Press Release

USAID announces health and livelihoods program in Ghor

Ghor Province, Afghanistan  | Sunday, September 07, 2008

Over the next three years, USAID will provide over 23,000 metric tons of commodities for the benefit of around 380,000 beneficiaries in Ghor province.  

This multi-year assistance program, funded through USAID’s Food for Peace office and implemented by World Vision Afghanistan, started in August 2008 in five districts of Ghor province.  Ghor is one of the most remote and isolated provinces of Afghanistan and more than half of the population lives below the national poverty line. 

Working with the provincial Ministries of Health and Agriculture, this initiative focuses on reducing food insecurity and improving both the health and livelihoods of vulnerable families in Ghor province.  In addition to providing commodities, USAID aims to reduce malnutrition rates of 233,000 children under five years of age, improve health practices of 80,000 pregnant and lactating women, and work with 5,200 farmers to increase their household incomes through improved agricultural production and marketing opportunities.  Other activities include the creation of demonstration plots, nursery plots, and kitchen gardens. 

According to Dr. Gholam Nabi Yagoua, the Director of the Ghor Department of Public Health, this collaborative effort will improve mother-child health and nutrition throughout the province through training, decreasing communicable diseases, and other interventions.

USAID’s Food for Peace Office also supports the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) operation in Afghanistan.  Over the past year, USAID contributed over 157,000 tons of food at an estimated value of over $162 million USD.