"10,000 acres is a good start, but our vision is well beyond that. By showing farmers success and transferring technology, we believe the people of Afghanistan can assume the lead and turn 10,000 acres into 100,000 in the Eastern region".

- James Ritchie, IFHope Founder and President

Through a range of projects, IFHope is implementing a four-step strategy to revitalize a perennial horticulture industry in the Eastern Region of Afghanistan. These include:

1. Establishing high value agriculture near population centers in high visibility areas
2. Extending orchard establishment to more remote areas and higher elevations
3. Assisting farmers with market linkages and investigating value added opportunities
4. Fostering sustainability through training and capacity building

The first step in IFHope's long term strategy was to establish high visibility orchards, demonstration nurseries and water conserving drip irrigation systems to stimulate interest. As part of a USAID funded Alternative Development Program (ADP) orchard program, nearly 3,800 acres of orchard were planted in the lower elevation districts of the Eastern Region (ADP/E) in 2006. This is giving people an opportunity to see successful orchards and is stimulating interest in more remote districts.

Planting in higher elevations was completed in April 2007, bringing the total to 7,500 acres of orchards planted through the ADP/E. In total IFHope has planted more than ONE MILLION trees in 20 districts in Nangarhar and Laghman provinces. The first trees are beginning to bear fruit.

The next step is to work with the farmers to establish market linkages. As fruit comes into production, farmers need a way to market their fruit for a good return. IFHope works with Grower Associations in partnership with ADP/E and Grower Cooperatives to facilitate better access to markets and market information.

Finally, IFHope is now launching several training and education projects. The goal of this technology transfer phase is to build a base for sustainability. Among these projects are:

• As part of the USAID/ADP orchard establishment program, IFHope fieldstaff are visiting farmers regularly and providing one on one technical assistance for 5,000 farmers. In addition they have conducted orchard management seminars for over 4,000 farmers. IFHope is also in the final stages of developing training materials in conjunction with UC Davis and Iowa State University.
• IFHope is excited to be launching a new project in partnership with the Local Governance and Community Development (LGCD) working with the Ministry of Agriculture to provide field and classroom training to their agriculture extension workers. Following this project the ministry extension staff will be better equipped to work with farmers in establishing new orchards as well as providing technical assistance as the orchards come into production. Through this project an additional 750 acres of orchard, 50 acres of woodlot and 50 women's nurseries will established in USAID priority districts of Laghman and Kunar provinces.
• IFHope is participating with Purdue University and a university consortium including UC Davis, Cornell and Kansas State on The Advancing Afghan Agriculture Alliance (A4). This project will develop agriculture programs at the major agriculture universities in Afghanistan. IFHope is the Eastern Region coordinator and will be hiring the university development coordinator to work with Nangarhar University.

In the future IFHope plans to develop post production activities including basic sorting and packing, packaging, sizing and grading as well as developing value added products to increase the return to the farmer.

When Mercy Corps began an orchard development project in October of 2007 the farmers were at first reluctant to participate since Mercy Corps was new to the area. However, when the farmers found out IFHope was working in partnership with Mercy Corps they said this project will succeed. They said IFHope is the group they know as "the people who do what they say they will" and they were eager to sign up.

In addition to what people actually accomplish, Afghans evaluate how well what someone says they will do matches with what is done. IFHope has been told by villagers and government workers in many districts of the Eastern Region that there are two organizations that stand out above the others from the farmers' and villagers' point of view; IFHope and the ICARDA (International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas)". "They see our guys out in the field every day working with the farmers and providing technical assistance. That has earned IFHope a reputation that we will work very hard to preserve" said Du Bruille.

IFHope was also very honored to receive a copy of a letter sent by the Agriculture Director of Laghman Province to the Ministry of Agriculture in Kabul praising IFHope for doing such good work in Laghman Province. In a meeting with 15 representatives from various ministries in Kabul, the Laghman Agriculture Director was praised for his efforts in fostering agricultural development in Laghman Province. He in turn and said that any success in orchard establishment in his province was due to IFHope.

IFHope is pleased to announce that Mr. Afzal Rashid has accepted the position of Country Director for IFHope. Rashid will leave his position as part of a senior management team with the State of California to begin work at the IFHope office in Kabul in February.

Recently in Afghanistan, Rashid was advisor to the Economic Governance Project of USAID. He has acted as a Deputy Minister of Finance in the absence of one of the three deputies, he was on the steering committee organizing the Berlin Conference convened for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, and participated in drafting the constitution of Afghanistan. Rashid also established the International Development Law Organization's (IDLO) Afghanistan representative office in Kabul.

Additionally, Rashid is a co-author of a textbook in spoken Pashtu and a book on the environment of Afghanistan. He lectures extensively on the issues of Afghan politics and is the founding editor of a newsletter published in three languages.

Rashid is no stranger to IFHope staff. He has been a close friend of Jim Du Bruille, IFHope's Chief of Operations, since 1981 where he taught Du Bruille beginning Pashto in Peshawar, Pakistan, and Du Bruille subsequently sponsored him to immigrate to the United States. Rashid has known IFHope's President/Founder, James Ritchie since 1994, when Rashid, Ritchie and Du Bruille traveled together in southern Afghanistan.

"We applied what we learned the first year, and that along with improved weather has resulted in an extremely good tree survival rate this year"

- Ziarat Gul, Manager of IFHope's 40 member strong field staff.

Phase II of the Eastern Region Orchard Development Project (ERODP), a USAID effort through Alternative Development Program/Eastern Region (ADP/E), was successfully completed in the higher elevations in April bringing total acres planted to 7,500 and partnerships formed with farmers to 5,000.

The overall survival rate of trees was 91% one month after planting, but more than 8 months later the survival rate is still over 86%. "This is a major accomplishment" said Ziarat Gul. "The farmers are responsible for over 80% of the cost and effort to bring the trees into production. This speaks well of farmer commitment and our field staff who make regular visits to the farms with technical support".

IFHope is a US based Non Governmental Organization (NGO) that recognizes and values the tremendous potential of the people of Afghanistan. IFHope has been in Afghanistan since 1998 working in three interrelated areas: economic development, community empowerment, and education. IFHope values partnership rather than competition or duplication of effort and promotes no political or religious agenda.

IFHope Update is a quarterly electronic publication for friends and associates of IFHope and everyone who cares about the people of Afghanistan. A forwarding link can be found at the bottom of the page. Please pass it along!