A critical impediment in the Afghan poultry value chain is the shortage of veterinary supplies and services at the farm level. The story of Dr. Sayed Hamid is illustrative.

Dr. Hamid has a veterinary degree from Herat University. He knows very well how a poultry farm should operate, but he gave up on his small farm soon after he started it. Why? He lost his flock because he had no quality feed, vaccines, and medicines.

Dr. Hamid then started working for Khwaja Noor Baba Ltd (KNBL) as a technician in a poultry disease diagnostic laboratory, established in 2018 under a USAID Regional Agriculture Development Program – East (RADP-East) grant. With USAID assistance, he led the modern lab for 18 months, serving the entire province.

After gaining enough experience, Dr. Hamid started his own business, providing what he had lacked at his first poultry farm, door-to-door delivery of qualified veterinary care and quality supplies to farmers.

Dr. Hamid now has supply contracts with seven poultry growers with thousands of chickens, with more farmers seeking his services. His clients enjoy professional on-farm visits and regular disease monitoring, a rare service in this conflict-ridden country.

In his business, Dr. Hamid cooperates with RADP-East’s grantee KNBL. Dr. Hamid refers farmers to the KNBL lab for proper diagnostics, while the lab refers farmers to him for supplies and veterinary services. Dr. Hamid credits the USAID RADP-East project grant and his experience at KNBL with his success.

“I learnt a lot about the poultry business from RADP-East and KNBL. They gave me the idea and the motivation to start up a new poultry veterinarian service and input supply enterprise. This way I am of even better service to the farmers. Also, with the demand increasing, it is my turn now to provide employment for others,” said Dr. Hamid.

USAID has awarded 61 similar grants to key agribusinesses in Eastern Afghanistan, believing that each successful new business is likely to enable another startup.