Afghanistan

High poverty rates and decades of conflict make Afghanistan a particularly challenging, but needful, context for Brooke’s work. Since 2008 we have worked in partnership with DCA Livestock Programs and in 2018 we launched a new partnership with Afghanaid.

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About

At a glance

Afghanistan has 1.6 million working donkeys, horses and mules.

Of the 38.9 million citizens, an estimated 36% live below the national poverty line, and over 80% of equine owning communities fall within this category.

This, along with the exacerbating factors detailed below, creates some serious challenges to welfare of working equines.

22 year old Samar Gul, a beneficiary of the STRAW (Strengthening Animal Welfare) project run by Brooke and Afghanaid.

Take a closer look

There are an estimated 1.6m working equids in Afghanistan; a country where continuous droughts, floods, harsh terrain, political uncertainty and ongoing internal warfare make it one of the most challenging to work in. The United Nation Office reported recently that 93% of the households in Afghanistan are managing their daily lives with less than $2, which shows the extreme level of poverty; in fact, it is estimated that 36% of the total population lives below the national poverty line and over 80% of equine owning communities fall within this category.

The economic dependency of these communities on their equines, and their extreme poverty have forced them to intensively utilize their animals, resulting in extremely poor health and welfare conditions. Some of the main welfare issues include poor body condition, harness wounds, external parasitic infestations, colic and lameness. Traditional practices passed down from generation to generation, such as nostril slitting can often be harmful.

The health system for equines in Afghanistan is weak, with training and services typically focussed on other livestock species. This lack of knowledge and skills in veterinary service providers means that even if owners are able to afford treatment for their equids, it cannot always be found. Additionally, the market is full of not only low-quality, but also fake medicines, crowding out the more expensive legitimate alternatives.

Being more focussed on the productivity of livestock species, there is a complete lack of national level equine-related policies, and animal welfare is an unknown concept. Local and community level policies and practices are mainly controlled by the traditional Shuras (councils), the religious leaders and the CDCs, who do not give priority to working equines.

All of these factors combine to create serious challenges to the daily lives of working equines.

Partners

Brooke has worked in partnership with two organisations in Afghanistan: DCA Livestock Programs and Afghanaid. Working with these organisations, with their experience, expertise and well-established links with communities and government officials, has allowed Brooke to reach equines across nine provinces of the country.

DCA Livestock Programs have worked since 1988 to help Afghan people by boosting the health and production of their livestock. They have received great recognition from government and instituted an 800-strong network of Veterinary Field Units across the country. Brooke has partnered with them since 2008.

Afghanaid is a British humanitarian and development organisation. For close to forty years, they have worked with millions of deprived and excluded families in some of the poorest and most remote communities in Afghanistan. With their years of experience, a majority Afghan team, and a deep understanding of local, cultural and ethnic issues, they have been well-placed to reach some of the most under-served equid-owning communities of the country. Brooke started working with them in 2018.

Our work

How we work

Brooke has worked in Afghanistan since 2008, through two local partner NGOs: DCA Livestock Programs and Afghanaid. Although long-term programmes concluded in 2022, Brooke continues to engage with both organisations as a strategic partner, offering technical knowledge and resources to help further embed equine welfare across the country.

Since 2008 we have worked in partnership with the organisation DCA Livestock Programs to make sustainable improvements to the lives of working equids across several provinces of Afghanistan. DCA Livestock Programs have worked since 1988 to help Afghan people by boosting the health and production of their livestock. They have received great recognition from government and instituted an 800-strong network of Veterinary Field Units across the country.

In 2018, we also entered into a new partnership with Afghanaid. For close to forty years, Afghanaid have worked with millions of deprived, excluded and vulnerable families in some of the poorest and most remote communities in Afghanistan. They build basic services, improve livelihoods, strengthen the rights of women and children, help communities protect against natural disasters and adapt to climate change, and respond to humanitarian emergencies. Their community-led approach gives ordinary Afghans a voice in their own development, making them active participants in shaping the future of their country.

Women taking part in a participatory evaluation session held in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan.

DCA Livestock Programs

From 2018 to 2022, our project with DCA Livestock Programs improved levels of welfare for 50,000 working equids across the provinces of Kabul, Bamyan, Balkh, Samangan and Nangarhar and extend the reach of quality, affordable health and welfare services to 100,000 more.

We achieved this by:

Working to strengthen communities' and owners’ understanding of equine’s health and welfare needs, whilst improving their husbandry and handling practices
Working with children to monitor welfare within their communities and thus instil positive attitudes in the future generation
Strengthening the existing Veterinary Field Unit (VFU) network to enhance private veterinary professional’s skills in treating equine specific disease and injury
Mentoring farriers, harness-makers and traditional healers in welfare-friendly practices and linking them with communities
Helping to improve working conditions and animal welfare facilities in brick kilns
Working with local government officials and community and religious leaders to enhance their understanding of the role equids play in supporting owners’ livelihoods

Although the project concluded in 2022, DCA Livestock Programs remains a strategic partner that Brooke continues to support with training and resources, to enable them to continue embedding equine and animal health and welfare across their work.

Afghanaid

In 2018, we partnered with Afghanaid on a three-year project to concentrate on building a model to tackle the problems being faced by both equids and their owners in Daykundi province, where a lack of income generation opportunities is a key barrier to good levels of equine welfare.

Our Strengthening Animal Welfare (STRAW) project utilised existing networks and relationships to link improved animal health and welfare to strengthened livelihoods and access to markets. STRAW aims work aims to improve animal health and productivity of livestock owned by 4,000 farmers by:

Working with communities to enhance their understanding of animal welfare concepts and the needs of their animals

Mentoring local veterinary professionals and enhancing their skills, using Brooke’s Animal Health Mentoring Framework
Offering training and support to male and female equine owners in income-generating activities (dairy production and orchard management) and creating opportunities for selling this produce

Brooke will continue to act as a strategic technical partner to Afghanaid.

Success stories

"Training helped me realise the value of rest and care for my donkeys"

Tamana is a 30 year old woman who lives in Fateh Mohammad village of Nili district in Daykundi province. She is a mother of four, with a daughter and three sons. Fateh is a Livestock Owner Group (LOG) member and explains “my livelihood relies on my donkey. The daily normal income of my donkey was around 400 to 500 AFN per day. As long as the donkey was working, we could earn this money, but if not we go hungry”.

Fateh says life was so tough before joining the LOG because their animals would often die. She explained that she was not able to identify the causes of the diseases, which killed their working animals, and this made them all vulnerable to unexpected costs and a simultaneous lack of income for food and other necessities. Her donkey, she said, was one of her most valuable assets, and each loss was like the loss of a bread-winning family member.

Donkeys with large loads working on the roadside in Afghanistan.

In 2019, Afghanaid came to my village and selected me as a beneficiary. I was selected as an executive member of a Livestock Owner Group. When the project started I received different trainings; both about animal health and livelihoods. The focus of these trainings was animal welfare and an introduction to the most common diseases in our village and how to control these diseases.

Fateh, Livestock Owner Group (LOG) member

I now understand the importance of vaccination and the importance of why to medicate our animals. I also received trainings about leadership, conflict resolution, bookkeeping and financial management as well as a dairy processing kit, with training of how to make and produce cheese and good quality yogurt. What this project did for me was that I now understand if I want to increase the number of my animals and stop their deaths I have to vaccinate them properly. I should not overload my donkey and not overuse it.

Tamana, 30 year old woman from the Daykundi province

She told STRAW project staff who met with her that she now encourages other livestock owners in her village that they should not overload equids and not overuse them, but rather give them rest and care, recognise the value they bring to respective families, and to protect them from harm or death.

"I am thankful for my donkey, which helps me to support my household’s livelihood”

22-year-old Samar Gul lives with her father, mother, two brothers and two sisters in Khoshkak village in Sang-e Takht Bandar district of Daykundi province. Samar Gul was selected as a STRAW (Strengthening Animal Welfare project) beneficiary in June 2020, when the head of the Community Development Council, who had been contacted by the Afghanaid team, gathered the villagers together in the mosque and informed them about the project.

“When Afghanaid staff came to our village, they explained all about their programmes and about the STRAW project in particular. The criterion for selection was owning an equine animal, which I did - and so they selected me as a project beneficiary. They explained that we would receive different types of training, both theoretical and practical, on animal health and welfare.”

Samar received training in topics including animal rights, vaccination, milking, equine parasites, wound treatment, colic, stable improvement, common diseases and so on. “I do consider all of these issues, now,” Samar Gul says. “For example, I keep my donkey’s living place clean and dry, trim its coat, give it the proper amount of sun, remove its saddle whenever it has finished working, give it water three times a day, feed it properly, and so on.”

Alongside this training, Samar Gul received practical training in dairy processing, learning how to make cheese, yogurt, quroot and butter. The female LOG (Livestock Owner Group) group in her village received a dairy processing kit, including a gas balloon, butter producing machine, pot, basket, knife, ladle, lactometer, stove and cheese making frames.

Being involved in this project was a great life experience for me. I learnt the importance of my equine, which I now understand is a very effective asset for our household’s livelihood. I understand how to take care of it, think about its feeding, stabling, and preventing diseases, wounds and injury. I now realise that nearly all of our household activities rely on our donkey. Receiving enterprise training in dairy processing has helped me stand on my own feet and support my household’s livelihood economically.

Before participating in the project, Samar Gul used to produce quroot, and would sell it in the village through an intermediary, at a very low cost. Through her involvement in the project, she participated in a market linkage event facilitated by the STRAW project. Through this, she found that the man who bought the quroot from her in the village sold it for a much higher price. This year, she was able to sell it directly in the market, and receive the full price that it was worth. “And I didn’t forget that my donkey helped me to carry the quroot from the village to the market,” she said.

Challenges