To address spatial poverty, we help people organise into Common Interest Groups and develop common productive assets such as irrigation channels and roads, as well as individual assets such as greenhouses, orchards, poultry farms, livestock, animal sheds and storage facilities. Our emergency support addresses the needs of farmers affected by food insecurity due to ongoing drought, ban in poppy cultivation and economic crisis. Over 261,000 people are using infrastructure constructed by AKF or our partners.

We enhance community access to social services, create economic opportunities, support agricultural initiatives and strengthen community resilience.

We:

• build local community-based input supply systems;


• strengthen and rehabilitate private input suppliers in remote areas, which provide improved seed varieties, fertilisers, pesticides, agricultural equipment, training and technical services, such as pruning;


• provide crop inputs such as improved root-stock and saplings to farmers through local vendors, contributing to increases in the average productivity of wheat (58 percent), potato (25 percent), apple (116 percent) and vegetables (25 percent) since 2005; and


• facilitate connections with key suppliers in the supply chain.

With around 75 percent of the Afghan population dependent on agriculture, interventions in this sector are central to reducing poverty rates. The programme has reached more than 2.1 million beneficiaries through its work in field crops and horticulture, land and water management, and livestock.

To promote sustainable management of natural resources such as pastures, rangelands and woodlands, and enhance community-level resilience to climate change, AKF has trained Community Development Councils to implement common property resource plans. These plans are complemented by land treatment measures that redress the extensive denudation of watersheds and rangelands, creating climate-smart watersheds that can adapt to changes in temperature and precipitation.

We have also established Livestock Development Centres and associated Livestock Development Field Units, which have provided access to animal health services for more than 1.2 million people. Livestock farmers in target areas have reported a 65 percent reduction in animal mortality and morbidity, and farmers reported a 35-40 percent increase in milk and meat production and 25 percent increase in herd size.