Dir Area Support Project

Poverty is widespread and migration is common in this largely mountainous area. Farms are very small and social infrastructure is poor. Although natural resources are limited, there is a good potential for increasing crop and livestock production through new and improved irrigation, crop diversification and better cropping techniques and animal health practices.

The project works to improve the living conditions of poor smallholder farmers, tenant farmers and landless people, including herder families belonging mainly to non-indigenous tribes and to groups of Afghan refugees, who are among the poorest people in the area. Project goals are to:

• introduce agricultural technologies and land-use systems to increase productivity and prevent erosion
• provide basic skills training to young people
• improve roads to provide better access between villages and to major markets in the district
• improve water supply

Source: IFAD