PEACE Project

Improving livestock production in Afghanistan

CMEP provided specialist plant identification services for the PEACE Project in Afghanistan.

Since July 2006, Texas A&M University (TAMU) in collaboration with the University of California-Davis, USAID and the Government of Afghanistan (GoA), has been implementing a program to reduce the social and economic risks associated with extensive livestock production in Afghanistan.

The focus of this program, termed the PEACE (Pastoral Engagement, Adaptation, and Capacity Enhancement) Project is to provide nomadic herders and the GoA with information on emerging forage conditions and market prices, for planning, mitigation and response purposes. The PEACE Project is also building the capacity of GoA staff so they can conduct research themselves; and Afghanistan’s herders, the Kuchi, so they can peacefully mediate conflicts among themselves and with local villagers of other identities.

Afghanistan has approximately 3500-5000 plant species. A series of conflicts over the last 40 years have left Afghanistan without the skills and resources for conducting research or reliably identifying plant species.

CMEP staff used their floristic knowledge of SW Asia, along with RBGE institutional expertise and resources, to provide accurate plant identifications.