About the AFSA Program

Through the $9.5 million USAID-funded Afghanistan Farm Service Alliance (AFSA), CNFA is laying a strong foundation for long-term agricultural development and increasing rural family incomes by catalyzing the growth of rural Farm Service Centers (FSCs). Farm Service Centers are medium to large-scale wholesale and retail input suppliers that provide an array of products such as fertilizers, seeds, crop protection inputs, agricultural tools and other equipment. FSCs also provide extensive services including machinery rental, processing, veterinary consultation, output marketing and extension training. Each FSC comes equipped with a training facility where professional technical assistance is provided to farmers. FSCs also extend credit to farmers, enabling them to procure high quality inputs that lead to increased production and profits.

To achieve AFSA’s goal of increasing farmers’ incomes, CNFA and its AFSA partners have committed to three primary objectives:

1. Establish sustainable and improved commercial input supply and farm service infrastructure.
2. Ensure that farmers have affordable, timely and reliable access to quality inputs and services.
3. Link farmers to expanding cash market opportunities.

AFSA is committed to a development approach that is sustainable, locally driven, in the interests of Afghan farmers, and has a positive impact on rural incomes. CNFA has drafted a set of Guiding Principles for the Alliance, based on lessons learned from its experience working in Afghanistan’s agricultural sector since 2004. These principles are as follows:

• Critical to developing the agricultural sector in Afghanistan and reducing poverty is promoting the use of quality agricultural inputs and best practices in production.
• The private sector is best suited to provide the inputs and services needed by farmers to improve the quality and quantity of production demanded by expanding cash markets.
• Unbiased participation across the agricultural sector is critical for sustained growth.