Irrigation Outreach in Afghanistan: Exposure to Afghan Water Security Challenges

Abstract: The authors, from Colorado State University were invited by the United Sates Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agriculture Service and Afghanistan's Ministry for Agriculture Irrigation and Livestock to lead a “train‐the‐trainer” workshop with Afghanistan's best and brightest irrigation outreach professionals. The six day workshop on the outskirts of Kabul helped clarify that prolonged conflict has damaged agriculture's access to what should be a plentiful supply of irrigation water. The violence of two wars still lingers today continuing to inhibit foreign aid's ability to rebuild Afghanistan's water resources infrastructure. In spite of these challenges participants in the workshop demonstrated remarkable resourcefulness and courage helping producers throughout Afghanistan take advantage of improvements as they came online. With continued assistance from Western researchers and extension professionals that is sensitive to the traditional methods of water administration, there is reason to be hopeful for the future success of Afghanistan's agricultural sector.