Population (2004): 29,547,078

Time and again our friends Jan and Mieke had related to us about their stay in Afghanistan back in the early sixties of last century. So, the country had always been on the list that I secretly maintain in the back of my mind. The war that started in 1978, followed by civil-war in 1989 put the idea of a visit to rest, until 2002. In that year the wars had come to an end, as had the drought that had persisted since 1998.

By tradition agriculture is the countries' most important economic sector, but the recent history has given all sectors ruinous blows. The year 2002 marked the beginning of a democratic government build-up, the introduction of law and order, the return of refugees, and economic recovery. Unknowingly Uncle Sam did the country a service by starting a war in Irak, thus deluting terrorist activity. This couldn't take away that by 2004 stability remained far off: the south being uncontrollable, resistance persisting in the east, commanders being in charge of the provinces, poppy cropping up everywhere, development workers getting shot and necessities for the public at large remaining in short supply.

In that context I was running a mission for the evaluation of a rural development and food security programme. My impressions are recorded in a Powerpoint presentation that will be supplied upon request.

Those having broad-band internet facilities on board are invited to open the presentation on the right

to run the underlying file on their computer.

Key

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