Qarabagh District, Afghanistan – March 7, 2010 – As winter winds swept the brown land in November, it was difficult to imagine that the empty fields would soon be covered in a lush and bountiful green carpet of wheat, like in the Qarabagh district in Kabul province. Even before Nowruz, the Afghan New Year celebrated on March 21, which features wheat sprouts in its celebration, the wheat provided by AVIPA has sent up vibrant green shoots – a predictor of an abundant harvest in the coming months.

USAID’s Afghanistan Vouchers for Increased Production in Agriculture (AVIPA) Plus, implemented by IRD, is distributing over 18,000 tons of quality wheat seed, spreading with it a promise of a summer of plenty. In late 2009 and early 2010, the wheat seed was delivered to about one fourth of the farm households across 18 provinces in Afghanistan – from Farah in the west to Badakhshan in the east.

AVIPA’s distribution of wheat seed is helping over 350,000 Afghan farmers to work toward better harvests