Alternative Livelihood – An Important Vehicle for Growth in Afghanistan
Poultry Farming:
Poultry is another area where employment can be generated fairly easily and it was promoted as a livelihood by the development agencies which also has generated some interest. The EU, FAO and USAID have done work in Nagarhar, Heart and other provinces. A section of the community was benefited and it needs to be reached out to many more. Large scale training would help unemployed to venture into this area. Unemployed youth, on many occasions, find it difficult to shell out the small start up capital and face difficulty in getting the finance from the financial institutions.
It is easier for an unemployed youth to develop such skills fast and marketing is easier because of the local demand. More outreach would generate awareness and more training programs would develop new entrepreneurs in this area.
Tailoring:
Tailoring is another important area in providing livelihood to women. Different projects have organized training programs to develop the skills set of women groups to enable them to work from home. It is difficult for women to go out and work in Afghanistan, tailoring offers a good opportunity to work from home. Afghan women have good embroidery skills and there is a need to design high end training programs in tailoring. Skills need to be developed in design, selection of fabric, good finish and so on. After receiving the training, many did not find enough orders to sustain. Establishing market linkages is thus important. The province has a market and developing few buying agents can help the existing women groups, engaged in tailoring, in marketing their produces.
Tailoring training can be rolled out to many women groups with the help of the local women business associations and Association of Women Business Council (AWBC). The capacity of AWBC may be built to enable them in establishing market linkages for the women tailors working from home. AWBC and other associations may further be assisted to organize local fairs to display the wares produced by these women.
Carpet Weaving:
Carpet sector employs the maximum people other than agriculture and is the single largest exportable item of Afghanistan, accounting for 53% of national export. Developing skills set in carpet weaving can generate substantial employment. The main problem, however, is extreme low wage. A weaver earns around less than two dollar a day and often engages children in the job. Working condition is also pathetic and weavers lose their eyesight at an early age, since they work in poor lighting condition. A pilot project initiated by ILO and Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MOLSW) aimed at improving the working condition but that surely is not enough.
Afghanistan has excellent potential in handmade carpet – wages remain low when a 10’X4’carpet can fetch a price of even $800 in the international market. Afghan Carpet export is increasing at a rapid pace but benefits are yet to filter down. It can partially be attributed to the fact that carpet trade is controlled by Pakistani traders and Afghan producers are mere labor contractor in many occasions. Marketing Afghan carpets thru fair trade channel may increase the wage level. It can generate lot of further employment, since demands is on the rise.
People can be easily trained in this trade and programs can be initiated in consultation with local carpet associations, Kabul Carpet Associations and Carpet Exporters Guild. These associations should be encouraged to impart training in carpet weaving and giving orders to the individual weavers. They may also be encouraged to increase the wages.
Other areas like Bakery, Carpentry etc:
These have good prospects in generating livelihood in the provinces of Afghanistan, and development of a concrete training program would help.
There are many such alternative livelihood pathways. It is however key to have proper coordination among the donors with the involvement of the provincial development committee/local chamber/business associations and youth organizations to yield sustainable results. These projects should also have fixed time set targets for periodic appraisal and be rolled out in collaboration with the local bodies.
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1 USAID funded project and Afghanistan International Chamber of Commerce (now merged with Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries) organized bee keeping training in Nangarhar and a Bee Keepers Association was formed to provide business and other support.
2 Aga Khan Foundation facilitated market linkages with the PRTs for bee keepers in the Badakshan region. This model can be replicated in other provinces.
3 Poultry Association in certain provinces will be useful for outreach purpose.
[4] Save the Children was entrusted to asses the impact of the pilot project on improving the working condition of carpet weavers.
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