Capacity Building at Ag Ministry Vital to Afghan Farmers, Private-Sector Development
Arlington, Va. - The Office of Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction today released an audit showing the U.S. Embassy in Kabul has been unable to gauge progress in building up Afghanistan's Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) due to insufficient or incomplete data. SIGAR also found lack of coordination and integration among U.S. agencies involved in building the Afghans' ability to provide agriculture programs and services.
SIGAR concludes the Embassy is unable to evaluate whether the U.S. strategy of building capacity at the ministry is working or whether resources are being used properly. In addition, the Embassy cannot identify changes needed to improve the effectiveness of the program and ensure sustainable results.
"Since 2002 the United States has invested more than $1 billion to develop Afghanistan's agriculture sector, which has been devastated by decades of war and neglect," said Acting Special Inspector General Steven J Trent.
"Building MAIL into a viable institution will help ensure that U.S. efforts to build the agriculture sector are a success, and it will help the Afghans stand on their own and reduce their dependence on the United States and other donors."
Background:
In Afghanistan today, between 65 and 80 percent of the population depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Last year the United States specifically made it a priority to build capacity at the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, devoting $77 million to this effort.
Building capacity at MAIL is important because by 2012, the United States and other donors plan to channel at least 50 percent of development assistance directly through the Afghan government. MAIL will be a key recipient of this assistance. In addition, Afghanistan needs strong national institutions as the United States prepares to hand over security responsibility in 2014.
As part of U.S. strategy, agricultural advisors and agribusiness development teams from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Agency for International Development and the Department of Defense have been deployed throughout Afghanistan.
SIGAR's audit assesses the extent to which U.S. capacity-building programs and activities in agriculture are coordinated and integrated; and assesses progress in building MAIL's capacity in Kabul and at its provincial offices.
Key findings:
Despite U.S. Embassy steps to better coordinate and integrate programs to build capacity at MAIL, U.S. agencies continue to implement numerous programs and activities without sufficient guidance and means of evaluating their efforts. This reduces the Embassy's ability to capitalize on individual agencies' efforts and limits its ability to make necessary strategic and programmatic changes.
Better coordination and assessments of U.S. capacity-building efforts are critical to ensuring that MAIL can manage and sustain programs put in place by the United States and other donors, can ensure food security, and can foster enough economic growth to reduce the Afghan government's dependence on donors.
SIGAR makes five recommendations to the U.S. Ambassador to improve the management and integration of U.S. capacity-building programs for MAIL, and to better ensure the long-term sustainability of U.S.-funded agriculture projects. In comments attached to the audit, the U.S. Embassy concurred with SIGAR's recommendations.
The audit (SIGAR Audit 12-1; "Actions Needed to Better Assess and Coordinate Capacity-Building Efforts at the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock") may be found on the SIGAR website at https://www.sigar.mil/.