Digital Integration to Amplify Agricultural Extension in Afghanistan (DIAAEA)

The project aimed to test and refine a participatory, video-enabled approach to public agricultural extension in Afghanistan, with the goal of improving agronomic practices and production. The project was implemented in partnership with Afghanistan's Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), the World Bank-assisted National Horticulture and Livestock Project (NHLP), and the USAID-supported Commercial Horticulture and Agriculture Marketing Program (CHAMP). Activities were carried out in Shakar Dara, Mir Bacha Kot, Farza, Kalakan, Qarabagh, Guldara, and Paghman districts in Kabul province and Beshood and Surkh-Rōd districts in Nangarhar province. The project trained 200 individuals working in Afghanistan's public-private extension system as video producers, video disseminators, video editors, or data entry operators to support the delivery of Digital Green's ICT-enabled approach. Among these, 158 extension agents and lead farmers (60 female, 98 male) were trained as video disseminators who facilitated 1,588 screenings of 26 locally-produced videos using battery-operated mobile projectors to 5,073 farmers across 354 farmer groups in 269 villages. Of these farmers, 2,258, or 44.5%, were women. Digital Green also conducted scoping studies to explore the effectiveness of using mobile phones, including an interactive voice response system (IVRS), to support data collection, monitoring, and quality assurance. The quality assurance survey demonstrated that phone interviews may be a reliable way to collect data on practice adoptions, with 97.6% of farmers reporting their adoption and key message recall correctly via phone. The project's cumulative outputs, coupled with the deepening level of interest and commitment on the part of MAIL and NHLP to integrate Digital Green's video-enabled approach into their public extension services, signals the viability and value of the approach in Afghanistan. The project's activities and accomplishments are organized according to the project's approved work plan, which includes establishing relationships with government and NGOs, registration and procurement, and training and capacity building. Digital Green launched the DIAAEA project in consultation with USAID/Afghanistan via a conference call to review the grant agreement and clarify roles and expectations. The project's first quarter was spent finalizing the DIAAEA work plan, monitoring and evaluation plan, branding strategy and marking plan, and environmental review and assessment checklist. The project's implementation was marked by several key accomplishments, including the training of 200 individuals as video producers, video disseminators, video editors, or data entry operators, the facilitation of 1,588 screenings of 26 locally-produced videos to 5,073 farmers, and the completion of scoping studies to explore the effectiveness of using mobile phones for data collection, monitoring, and quality assurance. The project's cumulative outputs and the deepening level of interest and commitment on the part of MAIL and NHLP to integrate Digital Green's video-enabled approach into their public extension services signal the viability and value of the approach in Afghanistan.