1. 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)

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

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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”

7. 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

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

9. 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

10. 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.