OVERVIEW

The Capacity Building and Change Management Program-II (CBCMP-II) strengthened the human and institutional capacity of Afghanistan's Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL). It also worked to strengthen the linkages between MAIL and its Provincial Directorates (PAILs), and supported the PAILs to effectively deliver agricultural public services to farmers and herders. CBCMP-II directly addressed President Ghani's vision for achieving self-reliance through the use of a change management model that embeds Afghan change management specialists (CMS) to provide coaching, mentoring, and on-the-job training to civil service counterparts. The project worked in key administrative and technical offices to modernize their systems and enhance the overall service delivery capability of the institutions.

ACTIVITIES

• Automated the procurement, human resources, inventory, and financial management systems and ensured that civil servants have computer skills and internet access to manage these systems sustainably
• Prioritized and deepened capacity building of Provincial Directorates essential to MAIL's capacity to carry out extension, research, and irrigation services
• Assisted MAIL to transition its long-term capacity-building program to the World Bank-funded Capacity Building for Results (CBR) Program
• Strengthened the capacity to prioritize, plan, budget, and secure approval and resources to support extension services rendered by provincial PAILs and district agriculture offices and to comply with program and financial reporting requirements of MAIL
• Prioritized and strengthened support functions in MAIL's directorates of Finance and Accounting, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), Procurement and Contracts, and Administration and Human Resources and developed and executed a plan for sustaining these capacity building gains

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• MAIL budget and procurement procedures are fully aligned with the latest regulations and requirements of Government of Afghanistan
• MAIL’s budget execution rate increased, from 31 percent in 2010 to 82 percent in 2016
• MAIL employees were trained to better manage, control, and oversee MAIL’s financial and human resources activities and institutional assets
• Supported Government of Afghanistan’s reform agenda to decentralize public finance system, including an automated finance and accounting system
• Established a fully functional system for risk-based auditing and trained civil servants to use it
• Introduced M-Pulse Asset Management, enabling MAIL to account for its inventory and assets including buildings, improving transparency, and accountability of asset management at headquarters and in 20 provinces
• Improved MAIL’s staff recruitment system, tripling the number of new hires in 2016 compared to the previous three years combined
• Supported MAIL to establish an automated payroll system providing for electronically-secured records of salary payments and an automated system for logging of work hours using fingerprint scans.
• MAIL adopted GPS tracking technology on its official fleet, resulting in a 50 percent reduction in fuel costs and reducing other maintenance costs.
• Improved MAIL/PAILs staff capacity to develop and receive approval for 70 project proposals totaling $122 million