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NRCS Sends Employees to Afghanistan
PRT's work with Afghan farmers on a construction project |
From September 2003 to date, a half dozen NRCS employees have been selected and
deployed for six-month details serving as ag advisors on provincial
reconstruction teams (PRTs) in Afghanistan. As part of a cooperative program
between USDA and U.S. Department of Defense, PRT’s serve as agriculture advisors
working actively with the PRT Commander, aid organizations, and the national and
local governments to enable, support, and foster reconstruction of the Afghan
agricultural sector and to help build the ability of the central government to
support and provide services to the agricultural sector. Specific projects NRCS
employees have tackled in Afghanistan include working on cotton and soybean
variety trials, animal health issues, water management and irrigation systems,
farm to market roads, greenhouses, farm planning (one individual developed a
specification for land mine removal), obtaining wheat seeds and fertilizer, and
alternative livelihoods to opium poppy production.
See NRCS Conservationist Returns from Afghanistan
Your contact is Melvin Westbrook, Director, NRCS International Programs
Division, at 301-504-2269, or
melvin.westbrook@usda.gov.
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