Road to Jobs
Fragile states
Road to Jobs
Bringing decent work to rural households in northern Afghanistan
The project
Road to Jobs (R2J) is a three-year Sida/ILO/Government of Afghanistan project that aims to create more and better jobs in the provinces of Samangan and Balkh in northern Afghanistan.
The project follows a market systems approach to address important underlying constraints inhibiting better growth and employment outcomes, which in turn contribute to improving livelihoods and poverty reduction.
R2J targets poor and vulnerable rural households and income earners who work either in rural communities, or in urban centres and other major centres of employment. The poor are defined as those living on less than US$1.25/day, and disadvantaged/vulnerable groups include women, internally displaced people (IDPs), and migrant workers. R2J aims to facilitate change in a small number of sectors that are important to the economic livelihoods of these target groups.
The overall goal of Road to Jobs (R2J)
The overall goal of the project is to contribute to improved livelihoods and poverty reduction.
The project aims at unleashing the economic potential of the expanding rural road network established by Rural Access Improvement Project (RAIP) implemented by (UNOPS) through improving the underlying pro-poor performance of selected agricultural sub-sectors.
The following was done to set the project on course to achieve this goal:
- Two Participatory Appraisals of Competitive Advantage (PACA) were undertaken, each at the provincial level, to feed up information on local economic opportunities. A number of sectors were selected to implement quick-win interventions including: Sheep and Goats, Dairy, Poultry, Almond, Cotton and Horticulture.
- Six Rapid market Assessments (RMAs) were conducted to identify market systems whose development would serve the projects goal.
- 3 market systems were selected using PACA and RMA analysis, based on clear criteria of growth, inclusiveness, and job creation/improvement potential. These are grape and raisin, cotton and (tentatively) agricultural inputs supply systems.
- 2 in-depth Market Systems Analysis (MSA) for the grape and raisin value chain and cotton value chain were completed.
- A vision for how the grape and raisin market system needs to change, and a clear vision for sustainability were developed.
- A detailed strategic planning of interventions and activities to respond to underlying constraints uncovered in the market systems analysis was carried out.
- A system for monitoring and results measurement based on the Donor Conference on Enterprise Development (DCED) Standard was laid down in a draft manual which is still undergoing refinement.
- A comprehensive gender strategy has been developed.
- Two assessments on child labour and financial services were undertaken and the findings incorporated into the work plan.
- The project document has been revised and project log frame finalised with fine-tuned indicators.
The main achievements of R2J
