Community-Led Nature Based Solutions in Afghanistan

Funded by the European Union, the Inclusive Livelihoods Recovery and Community Resilience in Afghanistan (FARAGIR) is a 3-year programme (January 2023 to December 2025) implemented by Concern Worldwide, Welthungerhilfe, Handicap International and lead local partner, Afghanaid in 6 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. Concern is working in 2 of these provinces, Takhar and Badakhshan in the Northeast of the country, across 45 communities.

FARAGIR’s overall goal is to safeguard the livelihoods and food security of the Afghan population and mitigate the impact of the humanitarian crisis in the country, preventing increased instability with severe security and migratory spillover effects for neighbouring countries and the wider region. The project aims to achieve the following objectives: 

1. To strengthen and increase community-based employment, income-generating opportunities, and opportunities for micro and small businesses, particularly for women and people with disabilities.
2. To enhance food security in rural communities through improved climate sustainable production and processing capacity, and enhanced watershed and natural resource management.

As part of the programme, Concern has been implementing a Nature-based Solutions  approach to watershed management in 4 villages. Watershed management is the sustainable management of both land and water resources within a watershed (a geographic area in which all the water that falls it, drains into a common body of water such as a river or sea), to prevent flooding, enhance water quality and support ecosystem health.

This learning paper explores how community-driven nature-based solutions can simultaneously support watershed restoration, livelihood improvement, and climate resilience.