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Inayet Hadi and Doug McBeeProfessor Deserai CrowPad 5005 Sec.001The Policy Process and Democracy
Logic Model DevelopmentProblem Definition
The reconstruction of the economic infrastructure in Kandahar Province,Afghanistan has decreased significantly since 2005. This has created many problems suchas historically high unemployment, decreased living standard, and increased public moralissues. The foreign aid that is available, is not being spent to address these problems because of the over reliance of foreign contractors who are price gouging, and not usinglocal resources or labor. Government corruption is also hampering the delivery of government services and rebuilding efforts..
Community Needs
Without improved economic infrastructure in key areas of the Province a humancrisis is inevitable. Currently, Kandahar’s labor force is minimally trained due to thirtyyears of instability caused by the Russian invasion, the subsequent civil war, and theTaliban rule. Eighty percent of the population is predominately tied to the agriculturesector. Because of the lack of access to alternative viable income, some of the citizens of Kandahar are turning to growing, harvesting, and transforming the poppy plant into atradeable commodity used in exchanging for consumable products and services from theinternational community.A major incentive to grow poppies is based on the existing poor infrastructure of dams, water canals and pumping stations. They lack capacity to supply licit crops withenough water to grow. On the other hand, the poppy plant requires less water to growand become harvestable with little effort as compared with most food crops such as corn,wheat, rice, and etc... Financing for growing poppies is plentiful from the private sector while financial assistance to the average farmer to grow licit crop is nonexistent either inthe private or public sector.The foreign aid that is available for the reconstruction of Kandahar Province has been given to foreign contractors or stolen by corrupt officials. The work projects that aretaking place have little oversight or accountability either by the Kandahar government or the local citizens. In most cases, local contractors are not aware that a contract is beenawarded and what the stipulations of the contract are. Furthermore, there are no jobtraining programs to address and fill the gaps that are hindering the reconstruction of Kandahar. As a consequence, the lack of skilled labor has had a negative impact on thelocal economy. Most foodstuff items and other nonperishable goods are imported andsupplied from outside the Province.
Desired Results
The desired result for the citizen’s of Kandahar Provinces is to create sustainableemployment opportunities that rebuild the public’s infrastructure to encourage the private1
 
sector to rehabilitate existing factories, and build new ones with a trained localworkforce. While keeping in mind the Kandahar tradition of farming and agriculture, theinfrastructure to support this sector needs to be revived, repaired and improved. Thiswould maximize licit crop output, and allow for growth and distribution of fruits such asgrapes, pomegranates and nuts like pistachios which are local favorites.To limit the over dependence on importing foods that can be grown locally willhelp Kandahar have the ability necessary to have a sustainable economy. The improvedagriculture infrastructure must be dedicated to accomplishing this goal. To keep farmersfrom continuing to plant poppies, local and international law enforcement agenciesshould use a variety of policy tools available that have been successful in other regions.These should include inducements and penalties that would limit and prohibit thecultivation of poppies in Kandahar.
Influential factors
The reasons that infrastructure reconstruction has stalled are easy to state butdifficult to overcome. Growing poppies brings in greater profit than food crops.Insurgents still threaten local citizens who are friendly to the Allied forces. The Americantroops are still fighting the Taliban, AlQuida and chase rumors of Osama Bin Ladinthrough out the country. Both the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), andthe U.S. led Operations Enduring Freedom have both refrained from being directlyinvolved in the eradication of poppy fields.With the arrival of foreign contractors and humanitarian aid workers, greed andcorruption of the local government has become an accepted way of doing business. .The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the next fiscalyear will provide direct funding to the central government of Afghanistan in order todistribute to local governments. The opening of the European Union and United Statesmarkets for Afghanistan agriculture products will help in the successes of creating asustainable economy in Kandahar Province.
Strategies
Kandahar citizens need to be employed and could easily be utilized to rebuild theinfrastructure. The best way to encourage economic growth is to let the communitydevelopment councils (CDC’s) already established throughout the Kandahar Provincedecide how to allocate the funding to meet their needs for a strong economy. They coulddecide what is important for their economic growth, and then provide financial assistancedirectly from the CDC’s while ensuring that funds are allocated in a transparent andaccountable manner. Support the Afghan National Police coordinated with CDC’s toeradicate the poppy fields in Kandahar.
Assumptions
The average citizen is more invested in his country than foreign labors. Skill based training could be implemented at a minimal cost to address many of the labor tradeissues. Existing factories when repaired will produce basic goods manufactured in localfactories thus creating jobs for the citizens of Kandahar. Once the agricultureinfrastructure is repaired the dams and canals could again have water flow sufficient tocontribute to increased agriculture output and trade. There is recognition by the2
 
international community in Afghanistan that reconstruction efforts must be expedited inorder to win hearts and minds of the local citizens. This program can become effective inaddressing the need because of the Afghan value of, "work like a slave, but eat like aKing." It means it is better to earn a living through work then it is to earn a living by begging.
StrategiesAssumptions
* Working with the newlyformed communitydevelopment councils (CDC)established in the variousdistricts of Kandahar provinceto regenerate licit economicactivity.-Funding should begiven to realizable and non-corrupt CDC that can be heldaccountable in a transparentmanner.- Minimize the number of government bureaucraticchannels or middlemen thatcan influence the distributionof financial aid.* Support police units inconsultation with CDC toeradicate poppy fields.* Fixing local infrastructure in Kandahar province will allow trade toincrease.* The average citizen would be more invested in their country than foreignlabor.* Unemployment will decrease when the average Kandahar citizen isgiving the opportunity to work.* Afghan value, "work like a slave, but eat like a King." It means it is better to earn a living through work then it is to earn a living by begging.*Recognition by international community that reconstruction efforts must be expedited.3
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