Afghanistan
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Photo: Toni Greaves for Mercy Corps
Our strategy
Improve the quality of life of ordinary citizens by strengthening sustainable, legitimate livelihoods.
The context
Decades of ongoing conflict, political instability, drought and economic chaos has left Afghanistan one of the world’s poorest and unstable nations. Eighty-five percent of the population relies on agriculture and natural resource-based livelihoods, leaving them vulnerable in a precarious economy.
Our work
- Agriculture & Food: Increasing farmers' production through training, infrastructure and links to local and global markets
- Economic opportunity: Providing training and work opportunities in areas ranging from road-building to poultry farming
- Water: Supporting equal, sustainable access to water resources for farmers
- Women & Gender: Helping women learn job skills and start small businesses
All stories about Afghanistan
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Afghanistan: Continued Insecurity in Southern Afghanistan Causes Concern June 6, 2003
Mercy Corps and other aid organizations, facing attacks and threats from resurgent Taliban and al-Qaida forces, are retreating from areas of Afghanistan where some have worked for 16 years.
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Afghanistan: Curing the blindness of Afghanistan's illiteracy June 5, 2003
"He walked into my office last year in April and told me, to my surprise, that he was quitting even though his contract was not about to end," remembers Joerg Denker, Senior Program Manager for Mercy Corps in North Afghanistan.
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Afghanistan: Finding a Common Ground in Kabul June 2, 2003
Noorya and Delary don't have much in common. They live in the same sub-district of Kabul but they had never met or seen each other until they registered for work with Mercy Corps.
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Afghanistan: The Strange World of Kabul April 23, 2003
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Afghanistan: Journey to Afghanistan April 11, 2003
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Afghanistan: Rubina's Story of Friendship and Hope March 7, 2003
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Afghanistan: Aid Groups Raise Concerns on Use of Coalition Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan March 4, 2003
In Kabul, late November 2002, the U.S.-led Coalition Forces in Afghanistan first presented to the international humanitarian community their new concept for deploying "Joint Regional Teams," now relabeled Provincial Reconstruction Teams, or PRTs.
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Afghanistan: Civil Society in Afghanistan: A Framework for Long-term Impact February 18, 2003
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Afghanistan: A Difficult Balance: Building Local Capacity in Southern Afghanistan February 3, 2003
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Afghanistan: New Beginnings in Northern Afghanistan January 24, 2003
"I want to spend a little and do big things," says Dr. Mohammad Nasser Foushanji, Mercy Corps' Finance Manager and Liaison Officer for Local Government in northern Afghanistan. Not a surprising statement coming from a man who has already done many very big things in his life.