Presentation to showcase findings of Natural Resource Management Research Papers

On 23 January 2018, the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) organised a presentation to showcase findings from a number of research papers at a high-profile event in Kabul, with their authors Dr Antonio Giustozzi and Dr David Mansfield. These papers are part of an EU-funded three-pronged research project focusing on Natural Resources Management (NRM).

AREU Director Dr Orzala Nemat introduced the organisation’s work under NRM, noting that “AREU is grateful to the European Union (EU) for its generous financial support to NRM research for over a decade in Afghanistan, and also to the World Bank for facilitating the contextualization of the Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF) and finally to the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia (CAREC) and USAID for trusting AREU to conduct and complete a water sector needs assessment.”

Several high-ranking Afghan government officials including the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) and the Deputy Minister of Counter Narcotics (MCN) as well as Kabul-based core diplomatic missions representatives, UN officials, national and international organisations, civil society organisations and the media attended the event. The authors provided introductory speeches and presented their reports, followed by two panel discussions and a Q&A session.

The papers were produced with the financial support of the EU and included reports authored by AREU research experts, Dr Antonio Giustozzi and Dr David Mansfield, including:

• Typology of Nomad-Settler Conflicts in Afghanistan, by Dr Antonio Giustozzi
• Truly Unprecedented: How the Helmand Food Zone supported an increase in the province’s capacity to produce opium, by Dr David Mansfield
• Understanding Control and Influence: What opium poppy and tax reveal about the writ of the Afghan State, by Dr David Mansfield

One of the main objectives of the studies is to contribute to improving the quality of life of rural populations by enhancing human capacity and increasing the social and economic development of rural areas.

The event summarised the preliminary findings of the reports and provided the ground for discussing specific gaps identified by the reports. The discussion also generated ideas for further investigation and for formulating policy recommendations.

Panellists for the first discussion included Mr Tahiri Deputy, CEO, Afghanistan Independent Land Authority (Arazi), Mr Wali Mohammad Modaqiq, Deputy Minister Policy and Program, National Environmental Protection Agency, Mr Delawar Faizan, Head of Kochi Commission, and Mr Qazizada, Director of Natural Resources, MAIL.

Panellists for the second discussion included Mr Jawed Ahmad Qayem, Deputy Minister of Counter Narcotics, Mr Shikib Sakhizada, CARD-F, Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) Representative, and Professor Naeem Eqrar, Ground Water expert Faculty of Engineering, Kabul University.

Dr Nemat concluded that high quality evidence-based research papers are beneficial tools not only for the Government of Afghanistan, but also for national and international organisations and institutions involved in policy development work. She stated that “these papers present detailed pictures of specific areas and their recommendations that, if addressed properly, would ultimately help with overcoming the existing problems in relevant sectors.”