About three quarters of the Afghan population lives in rural areas where they subsist by crop and/or livestock farming. In water-scarce environments, providing enough food for animals can be a severe constraint to livestock production.
This week, stakeholders from an ACIAR-funded project meet to assess the systemic and gendered opportunities and constraints for innovation in forage value chains in Afghanistan, with a focus on Baghlan province. The overall objective of the KIT-ICARDA workshop is to assess and create a mutual understanding of the gendered opportunities and constraints for innovation in forage value chains within Afghanistan, with a special focus on Baghlan province.
This project aims to improve livestock farmers’ livelihoods by evaluating appropriate options for forage and fodder production, and by developing community-based seed enterprises for feed and forages. The project also builds the capacity of Afghan researchers in forage and livestock systems research. The main outputs will be a ‘best practice’ package for forage production in the Baghlan and Nangarahar provinces. Adoption of the package will result in increased meat and dairy production, ultimately improving household food security and income.