UNCLASSIFIED // FOUO Agriculture in VSO OEF XIX SOF Academic Week 14-18 MAR 2012

UNCLASSIFIED // FOUO


Agriculture in VSO

OEF XIX SOF Academic Week

14-18 MAR 2012





Purpose: To assist attendees in understanding how to address agriculture within the VSO methodology

Terminal Learning Objectives:

• TLO#1: Attendees understand the significant role agriculture plays in rural Afghanistan• TLO#2: Attendees understand some of the various sources of instability tied to

agriculture in Afghan villages and how it can affect their VSO sites. • TLO#3: Attendees are familiar with USDA, their disposition across the country, their

primary programs, and how to leverage those programs in support of VSO. and the role they can play in VSO Attendees are also familiar with who to contact in CONUS for possible integration into PMT. Attendees are also familiar with how to attend USDA agricultural training events.

• TLO#4: Attendees are familiar with MAIL, their disposition across the country, their primary programs, and how to leverage those programs in support of VSO.

• TLO#5: Attendees are familiar with Provincial Reconstruction Teams and Agricultural Development Teams, their disposition across the country, their primary programs, and how to leverage those programs in support of VSO. Attendees are also familiar with who to contact in CONUS for possible integration into PMT.

• TLO#6: Attendees are familiar with FAF Development (RC-South) and the role they can play in assisting with agriculture

• TLO#7: Attendees familiar with relevant examples of agricultural integration into VSO activities

Terminal Learning Objectives





• Traditional civil affairs activities lead to superficial access and placement. Meeting the population’s true basic development needs automatically creates substantive access, placement, and intelligence.

• Local governance through development.

Why do I care about Agriculture?



Zabul Almond Tree Project



Zabul Almond Tree Project



Zabul ADT Bee Project



GIRoA Challenges

• USG/ISAF Efforts only focused to the District Level– Traditional Development units or General Purpose Forces

hampered by limited buy-in, and the “Commute to War”– Do not have the ability to choose their partners– Often cannot reach far flung or hostile districts

• District Government Outreach Challenges – Civil Servants:

• Unwilling to work in hostile areas• Typically from other areas and don’t have a stake in success• Do not understand local politics or subtle nuances• Appointed to insure patronage networks

• Provincial Ministers– Limited by small staffs, small payroll allocations, small

budgets– Siphoning of funds



Conceptual Gap in ISAF COIN Strategy

Strategic Intent Afghanistan Reality

National National

Provincial Provincial

District and Village District and Village

Re

so

urc

es

of

the

Sta

te

Critical COIN Resource Gap



Filling the COIN Resource Gap



Filling the COIN Resource Gap



Annual Dependant Wealth Cycle



Annual Self-Supporting Wealth Cycle



RADISH

ONIONTOMATOPUMPKIN VEGETABLES

POTATO/OKRA

WATERMELON/CANTELOPEHONEYDEW CAULIFLOWER

SPINACHCARROT

WINTERWHEAT

SPRINGWHEAT

FRUIT SAPLINGPLANTING

MARIJUANA POPPY

PLANTING

VEGETABLES

FRUITWINTER WHEATSPRING WHEAT

MARIJUANA

HARVEST

MELONS CORN

POPPY FIGHTERSTB RETURNW/MONEY

CORN

EDUCATION PROMOTE ALTERNATE CROPS

FOOD PRESERVATION TECHNIQUES

SOIL PREP, PLANTING, & IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES

OTHER VOCATIONAL TRAINING

RC-South Crop Calendar



Badghis Provincial Crop Calendar Example



Focused Development

• Must Break the Dependency Cycle– Individuals/Villages with resource shortfalls are vulnerable

to insurgency or malign powerbrokers– Simply increasing crop yield is ineffective & unsustainable– Increased opportunities must be focused throughout the

value chains• Increasing the individual farmer’s net income must be the

focus– Home Garden– Community based training and initiatives are the key

• Risk for Reward– Successful Projects achieve the buy-in of the village and

thus risk is shared by the community– If they will not accept risk to work with you, then a project

becomes charity and further exacerbates the Dependency Cycle



Socio-Political Destabilization

• Village and Community Isolation is the Enemy’s Goal– Controlling the narrative reinforces the dependency cycle– Increase in idea sharing or simple contact between the

villages and districts dispels the Taliban narrative

• Carpet Bombing CERP vs. Laser Guided CERP– Effective project targeting

• Flooding the economy with CERP and other development money increases instability– Opportunities increase for malign powerbrokers– Increased potential for disputes as villages compete for

resources– Villages become more isolated as a result

• CERP is weapon but you don’t always have to pull the trigger



Simple, Low Cost-Low Input, High Impact



Build on Existing Capacity



Engagement



Transition



Successful Project Implementation

• Sustainability is Key– Projects must be sustainable or Progress will erode and the

dependency cycle will return– No Technology before 1890!!!

• Project Lessons Learned– Large technology intensive projects are largely

unsuccessful trust erodes and dissolution/frustration return– Simple training and small scale projects appeal to farmers– Afghans generally won’t do something until its proven

successful or can be easily demonstrated

• Education – Ideas that can be easily shared among people will spread– Provincial and District workshops are excellent resources

that require little inputs– Agriculture Extension Agents are an excellent tool



USDA Resources

• Agriculture in Afghanistan Training– The 5-day courses are held in Fresno and San Luis Obispo,

CA – Curriculum: USG AG Strategy, Ag development overview,

technical skills, needs assessment, extension skills– The course is made up of 50% classroom work and 50%

field work– Each class has a mix of military, civilian and NGO students

• UC Davis Ag Resources Portal– www.afghanag.ucdavis.edu

– Provincial Overview– Crop Calendars by Province– Resources by Crop Type– Water Management

Techniques– Ag Extension– Post Harvest (Value Chains)

– E-Afghan Ag provides access to experts that can answer questions in as little as 24 hours

– E-Afghan Ag is also available as a remote application on handheld devices (iPad, Kindle fire, Android)

http://www.afghanag.ucdavis.edu/



UC Davis/USDA Reach-back Resources



ADT/PRT Enablers Current• ADT Typically 58 PAX

– 10 PAX Ag SME Team + 2 PAX Engineering– 30 PAX Rifle Platoon/SECFOR– 15-18 PAX HQ Section

• Capabilities– Economically Focused– Expeditionary in Nature, Self securing, can detach Subject Matter Experts to your

team for limited missions – Strong ties/mentor to Provincial Director of AG– CERP project capabilities

• PRT Typically 68-89 PAX– CAT A, CAT B– USDA, USAID, DOS REP, USACE ENG Cell– ~30 PAX Rifle Platoon/SECFOR

• Capabilities– Independent Mobility and Security– Responsible for Governance and Development/ GIRoA Capacity Builders– Leverage with the District Governors to support Village Shuras– Engineering cells can assist with project planning and Class IV materials



State Province Commander Email

• Missouri ADT V – D Nangarhar LTC Beckley brent.beckley@• Missouri ADT VI – F Nangarhar COL Spruill larry.spruill1@• Texas ADT V – D Ghazni COL Gaudsmith robert.gaudsmith@• Texas ADT VI – F Ghazni LTC Hays jet.hays@• Kentucky ADT III-DKandahar COL Mullaney neil.t.mullaney@• Kentucky ADT IV – D Kandahar COL Barrier aaron.t.barrier@• Kentucky ADT V –F Parwan COL Hayter bob.hayter@• Indiana ADT IV – D Khowst COL Halbrook shane.halbrook@• Indiana ADT V – F Khowst COL Grube paul.j.grube@• Nebraska ADT II – D Paktya COL Heng lynn.heng@• Nebraska ADT III – F Paktya COL Curington anita.curington@• Nebraska ADT IV – F Paktya LTC Kneifl donald.kneifl@• Kansas ADT IV – DLaghman LTC Richardson russell.richardson1@• Kansas ADT V – F Laghman COL Jordan jeffery.jordan@• Illinois ADT I – D KunarCOL Allen fred.w.allen@• Wisconsin ADT I – F Kunar COL Feucht darrel.david.feucht@• Wisconsin ADT II – F Kunar COL Schroder john.schroder@• Georgia ADT I – D Logar COL Williams bill.williamsiii@• Georgia ADT II – F Logar COL McGalliardcraig.mcgalliard@• Minnesota ADT I - D Zabul COL Ahlness eric.ahlness@• Mississippi ADT I – F Zabul LTC Hardy john.p.hardy@• Tennessee ADT II – F Zabul LTC Layne beason.layne@• South Carolina ADT II – FHelmand COL Skawski glenn.skawski@

D = Deployed (afghan.swa.army.mil) M = Mobilized (us.army.mil) (at /or heading to Camp Atterbury)

F = Forming (us.army.mil)

ADT Contact Information



SME Contact Information

• Dr. Ellis [email protected], (813) 826-6237

• MSG Ian Gerdes [email protected], (910) 432-3754 (DSN 239)

• CPT Robert Chamberlin [email protected], (813) 827-8426 (DSN 651)

• Mr. Ryan Brewster [email protected], (202) 720-0006

• Mr. Guy Ewald [email protected] , (800) 560-3988

• Mr. Jeff Brandenburg [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]






Documents

UNCLASSIFIED // FOUO Agriculture in VSO OEF XIX SOF Academic Week 14-18 MAR 2012