MAIL partners with USAID-funded RADP program to improve economic and food security for rural Afghans.
Kabul, Afghanistan, October 31 – The Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), His Excellency Assadullah Zamir, and Mr. Herbert Smith, the Mission Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), signed an agreement today for the implementation of the Regional Agricultural Development Projects (RADP) 2016 Work Plans. These Work Plans are the result of MAIL and USAID’s deeply collaborative and concerted approach to ensure the work of USAID is in line with the goals and objectives of MAIL in regards to the development of Afghanistan’s agricultural sector.
Last year, MAIL and USAID signed a Memorandum of Understanding stipulating that both parties would jointly approve each of RADP’s annual work plans over the course of the five-year program. MAIL appreciates the time, effort, and responsiveness of USAID to MAIL’s comments and commends USAID on their inclusion of MAIL’s suggestions into the 2016 Work Plan.
The purpose of the RADP program, worth over $300 million, is to improve the long-term food and economic security for rural Afghans in 21 provinces throughout the county. The MAIL-RADP partnership focuses on improving the productivity and profitability of wheat, high value crops, and livestock value chains, in addition to addressing the policy, legal, and regulatory constraints affecting value chain development.
With Afghanistan’s agricultural sector employing over 80% of the population and contributing one third of the country’s GDP, investing in longer-term development is essential not only to the sustainability and sufficiency of Afghanistan’s economic future but also to ensuring the nation’s political and social stability. Through collaborative and transparent work, MAIL, in conjunction with its international and domestic partners, seeks to ensure that all agricultural development projects align with MAIL’s vision to restore Afghanistan's licit agricultural economy through increasing production and productivity, natural resource management, improved physical infrastructure and market development.
MAIL looks forward to this new chapter of closer engagement, consultations and partnership with USAID as they work together to drive Afghanistan’s agricultural sector forward into the future.