One of the objectives of the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock is to increase sustainable production of high value and staple crops in Afghanistan for income generation, food security and export. Efforts are in progress to tackle constraints along the value chain from production to market and consumers, with emphasis on research and development, capacity development, infrastructural development, credit facilities and market access.
The Ministry responsible to spearhead this development agenda is the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), Afghanistan.
A 15 member delegation, lead by the Deputy Minister for Agricultural Affairs, MAIL, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, were in Malaysia from 17 to 24 February 2012, under a Leadership Seminar and Study Tour organized by the Institute of International Education (IIE) for the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Skill Focus Consultancy, the local partner in Malaysia. The objective of this program was to improve leadership skills, organizational capacity, service delivery processes and to explore key models and best practices. The program comprise of presentations by VIPs, site visits for benchmarking and a dialogue with invited panelist on issues pertaining to agricultural development.
During the panel discussion on 19 February 2012, TFNet CEO, Mr. Yacob Ahmad presented a paper entitled ‘Food supply chain management in tropical fruits – issues and challenges’, and as panelist during the dialogue/panel discussion session. He highlighted various initiatives carried out by countries in the region to improve their tropical fruits industry through identifying weaknesses in the value chains and addressing them with appropriate actions.
Delegates preparing for the panel discussion session at the Afghan MAIL Leadership and Study Tour Program