Abstract
Land and water access insecurity, land grabbing, and unstable common property status of critical local resources continue to drive conflicts, rural landlessness and environmental problems throughout many areas of Afghanistan where formal government is weak or entirely absent. In contrast to traditional development strategies that favor infrastructure enhancement and backed by enforced national policies, we offer Afghan-specific strategies based on resource conservation and increased capacity of local resource management institutions that can function when and where central government cannot be relied upon to assume or maintain a supportive role. Resource conservation and building local capacity are key components of existing and proposed future efforts to increase stability. However, support for these efforts, whether government or community-based, has been limited in portions of rural Afghanistan , apparently due to low stakeholder confidence in retaining access to improved land, water and other critical resources when international forces withdraw. Powerful individuals and groups, operating outside local community structures, are increasingly impacting land use practices. We suggest a thorough assessment of the present and likely future social environment, including awareness of likely conflicts resulting from agricultural or natural resource improvements, before any tangible actions are taken.
Highlights
More than ten years have passed since the start of the most recent effort to stabilize Afghanistan
Our objective is to identify challenges and review resources available to address rural water and land issues in the portions of Afghanistan expected to remain outside the hypothetically stabilizing influence of the central government
Afghanistan has an arid climate, it is rich in water resources with more than 80 per cent originating from melting mountain snow pack
Summary
Land and water access insecurity, land grabbing, and unstable common property status of critical local resources continue to drive conflicts, rural landlessness and environmental problems throughout many areas of Afghanistan where formal government is weak or entirely absent. Resource conservation and building local capacity are key components of existing and proposed future efforts to increase stability. Support for these efforts, whether government or community-based, has been limited in portions of rural Afghanistan, apparently due to low stakeholder confidence in retaining access to improved land, water and other critical resources when international forces withdraw. We suggest a thorough assessment of the present and likely future social environment, including awareness of likely conflicts resulting from agricultural or natural resource improvements, before any tangible actions are taken
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