Supporting rural development in Afghanistan
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is significantly expanding its operations in Afghanistan with an expected service delivery flow of US $ 6 million per year. It will focus on specialized projects in the agro-industries area (food processing, textiles industry: especially cotton, wool, carpets), in private sector development, industrial competitiveness and trade capacity building, as well as on renewable energy for productive activities.
The projects will be carried out mainly in the Ghazni and Herat regions of Afghanistan. The long continuation of civil strife in Afghanistan caused the disintegration of the state administration and destruction of the socio-economic pillars of basic rural/urban services and severely reduced the capacity of the Afghan communities to meet their basic livelihood needs. The project areas in Ghazni and Herat were no exception. These already backward regions, where subsistence agriculture and related activities are the only means of livelihood for some 85 per cent of the population, also suffered the lion’s share of the aftermath of war, drought and other calamities.
An agreement on a Country Programme of Technical Cooperation for 2009-2013 was signed on 16 July 2009 by the Afghan Minister of Commerce and Industry, Wahidullah Sharani. UNIDO Representative and Head of the South Asia Regional Office, Philippe Scholtes, and the Head of UNIDO operations in Afghanistan, Fakhruddin Azizi, took part in the ceremony.
"UNIDO service delivery in Afghanistan has of late been very limited, a paradox in a country that attracts billions in official delivery assistance every year. Yet the creation of jobs and off-farm incomes in rural areas through the promotion of private entrepreneurship is more than ever a critical factor of any sustainable, peaceful progress in the country,” said Philippe Scholtes.
“The needs are manifold, the financial resources available to a peaceful resolution of the Afghanistan crisis massive; what is urgently required is for UNIDO to build a critical mass of operations in the country and raise its credibility vis-a-is both Government and donors as an efficient provider of specialized professional services. The signing of the Country Programme 2009-2013 is but one step in that direction. Embedded as it is in national and UN development strategies, the Programme offers a strategic deployment of expertise against those needs that fall within UNIDO’s domain of competence. It enjoys the full support of the Government of Afghanistan, who has repeatedly called during its formulation for urgent policy assistance by UNIDO. It will therefore usher in a new era of strong partnership with Government and civil society in Afghanistan." Scholtes continued.
The Country Programme, which is in line with the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), aims to contribute to poverty reduction and rural development through creating a competitive export-oriented agro-industrial sector and improving small-scale private sector development activities.
The previous three-year Country Programme between UNIDO and Afghanistan (2005-2008) focused on two areas of cooperation: promoting a conductive environment for the development of the industrial sector; and direct interventions for poverty alleviation and employment generation. For example, UNIDO in partnership with the Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees (DACAAR) implemented a project in the Ghazni and Herat regions of Afghanistan.
The purpose in this case (funded by the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security) was to increase the capability of marginalized and poor rural communities to engage in viable farming and non-farming enterprises, thereby reducing their dependence on relief and helping them to move towards sustainable livelihood.
This UNIDO programme has so far created awareness amongst the people through an organized series of workshops. Furthermore, agricultural equipment and machinery introduced and the training activities carried out through the project have helped the farming communities to enhance agricultural productivity. Training in blacksmithing, carpentry and masonry and groups of women trained as trainers in food processing and kitchen gardening were assigned to conduct training programmes.
For more information, please contact: Shipra Biswas in the UNIDO India office.
By Andrea Liebman
