name: Agri-Input Dealer Training and Development Project
text: Toward the end of 2003, a larger and more comprehensive USAID-funded development program was launched. â€œRebuilding the Agricultural Markets in Afghanistan Programâ€ (RAMP) is managed by Chemonics International, Inc., with IFDC as a consortium partner. In this project IFDC is conducting a 30-month Agri-Input Dealer Training and Development Project (AIDTDP). AIDTDP began operations in February 2004 with a central office in Kabul and five regional offices in Helmand, Jalalabad, Herat, Kandahar, and Mazar-i Sharif to cover all of the provinces in the country. Since May 2004, 39 training programs have been conducted in the local languages (Dari and Pashtu); 1,332 dealers in 20 provinces were trained in the basic technology of seed, fertilizers, crop protection products (CPPs), and the fundamentals of retail management. Extension department and NGO staff have also been trained in these programs. Linkages between the traders and the regional and international inputs suppliers and banks are also being developed.
  
  Several crop production technology booklets, recommendation charts, and other technical information have been produced in Dari and Pashtu and distributed widely through the dealer network. The project is working closely with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Food to help formulate policies that will be conducive to the development of the private sector dealer network. Dealer association activity has been initiated, and it is expected that the first regional association will be formed in Nangarhar.