The Kunduz, Tahor and Badakhshan regions of Afghanistan have become peaceful and politically stable in the past few years, but the local economy remains underdeveloped, relying entirely on agriculture and trade. As local trade fails to yield high returns, there is a need to expand cross-border trade. To further explore this strategy EF conducted research which found that trade between Afghanistan and neighboring Tajikistan has been limited due to administrative barriers, a lack of infrastructure and a shortage of experienced entrepreneurs.
To confront these obstacles, EF launched its Cross-Border Trade Development project in 2005. Grants were awarded to three Tajik NGOs who began working with neighboring NGOs in Afghanistan to organize trainings, distribute information and initiate dialogue between local officials. One grantee publishes an information and analysis bulletin, Today and Tomorrow. Another established and continues to operate a field consulting center, which to date has provided consultations for over 700 people including 80 Afghan entrepreneurs. Another NGO has offered 40 training sessions, where over 600 women learned how to increase profitability and improve their business reporting, among other things. These activities are now self-sustaining and continue to positively impact the balance of cross-border trade between the two countries.
An independent evaluation of the project results noted that after one particular set of trainings, half of the participants reported a “significant increase” in income. One participant remarked, “[Because of] the trainings we were able to learn and use an updated and more flexible mechanism of crediting which enabled us to increase the number of clients, enhance the credit portfolio turnover and raise our income and profits.” Most significantly, according to data from the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast Statistics Agency, there was an 11 percent increase in the number of entrepreneurs in the region.
While the grants for these projects have been completed, EF is supporting a new program, launched by NGO Sapeda, to eliminate administrative barriers to cross-border trade. The program consists of publishing informational materials, hosting seminars and discussion groups, and will culminate in an international trade fair to be held in Kunduz, Afghanistan in October 2007.
