Afghanistan—Incentives Driving Economic Alternatives for the North, East, and West (IDEA-NEW)

The Incentives Driving Economic Alternatives for the North, East, and West (IDEA-NEW) program dissuaded Afghans from growing poppy by increasing access to licit, commercially viable, alternative sources of income.

Sample Activities

• Respond rapidly to community-identified needs—for roads, water, power, local reconstruction—with projects that foster trust and infuse communities with jobs and income.
• Build on those gains with long-term projects focusing on sustainable growth in agriculture and rural development. IDEA-NEW is working in 15 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces and 152 priority districts.

Select Results

• Created 55,041 full-time equivalent jobs in agriculture, community-constructed infrastructure, and rural-business development projects and paid more than $7.8 million in wages.
• Benefited 1,089,356 families through community-constructed infrastructure projects, agriculture-voucher programs, grants, and capacity-building activities.
• Expanded 14,522 hectares of alternative crops under cultivation.
• Trained 497,009 farmers on approaches to increase agriculture productivity and 2,577 government line staff in areas related to their work.
• Provided training to 15,347 business owners to improve their business skills and increase their sales.
• Facilitated more than $8.1 million in agricultural exports.
• IDEA-NEW prioritized local procurement and procured $13 million from Afghan vendors.
• Provided improved care and management for more than 9.4 million livestock.