ActionAid Begins Cash for Work Program in Northern Afghanistan
ActionAid’s new Cash for Work program in Northern Afghanistan is providing 8,000 poor and excluded Afghan families with the opportunity to earn a livelihood and secure food, while improving their nation’s infrastructure.
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The ongoing program in the Balakh and Jawjan provinces provides Afghans with the opportunity to garden, and build and restore canals used to irrigate crops on previously barren land. In exchange, workers are improving their communities and receiving money to feed their families.
“I was always in debt to local shops near my village because I have to borrow food to feed my family, until they got tired of giving me a loan,” said Jamila, a widow living in Qurbaqa Ariq village with her five children.
“ActionAid then came and helped me establish gardening in my backyard,” she added. “I was able to buy a water pump and pipes for 1,200 Afghanis (24 USD) for my tomato, ladyfinger, melon, pepper and eggplant produce. We are no longer starving.”
In both of the Northern provinces, ActionAid is involved with longer-term projects designed to improve the country's infrastructure.
“We are currently working on existing dysfunctional canals in order to rehabilitate irrigation system in seven villages covering about 1,800 families,” said Dr. Bashir Noori, ActionAid’s Balkh provincial support unit manager.
Many households in the area typically rely on bread, tea and sugar as their staple foods. By teaching Afghans how to grow their own fruits and vegetables, their diets are improving.
Supported by the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office, ActionAid’s Cash for Work program is only a portion of our strategy to improve food security for millions of Afghans.
Although life remains unpredictable, ActionAid is on the ground working alongside marginalized groups to eradicate poverty.
Afghanistan has a long road ahead as it works to rebuild its infrastructure, education sector, empower women and ensure food security is a reality for everyone. Although the tasks are daunting, ActionAid and Afghans are making small strides everyday towards ending poverty and injustice.
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