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Five Rural Businesses to be Launched in Bamian, Hirat
and Balkh
June 21, 2008
 The
National Area-Based Development Program (NABDP) of the
Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development has
taken the first steps in establishing rural enterprises
for potato storage, saffron, almond, carpet and melon in
Bamian, Balkh and Hirat provinces of Afghanistan. The
project will begin on June 20th 2008 and will run for a
year. In total, 480,000 USD will be spent on
establishing the businesses, which will create around
250 direct permanent jobs and more than 1000 indirect
permanent jobs.
As
well as the funding provided for implementation, each
business will be given 50% of the total money they have
invested on their businesses as a grant. The grant
secured from donors ranges from 50,000-60,000 USD for
each of the five enterprises. The majority of the
funding for this initiative is provided by Japan CRD
(Comprehensive Rural Development) while CIDA (Canadian
International Development Agency) is funding the saffron
enterprise in Hirat Province.>>>
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Three
Canal Cleaning Projects Benefit 19,000 Families in
Helmand
20/06/2008
 Through
the National Area-Based Development Program of the
Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, three
canal cleaning projects have been completed, in the last
two months, in Helmand Province, benefiting around
19,000 families. Two of the canals cleaned were in Nawar
District and the other was in Marja District, with a
total cost of US $ 114,520. Through these projects,
94,520 cubic meters of irrigation canal were cleaned,
creating 4,315 labor days for local people.
These
projects were implemented through a tripartite agreement
among MRRD, Community Development Councils and District
Development Assemblies. According to the contract, the
CDCs implemented the projects, the DDAs monitored them
and the Ministry secured the funding from international
donors. In addition to the community contribution of
$11,450 in the shape of labor, almost all the remaining
funding for implementing the projects was provided by a
British donor, the Department for International
Development (DFID).>>>
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The Pace
of Reconstruction Stepping Up in Urozgan
 In the last five months, 12
infrastructure projects have been completed by MRRD’s
National Area-Based Development Program (NABDP) in
Urozgan. The 12 projects include the construction of two
roads, a water intake, a canal, five retaining walls, a
siphon and a school building in various districts of the
province. A 40-meter long bridge was also built in
Tirin Kot, capital of Urozgan.
These projects, 10 of which were financed by the
Netherlands and the remaining two by Belgium, benefited
28,580 residents of the rural districts of the province.
A total of $1,421,779
was spent on these projects.
Furthermore, earlier this
month, Muhammad Ehsan Zia, the Minister of Rural
Rehabilitation and Development signed nine development
projects with Community Development Councils in Urozgan.
These projects will be directly implemented by the
communities while being monitored by the newly
established District Development Assemblies (DDAs).
>>>
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Four
District Development Plans Formulated and another Three
Underway in Kunar Province
 Since
late January 2008, MRRD’s National Area-Based
Development Program established four District
Development Assemblies (DDAs) in Watapur, Chapa Dara,
Asad Abad and Manogai districts of Kunar Province, while
the DDA members also formulated District Development
Plans (DDPs) for their respective districts. The
establishment of another three DDAs, along with the
formulation of DDPs for the districts of Ghazi Abad,
Asmar and Dangam, is currently underway and should be
completed by the end of February.
Each DDA has around 30
members, half of whom are female. As establishing
community institutions such as DDAs, and incorporating
women into these institutions, remains a difficult job
in Kunar province, the facilitating team meet the elders
of the district prior to DDA/DDP establishment and
formulation, persuading them to allow the process to
take place and to let women be mainstreamed into DDAs.
The DDA establishment process for each of the 15
districts of Kunar province, which began in late
January,
>>>
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Rural Afghanistan Lighted Soon
 Almost
all the villages of Afghanistan are deprived of basic
uses of energy as lighting, grinding wheat and corn,
running small businesses needing power etc. In order to
tackle this lack, MRRD's NABDP through its Energy for
Rural Development of Afghanistan (ERDA) initiative is
providing renewable energy for rural communities of
Afghanistan. The types of renewable energy provided
contain wind panels, solar panels, micro-hydropower
turbines, biogas panels and mixed solar-wind panels.
This component, ERDA, is in
its preliminary stage hopefully beginning its field work
and surveys in the near future. To date, the District
Development Plans (DDAs) of 24 provinces have been
reviewed in which 222 renewable energy projects have
been identified. These projects include 198
micro-hydropower panels, 6 solar panels, 6 wind panels,
1 biogas panel and 11 extension projects from available
main power.
>>>
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Dozens of projects completed in Kandahar
 Since
the past six months, in partnership with the
communities, 286 Water Supply & Sanitation and
Irrigation projects have been completed by MRRD's
National Area-Based Development Program in 12 districts
of Kandahar Province offering benefits to around 293,874
families.
Among
these projects, 225 are irrigation and 61 are Water
Supply and Sanitation Projects. The irrigation projects
include canal rehabilitation, canal excavation, Karez
rehabilitation, gabion filling, construction of water
reservoir, washes and intakes, etc. and the Water Supply
& Sanitation Projects include digging shallow and deep
water wells.
The total
cost of these projects was 3,494,306 USD of which
2,877,657 USD was provided by MRRD and the remaining
616,649 USD was community contribution in the shape of
labor.
>>>
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New
Highway Bridge Taking Shape on Arghandab River in
Kandahar
 Through
its National Area-Based Development Programme (NABDP),
the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development
(MRRD) is constructing a 180 meters long bridge on
Arghandab River in the village of Chargholab in Kandahar
province. It is one of NABDP’s biggest infrastructure
projects in the province, with the cost of $876,910
being funded by the Canadian International Development
Agency (CIDA).
The construction work on
the bridge began in February 2007 and will be completed
in August of this year, creating 3000 labour days of
employment for local people. This is a six-metre wide,
one-lane highway bridge which will not only connect the
western areas of Arghandab District with the city of
Kandahar, but also connect the eastern areas of
Arghandab with the District of Khakriz, benefiting 8,570
families.
Khan Aqa 40, a farmer from
Village Chargholab said, “We are looking forward to the
completion of the bridge, as it will enable us to take
our agricultural produce
>>>
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