In Afghanistan
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LINKING RELIEF, REHABILITATION AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (LRRD) IN AFGHANISTAN RETHINKING WOMEN’S AND FARMERS’ PROGRAMMES TO IMPROVE HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY IN RURAL AFGHANISTAN Case study in Baharak valley (Badakhshan Province) 2005-2006 Cécile Duchet and Jean-Christophe Duchier with the supervision of Peggy Pascal ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study would not have been possible without the Afghan men and women we have met over these months. We would like to thank them all, especially the households in Baharak for their hospitality, their patience and their motivation. We were particularly happy to work with Narguis Bahaar and Sami Ullah, our translators and friends. We would like to thank Afghanaid’s teams in Baharak and also Faizabad, Shohada and Warduj ad Jurm who provided excellent logistics support and openly shared their wide knowledge of the area and the population with us. This team helped us in the field and we personally have fond memories of time spent with Afsal, Mubarak Shah, Saffar, Dr. Hamibullah, Ahmadjân, Ab. Manon, Qadim, Massouda and Maleha. We lived alongside them and through them discovered this region and their culture day by day. Thanks to them, we felt secure and welcomed by the local population. Thanks to Afghanaid’s staff in Kabul, especially Holly Ritchie for her advice and her interest in this study. We would also like to thank Charlotte Dufour and Peggy Pascal for their support and to all of our colleagues at Groupe URD. A big thank to staff from the various NGOs that we met in Kabul and in Badakhshan who helped us with our work. Thanks to Habib Haider, the first Afghan person we met, who transmitted his love for his country and its charm to us. Thanks also to Pascale Moity-Maïzi, our Director of Studies in France for her constructive criticism and her investment in this report. Finally, thanks to David, Cédric, Claire and the other French people we met during this period for their friendship. ABSTRACT Using an agrarian systems analysis, Groupe URD requested that we carry out research on farming families’ livelihoods in Baharak, a valley surrounded by high mountains in northeastern Afghanistan. A historical study helped us understand how the valley had adjusted to the population increase in this hostile environment (harsh winters, farming on steep mountain sides). Smallholders have intensified their farming systems, switching from animal husbandry to cultivating poppy, a practice that Muslim leaders have failed to discourage despite the importance of Islam in Baharak society. Given the intensification of poppy cultivation, ‘wheat programmes’ have become increasingly irrelevant. In order to develop a more comprehensive view of household economies, a typology was drawn up underlining the diversity and temporal dynamics of farming systems. Very few farms have the necessary means to be wheat self sufficient. Most farmers have to carry out work elsewhere or develop survival strategies such as farming intensification (vegetables, poppy cultivation) and women working in the fields. Indeed, the gender issue is highly significant in the reconstruction period in Afghanistan. Many development programmes are in favour of a ‘gender approach’ and promoting women’s empowerment, but are these programmes always relevant and appropriate? Significant numbers of ‘women’s programmes’ fail to meet their objectives because they are not adapted to women’s real needs. They often consider women as a coherent group instead of taking into account the diversity of the female population. Moreover, in this post-conflict context, current ‘food security’ programmes focus primarily on the quantity of food consumed rather than on diet quality. But in the long run, nutrition quality gets more important. In that case, a response that focuses on supporting ‘nutrition security’ as opposed to focusing solely on ‘food security’ could be a means of improving the link between relief and development strategies. To meet this goal, women should be targeted as they are responsible for much of the farming and non-farming production and for providing food for the household. Therefore, the majority of women’s tasks are food related and food preparation is the most important part of a woman’s activities. It is important to establish the most appropriate way of addressing nutrition issues and improving nutrition security through women’s programmes. Finally, the main objective of development programmes is to decrease household vulnerability. As a consequence, women’s programmes need to develop a response that benefits both women and men. Similarly, agricultural programmes need to focus on cash crops and provide support for the whole of the crop chain, including sales technique. KEY WORDS: Afghanistan, Farming system, Household economy, Poppy, Wheat, Vegetables, Women, Nutrition CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 1 GENDER ISSUE IS CENTRAL TO RECONSTRUCTION IN AFGHANISTAN ................................... 2 1.1 THE NATIONAL CONTEXT : A POST -CONFLICT SITUATION ................................................................... 2 1.2 MAIN STAKES OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFGHANISTAN ................................................................ 5 1.3 WHAT DIFFICULTIES DO WOMEN ’S PROGRAMMES HAVE TO OVERCOME IN RURAL AFGHANISTAN ?....... 9 1.4 TWO NGO PARTNERS FOR THIS STUDY ........................................................................................ 10 1.5 RESEARCH PROJECT CENTRED ON TWO ISSUES ............................................................................ 11 1.6 METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................................... 11 1.7 LIMITATIONS ............................................................................................................................... 15 2 CONTEXT OF BAHARAK VALLEY ......................................................................................18 2.1 HISTORY OF FARMING INTENSIFICATION ....................................................................................... 18 2.2 WOMEN ’S POSITION IN BAHARAK ................................................................................................. 24 2.3 SOCIAL ORGANISATION TO NATURAL CONSTRAINTS....................................................................... 30 2.4 TYPOLOGY : SIX TYPES OF HOUSEHOLD ........................................................................................ 43 3 HOUSEHOLD ACTIVITY SYSTEMS ......................................................................................51 3.1 WHEAT , FEW VEGETABLES , FEW ANIMALS AND POPPY ................................................................... 51 3.2 NON FARMING ACTIVITIES ............................................................................................................ 69 3.3 CREDIT AND SELLING OFF ASSETS : THE LAST RESORT ................................................................... 72 3.4 TYPOLOGY AND ACTIVITY SYSTEM ................................................................................................ 76 4 WOMEN ’S ROLE IN AGRICULTURE AND IN THE HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY ...............................77 4.1 FEMALE ACTIVITIES IN BAHARAK VALLEY ...................................................................................... 77 4.2 FACTORS INFLUENCING DIVERSITY OF WOMEN ’S ROLES ................................................................. 77 4.3 WOMEN ’S ROLES IN AGRICULTURE ............................................................................................... 80 4.4 ARE WOMEN REALLY ABSENT FROM HH FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT?................................................ 85 5 WOMEN WITHIN FOOD CONSUMPTION DYNAMICS ..............................................................92 5.1 MAIN CHALLENGES OF NUTRITION IN AFGHANISTAN ....................................................................... 92 5.2 DYNAMICS OF FOOD CONSUMPTION IN BAHARAK VALLEY ............................................................... 96 6 IMPACT OF AF GHANAID ’S PROGRAMMES .......................................................................106 6.1 PROGRAMMES FOR VILLAGE ORGANISATIONS ............................................................................ 106 6.2 KITCHEN GARDEN PROGRAMMES ............................................................................................... 106 6.3 WOMEN ’S RESOURCE CENTER PROGRAMME .............................................................................. 109 6.4 FROM WOMEN ’S GROUPS TO SELF HELP GROUPS ..................................................................... 110 6.5 THE DEMONSTRATION PLOT....................................................................................................... 111 6.6 CONTRACT GROWERS ............................................................................................................... 113 6.7 WHEAT DISTRIBUTION ............................................................................................................... 113 6.8 FRUIT AND VEGETABLES ............................................................................................................ 113 6.9 TECHNICAL ADVICE ................................................................................................................... 114 7 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR WOMEN ’S AND FARMERS ’ PROGRAMMES .................................115 7.1 RESPONSES TO THE WORKING HYPOTHESES .............................................................................