DATES: September 2009 - November 2011

 

This project began in late 2008 as a $60 million one-year project with the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance 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 (GIRoA), 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 was expanded into AVIPA-Plus, where a second wheat seed and fertilizer voucher activity was conducted in the same 18 provinces — though 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 activities, and grants-in-kind to cooperatives. In August 2010, MAIL requested and received a third wheat seed and fertilizer distribution on a national basis; AVIPA-Plus carried out the distribution, expanding to cover 31 provinces (the Japanese – through FAO, and the UK – through DFID, covered the remaining three), and stabilization activities continued in Hilmand and Kandahar provinces. Additional extensions have now increased the AVIPA-Plus budget to its current $474 million. The majority of the project ended in June 2011, but the stabilization work – primarily cash-for-work activities and voucher package distribution – will continue in Kandahar and Hilmand provinces until November 2011.