Support to vulnerable populations affected by high food price and drought crisis through the provision of quality wheat seed and fertilizer for the autumn 2008 and spring 2009 seasons in Uruzgan province

The project procured 1 015 tonnes of certified wheat seed (slightly more than the originally planned 1 000 tonnes), together with 1 000 tonnes of diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer and 1 000 tonnes of urea fertilizer, for 20 000 farming families in the selected areas for the autumn 2008 planting season. Most beneficiary received a kit comprising 50 kg of wheat seed suitable for irrigated areas, 50 kg of DAP and 50 kg of urea to enable the cultivation of about 0.4 ha of irrigated land. During the transportation of the inputs to project distribution points, 100.85 tonnes of wheat seed, 26.2 tonnes of DAP and 27.9 tonnes of urea were looted by anti-government entities in highly insecure areas. However, the project successfully delivered and distributed 914.15 tonnes of wheat seed, 924.14 tonnes of DAP and 924.15 tonnes of urea to 18 283 beneficiary households.

Project activities included:

• selection of recipient organizations (ROs) as implementing partners;
• selection of project districts and beneficiaries;
• development of technical specifications for the inputs (certified wheat seed, DAP and urea);
• procurement of 1 015 tonnes of certified wheat seed, 1 000 tonnes of DAP and 1 000 tonnes of urea;
• quality control of the inputs;
• delivery of the inputs to the distribution points;
• distribution of inputs to beneficiaries;
• technical training provision to Provincial Department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (DAIL) extension workers and the ROs as well as to other beneficiaries;
• training and workshops on monitoring and evaluation activities (i.e. post-distribution and post-harvest crop performance surveys) provision to DAIL extension workers and RO staff;
• post-distribution survey by an independent third party (Afghan national non-governmental organization [NGO]);
• conduction of a series of radio extension programmes from a station in Kabul; and
• collection of in-kind wheat grain (5 kg per beneficiary) during the 2009 harvest, from beneficiaries, by the ROs, as a reimbursement scheme.