The Kandahar Food Zone

program (KFZ)
The program identifies and addresses the drivers of
poppy cultivation in seven targeted districts of
Kandahar Province (Arghistan, Maiwand, Panjwayi,
Takhta Pul, Shawali Kot, Zharai, and Kandahar City).
The work includes improving community
infrastructure, strengthening alternative livelihoods
and supporting small businesses. KFZ also builds the
capacity of the Ministry of Counter Narcotics (MCN)
to provide alternative livelihoods.
ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOODS
The project examines the root causes of poppy cultivation
in the region, and attempts to strengthen and diversify
licit rural livelihoods while providing opportunities for
behavior change through job training.

Alternative livelihood initiatives include:

Establishment of green houses in 7 districts

Pre and post-harvest and marketing training

in 7 districts

Solar drying for fruits and vegetables in 5 districts

Vegetable production and processing jobs for

women in 5 districts

Vocational mechanical maintenance in 6 districts

Vocational training in masonry in 3 districts

International Relief & Development

CAPACITY BUILDING
To grow this effort, IRD also conducted capacity building trainings for MCN staff and its
partners in the area of CBPSA-PC, Gender, GIS and Legal framework (Strategy and Policy).

15 capacity building trainings conducted

266 government officials trained
64 days of training provided

IRD also conducted 44 Community-Based Planning to Support Alternatives of Poppy

Cultivation sessions to allow community members to discuss their needs and grievances.

INFRASTRUCTURE
To improve agricultural infrastructure, IRD rehabilitated 11 irrigation canals in the Panjwai
and Zhari districts of Kandahar province, a total of 143.6 km of canal reaching 19,093 hectares
of agricultural land. These improvements will benefit over 20,000 households and over
228,000 beneficiaries. In addition, the rehabilitation projects provide 1,200 local jobs.

DATA SHARING AND PROCESSING

The final aspect of KFZ is Shamal, a central IT system that captures and processes
informational needs to for program staff and donors through the following functional modules:

Geographic Information System

& Associated Application
Document Management
Project Management
Reporting Dashboards
Data Management Engine
Field Data Collection and
Training Resource Portal

These modules will allow for interaction with

varied datasets in a collaborative environment
with USAID, MCN and other donors and partners.

International Relief & Development