Regional Agricultural Development Program-South April 2014 Monthly Report

The program focuses on improving the productivity and profitability of the wheat, high value crops, and livestock value chains, while addressing policy, legal, and regulatory constraints affecting value chain development. RADP-S supports the consolidation of licit economies to fuel sustainable long-term economic growth, including providing alternatives to poppy cultivation. The implementation approach of RADP-S dovetails with Afghan and U.S. government strategies in its focus on advancing food security, regenerating agribusiness, and increasing agriculture sector jobs and incomes. RADP-S aims to strengthen the capacity of producers, associations, traders, and agribusinesses to respond to market demands; facilitate lasting market linkages between value chain actors; and support an enabling environment that allows the private sector to thrive. The program places the Afghan private sector at the forefront of implementation and addresses key crosscutting issues of women's empowerment, agribusiness value chain facilitation, and alternative development in all facets of the program. During the month of April, RADP-S continued to aggressively position itself to roll out implementation of capacity-building activities immediately upon execution of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock (MAIL) and USAID. Employing the expertise of RADP-S' Productivity and Production Unit (PPU) and the technical specialists of RADP-S' key implementing partners (KIPs), the project consolidated training modules and brought the total number of completed capacity-building curricula for the wheat and high value crop value chains to 29. These curricula will guide the productivity and production interventions carried out by KIP master trainers and lead farmers at the district level. RADP-S' KIPs – the Afghan Development Association (ADA) and Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (CHA) – continued to roll out the Enabling Environment Constraint Survey, developed and designed by the RADP-S Enabling Environment Unit. In April, the survey targeted stakeholders in the project's selected value chains for the purpose of identifying major enabling environment constraints, with particular emphasis on agro-chemical use, high value vegetable production, and women's role within agricultural value chains. By the close of the reporting period, the KIPs had conducted 543 survey interviews across Kandahar, Zabul, Helmand, and Uruzgan provinces. To support and expand on the survey data, RADP-S' Enabling Environment Unit conducted ten focus groups which generated more in-depth information on the enabling environment constraints. The RADP-S Productivity and Production Unit (PPU) worked closely with the technical specialists of RADP-S' key implementing partners (KIPs) to develop and finalize the training modules for the wheat and high value crop value chains. The training modules will guide the productivity and production interventions carried out by KIP master trainers and lead farmers at the district level. The training modules focus on improving the productivity and profitability of the wheat, high value crops, and livestock value chains, while addressing policy, legal, and regulatory constraints affecting value chain development. The RADP-S Enabling Environment Unit conducted ten focus groups to gather more in-depth information on the enabling environment constraints. The focus groups targeted stakeholders in the project's selected value chains, including agro-chemical use, high value vegetable production, and women's role within agricultural value chains. The focus groups generated valuable information on the enabling environment constraints and will inform the development of strategies to address these constraints. The RADP-S Enabling Environment Unit will use the information gathered from the focus groups to develop and implement strategies to address the enabling environment constraints and support the development of the agricultural sector in the provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul, and Uruzgan.