Sustaining Rural Afghanistan under Limited Central Government Influence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5334/sta.bkKeywords:
Afghanistan, stability operations, land tenure, integrated watershed managementAbstract
Land and water access insecurity, land grabbing, and unstable common property status of critical local resources continue to drive conflicts, rural landlessness and environmental problems throughout many areas of Afghanistan where formal government is weak or entirely absent. In contrast to traditional development strategies that favor infrastructure enhancement and backed by enforced national policies, we offer Afghan-specific strategies based on resource conservation and increased capacity of local resource management institutions that can function when and where central government cannot be relied upon to assume or maintain a supportive role. Resource conservation and building local capacity are key components of existing and proposed future efforts to increase stability. However, support for these efforts, whether government or community-based, has been limited in portions of rural Afghanistan , apparently due to low stakeholder confidence in retaining access to improved land, water and other critical resources when international forces withdraw. Powerful individuals and groups, operating outside local community structures, are increasingly impacting land use practices. We suggest a thorough assessment of the present and likely future social environment, including awareness of likely conflicts resulting from agricultural or natural resource improvements, before any tangible actions are taken.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2013 The Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).