Address:
- Street # 5 of Syloo, House # 152-153, District 3, Kabul, Afghanistan
- info.afg@dca-af.org
- Sun - Thu: 8.00 AM to 4.00 PM
The KUCHI/CLAP-Project
The KUCHI/CLAP-Project
Project information
Donor/Contractor:
IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) MAIL (Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock)
Period:
February 2014 – December 2022 (activities to be completed end of June 2022)
Area:
Kabul, Parwan, Logar (original provinces); Nangarhar, Balkh, Herat, Baghlan (from 2018)
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Community Livestock and Agricultural Program – Livestock Development among the Kuchi (the CLAP-Kuchi project)
The Kuchi are Afghanistan’s nomadic pastoralists, forming 8-10% of the total population. They live primarily in the rural areas of the country and migrate seasonally with their herds over vast tracts of the country’s rangelands. The Kuchi are a vulnerable population, but one which contributes significantly to the livestock sector. Part of the Kuchi nomads have settled over the last decades, but still consider themselves as Kuchi. The overall goal of the CLAP-Kuchi Program is “to reduce poverty in rural Afghanistan”. More specifically, the project objective is to improve food security for 223,000 poor rural households. The program is organized around three mutually reinforcing components: community development, livestock and agriculture development, and policy support and a young professionals program.
Originally, the CLAP-Kuchi Program should have been closed on 31 December 2019. However, in May 2018, with the provision of additional financing, the closing date of the project has been forwarded to 30 June 2022, and 31 December 2022 respectively. At the same time, the successful livestock activities will be expanded into four new provinces, Nangarhar, Balkh, Herat, and Baghlan, in addition to the original target area of Kabul, Parwan, and Logar. Also, DCA will cover routes of Kuchi beneficiaries during the winter in Laghman and Khost provinces, and during the summer season in Paktya, Panjsher, and Kapisa provinces.
In the years to come, veterinary services, extension services, and value chain activities will be rolled out into the new provinces. There will be even more emphasis on improving the income of settled female Kuchi through small income generating schemes as lamb fattening, poultry, milk processing and wool production. A new activity, made possible through the additional funding, concerns a pilot to genetically improve the native sheep breeds. A research farm will be established, accommodating an elite flock of sheep. The improved offspring will be distributed to carefully selected beneficiaries. It is expected that thanks to the additional funding, the number of benefitting households will increase from 20,000 to 50,000.
