Afghanistan PEACE Project Pastoral Engagement, Adaptation and Capacity Enhancement Afghanistan PEACE Project (Pastoral Engagement, Adaptation and Capacity Enhancement) Livestock production project Work with the MAIL and Extensive Livestock Producers (Kuchi)

Worked in 14 Provinces Over the 4.5 year that we have lived and worked in Afghanistan we have communicated directly with nomadic herders

Best Practices and Lessons Learned Any development project that involves agriculture and natural resource management can create conflicts Include a conflict resolution component in all agriculture and natural resource projects so that you provide stakeholders with a way to voice their interests You have a hand-out that provides more detail of each of these. I broke them out into 3 categories. Programmatic practices and those practices related to community involvement and capacity building.

Best Practices and Lessons Learned To ensure the safety of staff (both Afghan and foreign), implementing institutions (Government, INGO, NGO and contractors) must have the trust and buy-in of the community they are trying to help This requires “time” Must spend time with the communities. Money is much less important than time if you are after sustainable development.

Best Practices and Lessons Learned Afghan communities are not comfortable with projects that use weapons to implement development activities (Private security companies or Military) Initially we used local information as our primary security After we gained the trust of the communities, they became our primary source of security This is not an opinion……this was directly from many rural Afghans that we talked with over the years.

Best Practices and Lessons Learned Before initiating any development activity, listen to what the community feels they need Be sure that your activities are aligned with their vision of “useful”

Best Practices and Lessons Learned Community Involvement Risk for communities is a fundamental element that must be considered in any development intervention Using a Community-based approach builds trust among the community and stakeholders Develop a clear understanding of the risk issues for the community Tailor projects to the specific needs of the community within the context of risk

Best Practices and Lessons Learned Community Involvement Use the community as a resource to protect your team when meeting or traveling in the field

Best Practices and Lessons Learned Capacity Building Any best effort requires one-on-one training and mentoring for significant periods of time due to the significant lack of capacity of most Afghans

Some additional Ideas Place USDA professionals with INGO’s instead of embedding them within the Military If an implementing partner cannot work in an area without armed protection, they should not be there. ADT Military can play a development role but coordination with civilians must be discrete Similarly, if the community is not able to protect the implementing partner it is not time for development activities.