Publication: Managing Afghanistan’s Rangelands and Forest Resources: An Assessment of Institutional and Technical Capacity Constraints
Date
2018-06
ISSN
Published
2018-06
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
Afghanistan has been in conflict and
internal turmoil since the early 1970s, which has resulted
in loss of life, insecurity, ethnic division, and
wide-spread damage to the environment and natural resources.
As citizens of one of the poorest nations in the world with
an increasing poverty level that reached 55 percent in
2016-2017, 80 percent of Afghans depend on natural resources
for their daily subsistence. Fodder for livestock, fuel wood
for heating and cooking, water for agriculture and
consumption, medicinal plants and wildlife provide scarce
means for survival and limited trade. The government of
Afghanistan is giving agriculture and natural resource
management utmost priority for development. Current policies
link natural resources management to private sector
development, justice sector reform (land administration),
agriculture development, mineral and resource development,
and human capital development programs. This World Bank
paper that highlights the importance of the rangelands and
forest resources for the country’s sustainable development.
The paper explains the status and role of rangelands and
forest resources for the country’s mostly rural population.
It describes the importance of the sector for boosting
agricultural productivity, addressing climate change and
weather- related natural disasters, and contributing to
rural jobs creation. It further offers some recommendations
on how to revitalize the natural resources management sector
that is critically important in the context of rural
development and Afghanistan’s economy, and is yet often
overlooked and broadly neglected.
Citation
“World Bank. 2018. Managing Afghanistan’s Rangelands and Forest Resources: An Assessment of Institutional and Technical Capacity Constraints. © World Bank, Kabul. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30261 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”