) boost agricultural production and resilience through improved irrigation management in Afghanistan.

The project documents were signed by MAIL, the Embassy of Japan, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 19 December 2015 at the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock.

The project has three main components: (i) dissemination of the Peace Medical Services (PMS) irrigation method, which was devel-oped in Nangarhar province, and training of government staff and farmers on the PMS approach including construction of a training cen-tre, (ii) rehabilitation of irrigation systems in the rice-growing areas of Kunduz, Takhar and Baghlan provinces and (iii) capacity building for production of high quality, virus-free potato seeds.

In This Issue

Japan supports Afghanistan’s...Page 1

MAIL holds Afghanistan’s first national livestock conference...Page 2

MAIL dairy technical mission toIndia ... Page 3

Impact of rehabilitaion of Zohrabi...Page 4

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From left to right: Sherwali Wardak, member of the lower house, Tomio Shichiri, FAO Representative, H.E. Assadullah Zamir, MAIL’s Minister, Yasunari Morino, chargé d’affaires ad interim of the Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan, Eiichiro Cho, Chief Representative of (JICA), and Mohammad Hashim, member of the lower house during the signing ceremony at MAIL.

Japan supports Afghanistan’s agricultural production through improvement of the irrigation system and strengthening of institutional capacity

The Food Security and Agricul-ture Cluster (FSAC)

country-wide are active in FSAC, including NGOs (international and national), relevant government ministries (central and regional departments), United Nations (UN) agencies and donors.

The 2016 Food Security and Agriculture Cluster response strategy includes food and agriculture assistance for almost 1.8 million people across the country. It is estimated that FSAC needs almost US$112 million to provide emergency lifesaving support to refugees and returnees, severely food insecure people, and people affected by natural disasters and conflict. FSAC will provide regular support throughout the year in context and gap analysis, coordination of response, contingency planning and capacity building for its partners. FSAC was highly successful in responding to urgent lifesaving needs during 2015, targeting almost 2.2 million people. Support included immediate food assistance, agriculture-based livelihoods support like distribution of seeds and tools, and support for kitchen gardening and livestock rearing. Needs assessment remained one of the key activities during 2015. The Seasonal Food Security Assessment (SFSA) conducted a pre-harvest appraisal and integrated food security phase classification to inform policy-makers in programme design. Capacity building of local and internal NGO’s was also considered important, especially for writing proposals and reports to increase Afghanistan’s humanitarian funding portfolio. For more details see: http://fscluster.org/afghanistan

Animal feed distribution in Faizabad Centre of Badakhshan Province

One hundred and thirty-five Kareezes (a traditional underground irrigation system) were rehabilitated in seven districts of Kabul province: Shakarda-ra, Guldara, Farza, Qarabagh, Mirbachakot, Kalakan and Istalif. The reha-

Thousands of households benefit from rehabilitated Kareezes in

Kabul Province

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Afghanistan holds first national live-stock conference, paving the way

towards a livestock sector strategic plan

For the first time in Afghanistan, MAIL held a national livestock devel-opment conference to improve the resilience of pastoralist commu-nities. The conference brought together Afghanistan’s livestock and veterinary experts to review the current status of the livestock sector, the animal health services provided by both the public and private sectors and the challenges and way forward to increase livestock pro-duction and productivity. The main objective was to pave the way for development of a framework for a five- year strategic plan for the livestock and animal health sector.As noted in the Afghan National Development Strategy (ANDS), live-stock farming is one of Afghanistan’s key agricultural activities, con-tributing significantly towards achieving the development goals of national growth and poverty reduction.Participants examined the status of Afghanistan’s livestock sector, its role in supporting the domestic economy, and, following extensive working group discussions developed the foundation of a five-year strategic plan for Afghanistan’s livestock sector.

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FAO- Afghanistan, Issue 4 March 2016

Five sets of stakeholders’ consultations on the draft Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) for Afghanistan took place between 27 December 2015 and 9 January 2016 in all six of the regions under the Irrigation and Restoration Development Project (IRDP), covering 27 provinces of Afghanistan. Important points emerged from the consultations, namely, the need (a) to strengthen the capacity of Sub River Basins (RBAs) and MEW, (b) to strengthen groundwater management and environmental protection, (c) for greater liaison with the National Environment Protection Agency (NEPA) at the regional level and (d) for better sharing of information/coordination between line agencies such as River Basin Agencies, MAIL, the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD), Afghanistan Independent Land Department Authority (ARAZI) and other national and international NGOs having similar objectives. The outcome of the consultation has been incorporated into the final version of the revised ESMF for Afghanistan. Every effort was made to encourage participation of women to share suggestions and comments.Wide-ranging consultations are essential at all stages of proposed investments, from appraisal to evaluation of a project. Consultations lead to increased participation to: (i) ensure that people, including vulnerable groups such as women, especially female-headed households, and the landless are made aware of a subproject and have the opportunity to comment on it, (ii) improve responsiveness, accountability and transparency on the part of project management, (iii) promote better decision-making, (iv) increase cooperation between communities and government partners during the design and implementation of the project and (v) build local ownership of subprojects. Initial meetings with stakeholders provide a forum not just for the dissemination of information about the subproject and its potential impacts, but also to hear people’s concerns and take on board their recommendations to the extent possible in project design and implementation. These meetings also lay the foundations for systematic consultation and participation of the community in all subsequent stages of an investment scheme’s development.The Environment and Social Management Framework has been developed by MEW with the technical assistance of FAO to address environmental and social concerns and impacts that may arise during the development and implementation of the Irrigation and Restoration Development Project for Afghanistan. The framework provides general guidelines, codes of practice and procedures for the management of environmental and social issues.

A technical training course on the linkages between nutrition and agri-culture was conducted in five regions of Afghanistan between November and December 2015. The aim of the training course was to enhance the technical capacity of MAIL staff, to improve their knowledge and un-derstanding about the linkages between agriculture and nutrition, and also to identify how nutrition can be incorporated into agriculture policy and programming. Case studies were shared with participants to inform them about the way forward for better nutrition sensitive agriculture

programming.The course was attended by key staff of MAIL, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), the Ministry of Education (MoE), MRRD, and the Min-istry of Women’s Affairs (MoWA) from 29 provinces, representatives of UN agencies including FAO, WHO, WFP, UNICEF, FSAC and national/international NGOs involved in food security and nutrition.At the end of the course, participants understood the basic concepts, issues and causes of malnutrition, the interdependence of agriculture and nutrition, the critical role of family farming to improve nutrition, and the key role of agriculture in feeding the nation with safe and nu-tritious food.The training course was conducted by the Food Security and Nutri-tion Policy Development and Coordination Project of FAO, funded by the Government of Germany, with the collaboration of the Extension System, Household Food and Livelihoods Security project in Herat and Balkh Provinces and the Development Integrated Dairy Scheme proj-ect in Nangarhar Province.

Training on linkages between nu-trition and agriculture held in five

regions of Afghanistan

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The first national livestock conference held from 14 to16 February 2016 in Kabul

Training on nutrition sensitive agriculture in Nangarhar Province

Consultation meeting at Kandahar Province

Consultations with various stakeholders are a central plank of the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) for Afghanistan(a project document for additional financing of the Irrigation Resto-

ration and Development Project (IRDP)

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Kabul dairy union receives AISA 2016 award

The Kabul Dairy union “KDU” was one of the 60 successful Afghan companies that received awards for 2016 as special recognition of the quality and diversity of products displayed. Their efforts and resilience given the currently prevailing harsh economic circum-stances in Afghanistan contributed towards the growth of the na-scent dairy sector. The Kabul Dairy union was established by FAO in 2005 and since 2010 works independently…….. please see http://ids-af.org/index.php/3-technical-materials/current-proj-ect-reports/

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FAO- Afghanistan, Issue 4 March 2016

MAIL Dairy technical mission to India

In December 2015, a MAIL dairy technical delegation led by H.E Deputy Minister Abdul Qadeer Jawad conducted a mission to the India National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Anand. FAO participated in the mission. The mission’s objectives were to (1) initiate the process of estab¬lishing an Afghan NDDB and National Federation of Dairy Unions; (2) explore the possibility of assis¬tance with capacity building of basic and middle level dairy tech¬nical staff through fellowships for short – term, masters and PhD programmes; (3) dis-cuss opportunities for support with the devel¬opment of a regula-tory framework and legislation, food safety regulations and related laboratory capacity for the Afghan dairy sector (4) Explore sources of various dairy industry inputs and supplies such as dairy equip-ment and materials, veterinary vac¬cines, medicines and quality frozen bull semen straws that could be procured for the Afghan dairy sector. To achieve these objec-tives support is required from India NDDB, which ex¬pressed willingness to collaborate, mentor and partner with the proposed Afghan NDDB. .... read more in the link below:

http://ids-af.org/index.php/3-technical-materials/current-proj¬ect-reports/

Women’s mission to IndiaIn December 2015, a study tour was conducted for women benefi¬ciaries under the ongoing FAO/MAIL dairy project to learn from India’s experience and from other wom¬en in dairy coopera-tives. The objective was to increase the knowledge and capacity of women cooperative members and the women technical staff that closely work the female farmers. This was expected to inspire

and in¬crease the knowledge and capacity of women farmers, and to provide an opportunity for women to acquire appropriate technology in order to improve their activities in Afghanistan.... read more in the link below: http://ids-af.org/index.php/3-technical-materials/current-project-reports/

FAO supports the private sector in identifying and combating trans-boundary animal diseases across

the country

FAO, through the animal health project, conducted one-day training workshops in five regions of the country on two of the most ubiqui-tous and contagious of all transboundary animal diseases: Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) and Peste des Petit Ruminants (PPR). The work-shop was attended by 929 veterinary field unit staff and 68 Provincial Veterinary Officers (MAIL officials) from 34 provinces. The training module for both diseases had been jointly developed by project staff during a three-day workshop held in Kabul from 29 to 31 August 2015. The module was then translated into local languages and used to implement training activities for Veterinary Field Units (VFUs). Each regional office of the project organized training sessions covering the provinces of their respective jurisdictions.A total of 55 training sessions were conducted from 31 October to 14 December 2015 in the provinces of Kabul, Nangarhar, Balkh, Herat, Kandahar and Badakhshan. The attendees, besides receiving specific training on FMD and PPR, completed a pre-training and post-training questionnaire to assess improvement in their knowledge on trans-boundary animal diseases and whether they had or had not recently observed FMD and/or PPR. The outcomes of the workshop will be use-ful for initial mapping of FMD and PPR distribution in Afghanistan.

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More information: FAO Representation, c/o Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), Jamal Mina, Opposite Kabul University. Tel: +93 (0) 202510427 / 9 Ext. 124 Email: FAO-AF@fao.org Web: http://fao.org/world/Afghanistan. C0061e/1/04.16 ©FAO 2016

NewsletterFAO- Afghanistan, Issue 4 March 2016Need-based, bottom-up par-

ticipatory extension model

An efficient need-based, bottom-up participatory approach was pi-loted in four districts of four provinces – Qarabagh district of Kabul province, Sorkhroad district of Nangarhar Province, central district of Bamyan Province and Dehdadi district of Balkh province – in support of the FAO project “Support to Extension Household Food Security and Livelihoods”, funded by Luxembourg, The project’s overall objec-tive was to improve household food and livelihood security through a model extension system, delivering demand driven services to effec-tively target the most vulnerable and food insecure farming house-holds.Activities included: establishment of project management teams to identify the main counterparts at the district, provincial and central levels, enhancing the capacity of these counterparts, and conducting household assessment surveys in cooperation with MAIL. In conduct-ing the household assessment surveys, the project initiated mapping of district livelihood systems by gathering household information such as: number of family members, access to land (irrigated and raid fed), crops grown, types of orchards, animals reared, sources of irrigation and main sources of livelihood. Based on the survey results, the project targeted resource-poor and food insecure farming house-holds by facilitating Common Interest Groups (CIGs) and providing support to increase farm productivity. The result of the first phase of the project has contributed significant-ly to improving the government’s extension systems and has effec-tively targeted the most vulnerable and food insecure households. It also encouraged collaboration and co-ordination among different ministries, in particular MAIL, MRRD as well as NGOs and the private sector at each district level.

Impact of the rehabilitation of the Zohrabi irrigation scheme in Sa-

mangan Province by IRDP People are delighted with the results of the restored irrigation scheme in Zohrabi District. The rehabilitation was successful in pro-viding enough water to irrigate 120 ha (hectares) of land that has resulted in higher yields for orchards and increased timber produc-tion. The trees at the community homesteads are now providing more fruit.Farmers are now encouraged to practice crop rotation by adopt-ing legume–cereal mixed cropping systems. The leguminous crops grown are mainly green gram, cowpeas and okra. These crops help in nitrogen fixation, especially if plant residues are also used for mulching. The rehabilitation has been effective in providing water to farmers who in turn have adopted practices that enhance soil conservation, crop rotation, agroforestry practices and farm man-agement.Currently, irrigation water is available 24 hours a day and allows farmers to grow and harvest crops twice a year. Maintenance costs for the irrigation system is minimal and there is no waste due to seepage and evaporation as in the past. All these aspects strength-en the sustainability of the restoration. The uninterrupted availabil-ity of water has brought a lot of confidence to farmers.Regarding the socio-economic benefits and impacts of the project, it was confirmed by the beneficiaries that, as a result of rehabilita-tion, beneficiaries’ lives have been completely transformed. Signifi-cant increases in crop yields have been attained after the systems’ rehabilitation. In addition, new crops like okra have been introduced and significant improvement in crop yields has been recorded over the last years.The IRDP has also made a significant contribution to increased em-ployment and income generation in the Zohrabi Centre district of Samangan province. During the implementation of the civil works in 2013-2014, at least 100 people were employed on subprojects and earned an average daily wage of Afghanis 300/person/day for a period of 300 days.

MAIL holds Afghanistan’s first na-tional livestock conference

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The event was deemed a major success with over 250 participants rep-resenting all provinces, from both the public and private sectors, includ-ing national/international NGOs and individuals involved in Afghanistan’s livestock industry. The conference was held from 14 to16 February with the financial and technical support of the Dutch Committee for Afghani-stan and FAO.

bilitated Kareezes provide irrigation water for 6 349.2 ha of land which benefits 13 326 households. Kareezes are mostly used as a source of irrigation and drinking water in the northern districts of Kabul. The sys-tem has proven to be environmentally friendly; it does not harm the eco-system and uses water efficiently. For this reason the reconstruc-tion of Kareezes was considered essential to improving the irrigation systems under the FAO supported programme, funded by the Govern-ment of Japan, in close coordination with officials from the Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW) and the targeted communities.Like other irrigation structures, much of the Kareez system was de-stroyed because of the prolonged war. Kareezes do not require fuel to irrigate land, unlike tube wells, and therefore more land can be ir-rigated. Thus Kareezes play a vital role in improving food security and reducing vulnerability to drought.

Before

After

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Kareeze rehabilitated in Qarabagh district of Kabul province

Thousands of households ben-efit from rehabilitated Kareezes

in Kabul Province ©FAO/Patyal

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©FAO/Khuram