Afghans complete self-sustained canal project in Farah Province

HERAT, Afghanistan (Apr. 11) - Engineers and civil affairs members from the Farah Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) met with leadership from the Kineske Council to visit a completed canal cleaning project in Kineske, Afghanistan, April 8, 2010, in an effort to improve the agricultural development in Farah Province.

The canal project will provide clean irrigation for crops such as wheat for residents in Kineske. Financial funding was provided by the PRT, but labor and security was supported by the locals orchestrating the project, eliminating the need for further costs typically needed for contractors and allowing Afghans to run reconstruction projects under their own discretion with minimal oversight from coalition forces.

U.S. Navy Lieutenant Levi Nunley, PRT engineering officer, said, “It is the leadership that is there (in Kineske). It seems like they have a lot of pride, and it gets passed on to the rest of the people.”

Lt. Nunley also said the Kineske leadership insisted on doing all the work themselves from the very beginning of the project in January of this year.

The Kaneske Canal is part of between 15 and 20 canal projects currently being worked on by Afghans in the province as a push to focus on agricultural stability for the people of Afghanistan. Most projects are overseen by United States Agency for International Development (USAID), where they have plans to begin another 15 or 20 canal projects in the near future.

Darren Richardson, United States Department of Agriculture and agricultural advisor to the PRT says the need for Afghans living in the Farah Province to be successful at producing crops is essential, but because of the dry summers, agricultural development is often tough. With an average of three to four inches of rain per year, it is highly necessary to utilize the canals which flow from the Farah River, a source of water derived from the melting snow in nearby mountain areas.

Current and future plans to clean up canals are a critical aspect in expanding the agricultural development and increasing the overall quality of crops produced in the province. As government agencies and the PRT continue to assist the people of Farah Province in obtaining agricultural sustainability, the true success of the situation will be held in the hands of locals, like those in Kineske, who are committed and capable of achieving projects to help those in their communities.