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 district center.

The USAID-funded Robat road connects three remote villages to the Spin Boldak District Center.  It is expected to have a significant economic impact on the villages in the immediate environs as well as among Kuchi livestock farmers in the surrounding desert who depend on trade with local villages for their livelihood.

District Governor Hajji Abdul Rani said the road improvement comes just in time for the new crop season.  “Melon seeds are in the ground, and in a few weeks buyers will be coming to the area,” he said.  “With a good road we believe we can move more produce than ever before.”

Implemented by the USAID-funded Afghanistan Vouchers for Increased Production in Agriculture (AVIPA) project, the compacted clay and gravel road will greatly reduce transport time between Robat and central areas of Spin Boldak.  “The road opens market and service access by allowing residents unimpeded travel to Spin Boldak,” said Dar Warmke, Provincial Director of the USAID project.  “A trip that once took two hours, depending on weather conditions, can now be traveled in less than half an hour.”

Constructed at a cost of $1.7 million, the rehabilitation included upgrades to irrigation culverts and small bridges and was built by local contractors and work crews hired through the USAID project.  Elders from the villages linked by the road have agreed to ensure the road’s ongoing security.

USAID Field Program Officer Ron Savage noted that the road rehabilitation was a major achievement.  “This was undertaken by consensus of several groups of Afghan government and civil society, a feat which had not been previously achieved in this region,” he said.  “The fact that these groups were willing to come together and agree on the project is a sign of progress in the region.”