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Little work with more income for women Kandahar, Afghanistan
Little work with more income for women Kandahar, Afghanistan
Date 23.nov.2022
Persistent drought together with the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic has led to an alarming food insecurity, and shortage for 95% of the population in Afghanistan. The southwestern provinces of Afghanistan such as Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzghan and Nimroz are affected by the worst food crisis compared to other regions (WFP, 2022).
Nearly, three quarters of poppy production is grown and produced in the mentioned provinces. Various factors such as poverty, unemployment, natural disasters, increased inflation rate, along with political, social, economic, and cultural factors, have extended a deeper engagement in the development of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan. In April 2022, the de facto authorities declared a ban on opium production, which led to a temporary increase in opium prices, and farmers’ fears of losing their income in the absence of legal alternatives to livelihoods led to further food insecurity at a concerning high level.
DCA, with financial assistance of UNODC, established a food security and alternative livelihoods project in 6 districts of Kandahar province to address the humanitarian distress for the people in crisis. The focus of this project is to reduce poppy trade and production in Kandahar through food security and provision of alternate livelihood opportunities for farmers. The goal of this project is to “strengthen food security, improve livelihoods, increase income and create jobs for 3,640 vulnerable households through participation in legal agriculture and value chain development in 6 districts of Kandahar province“.
One of the important activities of the alternative livelihood program is promoting backyard poultry farming for women, which includes poultry management training such as breeding, vaccination, treatment, food preparation, maintaining the hygiene of the poultry farm and providing the opportunity to 150 beneficiaries through the distribution of 30 chickens to each one.
More than eight months have now passed since the implementation of the project and about 15-20% of the mentioned farms have started to produce. As a result, the situation for women and children who were more exposed to food insecurity has now been improved to some extent. In addition, women engaged in this activity earn more income through backyard poultry by reducing working hours.
Akhtar Bibi (pseudonym), one of the beneficiaries of the Poultry Project in Panjwa-e District, Kandahar, shared her experiences of the project’s impact on women’s lives. “We are poor. Before the poultry program, most of us were doing embroidery for men’s clothes. Each of us used to work 12-14 hours in a day for almost three to four months to finish it. But in the end, we would get only 2,500 to 3,000 Afghanis for our hard work. And now we work in our backyard poultry for two hours in a day, although we consume some of the eggs at home as food, but by selling the remaining eggs, we earn between 2,000 and 2,500 Afghanis per month. There is a chance that our income will increase even more.” She added that she has learned all the skills well and hopes to achieve more food variety and income by building a new farm next to the current one.
Another success story was from Bibi Jan one of the poultry beneficiaries who was able through the additional income she earned to keep her daughter at home with her as well as pay her other debts.
