OVERVIEW

The Kandahar Food Zone (KFZ) Program was a five-year USAID initiative to strengthen and diversify rural livelihoods away from illicit opium poppy cultivation in seven targeted districts of Kandahar. The program sought to provide the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan with a successful model of alternative development, promoting licit alternatives to opium cultivation and increasing the legitimacy of the national and sub-national administrations.

ACTIVITIES

• Rehabilitated irrigation canals and vineyards, planted orchards, promoted off-season horticultural crop production, accessed new markets for high value crops, and developed agribusinesses to contribute to sustained reduction in poppy cultivation
• Improved irrigation management systems, coordinated line ministries with sub-national government agencies, and involved national and sub-national government agencies in alternative development activities

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Rehabilitated 374 kilometers of 31 irrigation canals that provide water to more than 40,800 hectares of farmland and an estimated 18,000 farms, 1,477 full-time equivalent jobs
• Leveled 50 hectares of farmland irrigated by rehabilitated canals in Dand and Daman districts
• Trained 19 Mirabs on canal maintenance and on-farm water management
• Conducted 75 alternative development programs for over 8,800 farmers (20 percent of them women) in seven districts of Kandahar, including trainings and on-farm technical assistance in vineyard, orchard, and greenhouse vegetable production
• Trained 5,000 farmers and rehabilitated 893 hectares of vineyards, intercropped with alfalfa and low plastic tunnels for vegetable production.
• Trained 100 women in post-harvest management of fruits and vegetables, 440 women in basic livestock husbandry skills, and 447 women and 119 men on women's rights and roles in society
• Supported sales of more than $5 million of grapes and pomegranates internationally and $267,000 domestically
• Established 47 greenhouses, of which 38 produce off-season vegetables
• Installed low tunnels in 100 household compounds and trained farm women to grow off-season vegetables
• Established two 40-member women's group in Zheray and Panjwayi to address issues that confront local women
• Conducted 24 management training workshops for 442 government officials
• Conducted public outreach on the hazards of poppy production, including radio dramas, mobile theater performances, public service announcements, and news on alternative crops