Alternative Livelihood – An Important Vehicle for Growth in Afghanistan
The war torn Afghanistan has shown little signs of overall economic recovery despite the large scale largesse and multi sectoral work by the international donor agencies. The plight of the people at large continues to be woeful at the lowest economic subsistence level.
Breaking the conventional norms, Alternative Livelihood Programmes (ALPs), on the other hand have yielded encouraging results which can well be the pathway to a bigger growth success. It would however require a good deal of cohesive thinking and camaraderie between the involved parties for sustainable results.
The economy of Afghanistan was ravaged by two decades of war. The Taliban regime did not allow any economic development in the country and ensured that women did not take part in any of the developmental initiatives. Afghanistan did not develop a civil service infrastructure and thus governance for the people was virtually absent. After the US occupation, all the donors have pumped in huge sums of money but the economy of the country has not improved – in fact 2007 recorded the highest poppy production.
The UN, USAID, World Bank, DFID, GTZ and EU have huge presence in Afghanistan and all these donors been running many projects in the country. Although there are success stories but on a larger spectrum, the donor funded projects could hardly change the life of average Afghans. While a small segment benefitted in the process but its effect on the overall economy has been insignificant. Unemployment is around 50%, farmers do not find alternatives to poppy, youth do not get jobs since they do not have adequate skills set, 80% of the population depends on agriculture – these are some of the abysmal statistics on records for the country.
Developing non farm sector in the rural industries can solve unemployment problem to a great extent but it still remains a challenge. Government does not have enough earnings and depends on the donors even to the extent of paying for the salaries of the employees. Donors have their own set of prescriptions which may not tally with the Government’s but the Government has to listen to donors on almost all policy matters. Per capita income has recently touched $300 but most of the populations find it difficult to earn even $2 a day.
Alternative livelihood and agriculture development programs can generate large scale employment in the provinces of Afghanistan. The UN, USAID, EU and World Bank have presence in the alternative livelihood development of the country. These projects did generate some results but a lot more needs to be done to sustain large scale employment in the region through alternate livelihood. Some of these project implementations did not have experience in the region and thus took certain time to deliver in the difficult conditions.
In the provinces, people do not have the skills set or the capital to start a new venture. Lack of access to information and encouragement deter the unemployed to start any new initiatives. Certain Alternative Livelihood Programs (ALPs) were thought of considering the availability of resources and existing demand in the region and different donor funded projects have already started working on many of these areas. Here are some of the alternative project areas which are likely to be effective in Afghanistan to generate employment.
Bee Keeping:
Bee keeping training programs funded by development agencies generated employment among the women and unemployed. After the training, participants started producing honey but had problem in marketing it; they were in need of support in establishing the market linkages. The honey produced by them was not packaged well and thus could not fetch a good price in the market. Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) can buy in bulk and will pay good price, provided it is of good quality and packaged well. The product has the potential to be exported to the neighboring countries and to the Middle East – proper advice in quality up-gradation, packaging and marketing is the key to success.
This is a very good alternate livelihood option for women since they can work from home. Several such training programs would generate more employment in Afghan provinces. Winter is not harsh in Nagarhar and honey can be produced almost throughout the year.
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