Creating and strengthening livelihoods is key to achieving Afghanaid’s mission of a peaceful and thriving Afghanistan. We provide Afghans with the skills, tools and knowledge to help themselves, their families and their communities.

By helping men and women to improve their household’s income, we have enabled families to send children to school, consume more nutritious food, access health services, and live with greater dignity.

In 2022, more than 83,500 livelihoods were directly strengthened or diversified through our projects, benefitting over half a million people.

Agriculture

In the areas where Afghanaid works, over 90% of the population is dependent on agriculture as their primary source of income. We help the poorest farmers produce more by teaching them improved farming and animal husbandry techniques.

We also help improve the value of their products and connect them to local markets. By replenishing seeds and animal feed – often lost as a result of natural disasters or failed harvests – Afghanaid makes crucial contributions to families’ food security. In the past four years, our agriculture projects have supported over 100,000 farmers.

Rural livestock owners, who rely on animals for dairy products, winter clothes and transportation to village markets to buy and sell goods, and transport to wells to collect drinking water, often lack the income and tools to ensure their animals’ health and wellbeing. As part of one recent project, Afghanaid provided 2,000 families in central Afghanistan with animal health and welfare training, animal husbandry techniques and access to veterinary services, so they could better care for their livestock, upon which their livelihoods depend.

We also recently completed a 2-year project with The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Badakhshan to provide viable livelihood alternatives for rural farmers who were dependent on the cultivation of illicit opium poppy. By providing farmers with the training, tools and resources they needed to boost their income via licit means, we’ve converted 684.4 hectares of land into licit crop production, helping to increase the monthly income of farmers enrolled on the project by 50%. 

Natural Resource Management

We support communities to strengthen their ability to sustainably manage the natural resources upon which their food security and livelihoods rely. We promote techniques to conserve water, protect and renew forests and rangelands, reduce soil erosion and protect against landslides and flash floods.

In the last three years, our projects have established 71 community-based natural resource management associations, ensuring forests, rangelands, and water resources are managed sustainably and democratically for the benefit of all users  By establishing and training user associations, we allow members to share knowledge and strengthen the capacity of communities to plan and implement projects which improve the management of natural resources. These associations reduce conflict over resources and foster collaboration with relevant governmental ministries.

As a result of our recently completed natural resource management project in northeast Afghanistan: 13,500 families gained more equal access to better managed natural resources, the incidence of landslides and flash floods reduced and household incomes increased.

 Rural Savings and Small Business

In the last three years, we have assisted tens of thousands of men and women with vocational training and tools to start their own businesses, learning lucrative skills ranging from tailoring and embroidery to motorbike repair and carpentry. By diversifying income, these businesses increase the resilience of vulnerable rural households, enabling them to better withstand economic and environmental shocks and invest in their families' futures.

We facilitate the establishment of producer associations, which provide a platform to enable producers to access markets and services, take advantage of economies of scale, and demand higher prices for their products.

We also support the formation of savings groups, enabling impoverished people in rural Afghanistan to accumulate group savings and access credit for their enterprises. We have established 625 of these savings groups in the last 3 years, supporting over 12,360 women.

How you can help

We need your help to feed vulnerable Afghan families. Help us provide this life-saving assistance and donate to our appeal today.