This project began in late 2008, as a $60 million one-year project with the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), designed in close cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), and jointly funded by USAID, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID), to address the 2008 food crisis.  Vouchers were provided to selected farmers (the “vulnerable but viable”) across 18 northeastern, northern, central, and western provinces entitling farmers to pay only a basic cost-share of 15 percent for improved wheat seed and fertilizer.  In June 2009, AVIPA expanded into AVIPA Plus, where a second wheat seed and fertilizer voucher program was conducted in the same 18 provinces, although the co-pay was increased to 35 percent, and a stabilization component was added to support coalition efforts in Hilmand and Kandahar provinces.  The project’s value increased to $360 million, and stabilization activities include agriculturally-based “hold” activities such as vouchers for horticultural seeds and tools, cash-for-work programs and grants-in-kind to cooperatives.  In August 2010, MAIL requested a third wheat seed and fertilizer distribution on a national basis.  AVIPA Plus is currently undertaking this distribution, expanding to cover 31 provinces (the Japanese through FAO and UK’s DFID will cover the remaining three), while stabilization activities continue in Hilmand and Kandahar provinces.  The third distribution increased the AVIPA Plus budget to its current $431 million. 

Related Stories

Seed and Fertilizer Bring Prosperity

23 April 2011 | Kandahar, Afghanistan

IRD/AVIPA Plus The seed and fertilizer distribution will impact more than 7,000 farmers in Kandahar City’s Dand District, an area that is enjoying the...

Harvests Increase by Thirty Percent

13 November 2010 | Arghandab, Afghanistan

It’s harvest time again in Arghandab, in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar.  At an orchard near the village of Mian Juy, pickers on high...

Announcements

Affordable Seeds and Fertilizer Reduce Afghanistan’s Food Crisis

15 March 2009 | Kabul, Afghanistan

More than six million Afghans do not have enough to eat, partially due to drought.   USAID, in partnership with the Afghan government and the private sector,...

In The News

پروژه سرک (USAID) دسترسی به قریه جات دور دست سپین بولدک را فراهم نمود

12 March 2011 | Kandahar Province, Afghanistan

ولایت کندهار، افغانستان/ 12 مارچ 2011 (19 حوت 1389)- 28.3 کیلومتر سرک که سه قریه دوردست ولایت کندهار را باهم...

USAID Road Project Provides Access To Remote Spin Boldak Villages

12 March 2011 | Kandahar Province, Afghanistan

IRD/AVIPA Plus The Spin Boldak District Governor (center) and village elders inaugurate the new 28.3 kilometer Robat Road that connects three villages with the...