Helmand Agriculture and Rural Development Programme

Related pages: Afghanistan country profile | Afghanistan programme

Image courtesy Nick Danziger

DFID has allocated £30m over three years (2006/07-2008/09) for its Helmand Agriculture and Rural Development Programme (HARDP).

On 8 March, DFID visited a number of well and roads financed by HARD-P. Locals in a village in Qal-e Bost told the team that, since their well had been constructed in January, there had been no diarrhoea in the area. Prior to construction, the villagers had been drinking from irrigation ditches.

Rural Development

Rural development activities are being implemented through the Ministry for Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) to accelerate the roll-out of its key National Programmes to Helmand. Helmandi contractors are deployed to deliver services where the Ministry's capacity is limited.

• The National Rural Access Programme (NRAP) will receive around £8.5m over three years to deliver improved infrastructure, including roads, bridges, drainage and protective walls. Construction of four roads in Bost district started in January (49 km in total), and is now 40% complete. Three additional roads at Musa Qala have been surveyed and designed. However, construction has been delayed to security concerns.

• The Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme (RuWatSan) will receive around £2.1m over three years for the construction of water points, pipe schemes and latrine blocks.187 wells have been built since the start of January, and work has started on another 113 wells. Contracts have also been issued for the construction of a further 720 wells.

• The Micro Finance Investment Support Facility of Afghanistan (MISFA) will receive around £5.7m over three years to provide loans for income generating activities, such as small shops, small scale manufacturing, handicrafts and agriculture.

• The National Solidarity Programme (NSP) will receive around £10.6m over three years to establish Community Development Councils (CDCs) and provide grants for projects that will bring benefits to these communities. NSP is implemented by a wide range of ‘Facilitating Partners’ on behalf of the Government.

  To date, using core funding from a number of donors including DFID, NSP has engaged with 496 communities in six districts in Helmand (although work with 184 of these has been suspended due to the security situation). A total of 677 community-level projects have been approved, of which 208 are completed.

  The programme is now entering a second phase - funded by HARDP - which will see expansion to all remaining districts in Helmand (security permitting).

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Agriculture

We are also working with the Ministry for Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) to develop agriculture projects for Helmand, with implementation expected to start in the autumn.

Among other things, these projects are likely to:

• Support the production and marketing of local fruit and nut, animal and vegetable products.
• Build the capacity of local government officials to support Helmand farmers and businesses.
• Help to provide agricultural and business education for young people in Helmand.
• Build local research capacity, and identify cost effective and innovative solutions to address challenges in the agricultural sector.

Last updated: 19 June 2007