Rain-fed land Farming and horticulture

45 AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK

5.2.3 Horticulture

Tenure and size of garden plots Produce from garden plots can be important for Afghanistan households, in terms of supplementation of their consumption diet, as well as their household income. Valuable garden products – especially fruits and nuts – are harvested from horticulture production. Overall, 13 percent of households own a garden plot Table 5.5, but in several provinces – Parwan, Bamyan, Sar-e-Pul, Wardak and Zabul – more substantial shares of households till garden plots. The mean and median size of garden plots are 2.0 and 1.0 jeribs 0.4 and 0.2 ha. respectively, with considerably larger plot sizes in the south-east eastern provinces of Paktika, Ghazni, Zabul and Kandahar. Table 5.5: Households, by access to garden plots, garden plot size in percentages; also stating mean and median garden plot size in jeribs Ownership Percentage No ownership 87.4 Any ownership 12.6 0.1 - 0.9 jeribs 3.4 1.0 - 1.9 jeribs 4.2 2.0 - 3.9 jeribs 3.2 4.0 - 5.9 jeribs 1.0 6.0 - 9.9 jeribs 0.6 10 jeribs or more 0.2 Total 100.0 Mean land size jeribs 2.0 Median land size jeribs 1.0 Horticulture production Grapes and other fruits and nuts from trees are the main products from garden plots, and are produced in large volumes. The yield in 2012 has been considerably larger than in 2011, especially for grapes and other crops. Table 5.6: Crop production from garden plots in spring cultivation season prior to the survey Crop Tonnes 2011 2012 a Grapes 267,706 435,383 Fruitnuts from trees 156,143 160,888 Other fruits 68,414 70,025 Fodder 35,837 33,413 Other produce 36,350 118,033 Other crop 31,831 1,167 a Including estimates for one or more provinces 46 AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK

5.2.4 Farming input costs

NRVA 2011-12 included a limited battery of questions on expenditures for farming input costs. The nearly 1.6 million households engaged in farming together spent an estimated total of 16.5 billion Afs. some 309 million USD on production inputs. For those farming households that did spent anything, the average expenditure amounted to 22 thousand Afs. around 415 USD for the last spring cultivation season. Most was spent on fertilisers 5.2 billion Afs. and seeds 4.1 billion Afs. Figure 5.5. Figure 5.5: National annual farming input costs, by type of production input in million Afs. 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 Fertiliser Seed Machine Labour Other Water 5,218 4,144 3,073 1,455 1,346 1,268 5.4 Livestock 5.4.1 Livestock numbers The livestock sub-sector is another key component in Afghanistan’s economy, but up-to-date statistics are not available. The 2002-03 Afghanistan Livestock Census is the latest comprehensive source of livestock information FAO 2008. Table 5.7 presents the results of this census and NRVA-based estimates on different types of livestock in 2011-12. The NRVA data suggest that the number of cattle is reduced in the years since the livestock census. However, the numbers of small ruminants, especially sheep, have increased. This suggest that these herds are recovering from recent losses due to animal diseases and droughts, and even despite structural problem facing overgrazing, encroachment of pastures by rain-fed agriculture, insecurity and loss of grazing rights. The NRVA 2011-12 data furthermore indicate that 39 percent of the households in Afghanistan own one or more cattle. A distribution by province is presented in Figure 5.6. Goats and sheep are owned by 29 and 31percent of the households, respectively. In rural areas the percentages of ownership of cattle, goats and sheep are, respectively 49, 70 and 77. Chicken-holding households are especially common with 44 percent nationally and 57 and 17 percent for rural and urban households. This is particularly important for women, as these are usually responsible for tending poultry and also may have direct beneits from poultry products. Donkeys, goats and sheep are especially important for Kuchi households, as ownership of these animals in this population is as high as 65, 70 and 77 percent, respectively. Two-thirds of all camels are owned by Kuchis. 47 AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK Table 5.7: Livestock numbers in Livestock Census 2002-03 a and NRVA 2011-12, by animal type in thousands; also stating households with speciied animal type in NRVA 2011-12 in thousands Animal type Census 2002-03 NRVA 2011-12 Animals Households Cattle 3,715 2,854 1,418 Oxen, yaks na 474 326 Horses 142 102 83 Donkeys 1,588 1,519 968 Camels 175 481 98 Goats 7,281 10,445 1,049 Sheep 8,772 18,018 1,108 Chickens 12,156 13,176 1,614 Other poultry 1,022 1,367 237 a The Livestock Census only covered the resident population, NRVA also covers the Kuchi population Figure 5.6: Percentage of households owning any cattle, by province