Islamic Government of Afghanistan

• 32 pages
• July 2010

With this new five-year Strategic Intent, MRRD reaffirms its determination to respond to longterm poverty challenges in rural areas. It remains committed to improve the quality of its services while establishing itself as a leader in policy-making for the rural development sector, using its extended presence in the field and its deep understanding of communities for designing evidence-based policies.

MRRD’s ultimate goal is to reduce poverty in rural areas and to pave the way for other actors to complement its endeavours. For MRRD, poverty alleviation can only be pursued by tackling all complex causes of poverty, in a holistic manner. The essence of rural development thus lies in partnerships, which will continue to be nurtured, cultivating a virtuous circle of development. In the complex landscape of rural Afghanistan, MRRD builds on its comparative advantage to address some of the causes of poverty as demonstrated in chart 1.

Over the years, MRRD has demonstrated its capacity to directly address many of the rural communities’ needs through its national programmes, namely the Afghanistan Rural Enterprise Development Programme (AREDP), the National Area Based Development Programme (NABDP), the National Rural Access Programme (NRAP), the National Solidarity Program (NSP) and the Water, Sanitation and Irrigation Programme (WatSIP). MRRD has displayed fairness by granting equitable development to all; through the organization of local level elections, it has provided Afghans with an opportunity to decide for their future; through training, it has built enormous social capital, transforming men and women in thousands of villages, into responsible actors for their own development. Rural people, who constitute the heart of MRRD’s mission, have gained better access to markets and jobs, to education and health facilities and to energy. But above all, MRRD has instilled hope within communities, a feeling that makes rural Afghans believe that everything is possible and that they can change the course of their life.

MRRD’s development models are well established and the successful formula is being replicated elsewhere in Afghanistan and is now being adapted to more challenging and insecure environments. The resultant expansion and increased institutional momentum of MRRD’s five national  programmes are now in a position to contribute even more towards the ANDS and the Agriculture and Rural Development Sector Strategy’s objectives and to advance the Millennium Development Goals agenda. MRRD’s comprehensive rural development approach will also contribute to shaping Afghanistan as a capable regional level partner.

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