Afghanistan Rural Livelihoods Program

pipeline

The Rural Livelihoods Program is designed as a Series of Project (SOP) in collaboration with IFC to strengthen priority rural value chains and catalyze private sector investment. The program aims to promote income generation, employment creation, and economic resilience by diversifying rural economic activities and improving productivity, value addition, and market integration across sectors such as horticulture, livestock and dairy, cotton, spices, handicrafts, and tourism, with a strong emphasis on women and youth participation. It supports private sector–led growth through enterprise capacity development, blended finance, and co-financing instruments that expand aggregation, processing, and logistics while reducing investment risks and improving access to commercial finance. Complementary investments in digital solutions, advisory services, and market facilitation will strengthen the rural service ecosystem, enhance coordination among value chain actors, and improve access to information, financial services, and domestic and export markets.