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2. Are agriculture and nutrition policies and practice coherent? Stakeholder evidence from Afghanistan
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Poole, Nigel (author), Echavez, Chona (author), and Rowland, Dominic (author)
- Format:
- Online journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2018-12
- Published:
- Springer Netherlands
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10241
- Journal Title:
- Food Security
- Journal Title Details:
- 10(6) : 1577–1601
- Notes:
- Online ISSN: 1876-4525 Print ISSN: 1876-4517, Via online journal., Despite recent improvements in the national average, stunting levels in Afghanistan exceed 70% in some Provinces. Agriculture serves as the main source of livelihood for over half of the population and has the potential to be a strong driver of a reduction in under-nutrition. This article reports research conducted through interviews with stakeholders in agriculture and nutrition in the capital, Kabul, and four provinces of Afghanistan, to gain a better understanding of the institutional and political factors surrounding policy making and the nutrition-sensitivity of agriculture. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 46 stakeholders from central government and four provinces, including staff from international organizations, NGOs and universities. We found evidence of interdisciplinary communication at the central level and within Provinces, but little evidence of vertical coordination in policy formulation and implementation between the centre and Provinces. Policy formulation and decision making were largely sectoral, top-down, and poorly contextualised. The weaknesses identified in policy formulation, focus, knowledge management, and human and financial resources inhibit the orientation of national agricultural development strategies towards nutrition-sensitivity. Integrating agriculture and nutrition policies requires explicit leadership from the centre. However, effectiveness of a food-based approach to reducing nutrition insecurity will depend on decentralising policy ownership to the regions and provinces through stronger subnational governance. Security and humanitarian considerations point to the need to manage and integrate in a deliberate way the acute humanitarian care and long-term development needs, of which malnutrition is just one element.
3. Climate change vulnerability and adaptation strategies for smallholder farmers in Yangi Qala District, Takhar, Afghanistan
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Omerkhil, Najibullah (author), Chand, Tara (author), Valente, Donatella (author), Alatalo, Juha M (author), and Pandey, Rajiv (author)
- Format:
- Journal article
- Publication Date:
- 2020-03
- Published:
- Science Direct
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 121 Document Number: D11091
- Journal Title:
- Ecological Indicators
- Notes:
- 10 pages., Smallholder farmers in Afghanistan are already facing various risks in agricultural production due to past continuous insurgencies. Climate change is likely to amplify the risk and make them even more vulnerable. The present study attempted to evaluate the vulnerability profiles of smallholder farmers due to climate change using the IPCC Framework. Primary data on relevant parameters for assessing climate change-led social vulnerability in the region were collected by classifying study region into two zones: the plain and the hills of Yangi Qala District in Takhar province, Afghanistan. Thirteen villages from each zone were selected at random, and face-to-face interviews were conducted with ten randomly selected households in each of the selected villages in both zones based on a pre-tested questionnaire. The questionnaire contained indicators for all three dimensions of vulnerability: exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The collected data were subjected to a proposed vulnerability index, after estimating the indices of the three dimensions of vulnerability. The Iyenger and Sudershan weighting method was used to assess the contribution of each vulnerability dimension. Vulnerability was classified according to different categories based on beta distribution to evaluate the villages’ vulnerability status. The results showed that about 23% of all 26 sampled villages in both zones had low exposure, 26% moderate exposure and 51% high exposure to climate-change hazards and extreme weather events. High sensitivity was observed in 51%, moderate sensitivity in 7%, and low sensitivity in 42% of villages. High adaptive capacity to climate change was observed in 38% of villages, 19% were moderately adaptive and 42% showed a low adaptive capacity. High vulnerability was observed in 50% of villages, 4% were moderately vulnerable, and 46% had low vulnerability. A high proportion of smallholder farmers in the hilly zone in the sampled district were highly vulnerable, exposed and sensitive with a low adaptive capacity to climate change compared to the plain zone. The high vulnerability in the hilly zone was attributed to limited resources with a low adjustment capability to counter the disturbances, especially in crop cultivation, in response to climate change. A handful of low-cost and local approaches such as improving farmer extension services, introducing small-scale local infrastructure projects, reinforcing informal safety nets and protecting natural ecosystems could be viable cost-effective options that would also be sustainable given their low recurring costs and the limited maintenance required.
4. Politics of the principle of oxymoron: the USDA's organizational rhetoric on the reconstruction of Afghanistan and Iraq
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Singer, Ross (author)
- Format:
- conference papers
- Publication Date:
- 2008
- Published:
- USA
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 156 Document Number: D07219
- Journal Title:
- National Communication Association
- Journal Title Details:
- Conference Papers
5. RAMP guidelines for establishing farmer demonstration plots
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Woods, John L. (author)
- Format:
- Report
- Publication Date:
- 2003-11
- Published:
- Afghanistan
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 196 Document Number: D08034
- Notes:
- John L. Woods Collection, Involves Rebuilding Afghanistan’s Agricultural Market Program (RAMP). Project of Chemonics International, Inc., Washington, D. C., funded by the U. S. Agency for International Development, Washington, D. C. 6 pages.
6. RAMP guidelines for gathering information on farmers and key stakeholder groups
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Woods, John L. (author)
- Format:
- Report
- Publication Date:
- 2003-11
- Published:
- Afghanistan
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 196 Document Number: D08035
- Notes:
- John L. Woods Collection, Involves Rebuilding Afghanistan’s Agricultural Market Program (RAMP). Project of Chemonics International, Inc., Washington, D. C.,, funded by the U. S. Agency for International Development, Washington, D. C. 5 pages.
7. RAMP guidelines for producing best practices fact sheets
- Collection:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
- Contributers:
- Woods, John L. (author)
- Format:
- Report
- Publication Date:
- 2003-11
- Published:
- Afghanistan
- Location:
- Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 196 Document Number: D08036
- Notes:
- John L. Woods Collection, Involves Rebuilding Afghanistan’s Agricultural Market Program (RAMP). Project of Chemonics International, Inc., Washington, D. C., funded by the U. S. Agency for International Development, Washington, D. C. 6 pages.