Creating economic opportunities for 1,050 food insecure households through layer poultry farming in Pashtun Zarghun and Shindand districts of Hirat province. Afghanistan is plunging deeper into crisis, with the impacts of protracted conflict, drought, and lack of good governance being exacerbated resulting further increases of food and non-food prices, displacement, unemployment, as well as greater insecurity for women and girls. Based on the most recent Afghanistan Humanitarian Need Overview by UNOCHA (January 2022), a total of 24.4 million people are in need of support in 2022 and out of this 9.1 million people are in extreme need of humanitarian support. In Hirat province 2.1 million people are in need of support which shows an increase of 39% compared to this time of the year in 2021. The updated Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC March-November 2022) analysis shows that high acute food insecurity persists across Afghanistan, as a combination of a collapsing economy and drought, nearly 20 million Afghans are classified in Crisis or Emergency (IPC Phases 3 or 4), between March and May 2022 (the lean season).  Among these there are about 6.6 million people in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) and 13 million in Crisis (IPC Phase 3). If we look at the provincial data, 45% in Hirat are living in IPC phase 3 and 4, which shows a very high level of food insecurity in this province. Below-average precipitation during the wet season (2021 - 2022) accompanied with high  agriculture input costs such as seed and fertilizers resulted in a reduced level of winter wheat cultivation, which would likely result in a 7% to 13% reduction in the expected wheat harvest compared to the long-term average. Moreover, as a result of the shocks caused by the recent changes in the country, people have lost their main source of income to support their livelihoods and the poverty rate in the country is increasing rapidly. 

HIHAO is therefore proposing this project to address the two basic needs of the households, food and income. The project will provide a sustainable approach to access food through back-yard layer poultry farming to produce eggs for household consumption and generating income. The project will be implemented in Pashtun Zarghun and Shindand districts of Hirat province over nine months. A total of 1,050 vulnerable and food insecure households will be supported, 480 HHs in Pashtun Zarghun and 570 in Shindand districts benefiting a total of 7,350 individuals in both the districts. 80% of the project participants will be women so that widows and female headed households are not left behind. The selected project participants will receive training on layer poultry farming and business training with a focus on marketing of eggs. they will also receive a set of layer poultry startup kit including 30 chickens (27 hen amp 3 roosters), 150kg feed, 3 feeders, 3 drinkers and material to support the construction and setup of chicken coops. The total value of the startup kit is estimated at $395 for each project participant based on the FSAC response package guidelines. 

The objectives and activities of this project are in line with the one set out in the HRP 2022 and FSAC guidelines. The project will establish income generating activities and build sustainable livelihoods through layer poultry farming. HIHAO has more than ten years of experience working in the poultry value chain in different provinces of Afghanistan including a GIZ funded project during 2019-2021 in Hirat to support 2,500 IDPs and Returnees to create stable and income-generating layer poultry enterprises mostly run by women. Building on lessons learned from previous projects, poultry enterprises are appropriate for women due to the ability to run them as backyard farms. Poultry businesses are also resource-efficient as well as gender-balanced and the poultry sector continues to be considered culturally acceptable as a home-based activity for women. And poultry projects have significantly contributed in improving the nutritional level in the households.