Agribusiness meets Alternative Development: Lessons for Afghanistan’s licit and illicit commodity markets

The paper questions how various actors who were involved in the Afghanistan Comprehensive Agriculture and Rural Development Facility (CARD-F) have viewed their activities and effects and judged the project’s outcomes. It considers what this reveals about the rationale of the project and its effects on drug economies and processes of development in Afghanistan. This paper is based on a review of CARD-F’s key project documents, relevant policies and previous research. Following an ethnographic approach, the study is based on a series of interviews and observations from CARD-F stakeholders including, the programme staff in Kabul, implementing partners, provincial government officials, private investors, and direct and indirect beneficiaries of CARD-F at district and village levels. Field assessments were carried out in two provinces where the project was implemented: Badakhshan (Khash district) and Nangarhar (Behsud and Kama districts).