Model Procurement Plan for Goods in Agriculture

This research analyses the existing constraints in the procurement planning model of the agricultural sector in Afghanistan considering the subsidy, goods, regulations, policies and procedures of Ministry of Agriculture. The focus of this study is the goods, which are highly beneficial to sustain the productivity of the agriculture process during and after implementing the model procurement plan in Agriculture focusing on goods while ensuring the coordination between Ministry of Agriculture and the other government and non-government organisations.

MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
BY
MOHIBULLAH SAFI
A final dissertation submitted
for the
Master in Public Procurement Management for Sustainable
Development
University of Turin
International Training Centre of the ILO(ITCILO)
October 2018
1

Abstract
More than two decades of political and economic conflict in Afghanistan have caused unstructured and
fragmented administration, poor policies, poor enforcement capability, weak infrastructure of ministry
of agriculture and backward financial management system that had a huge impact on the Model of
Procurement Planning of goods in Agricultural sector of Afghanistan. The aim of this research is to
analyse the existing constrains in the procurement planning model of the agricultural sector in
Afghanistan considering the subsidy, goods, regulations, policies and procedures of Ministry of
Agriculture. The focus of this study is the goods, which are highly beneficial to sustain the productivity of
the agriculture process during and after implementing the model procurement plan in Agriculture
focusing on goods while ensuring the coordination between Ministry of Agriculture and the other
government and non-government organisations. This research considered both primary and secondary
data collection with both qualitative and quantitative data analyses. To collect primary data structure
survey has been conducted and for secondary data, government report, books, journals and articles
have been collected and analysed.
From the research it has been found that in order to save the economical situation of rural area from
being banished, the Ministry of Afghanistan should develop and implement effective Direct as well as
Indirect Model Procurement Plan. The Study also revealed that the existing procurement-planning
requires essential changes. NPA, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Agriculture should work
cooperatively to achieve the viable coordination for improvement of current agricultural Procurement
planning for development of goods in Afghanistan. As per this study, fertilizers, DAP (di-ammonium
phosphate), pesticides, medium and high-density saplings, seed and others should be the major
components for Model Procurement Plan while focusing largely on the technological advancement, in
the Model Procurement Planning for goods in Agricultural Sector of Afghanistan.
2

Table of Content
Chapter 1: Introduction:...................................................................................................................5
1.1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................................5
1.2 Background of the study...................................................................................................................5
1.3 Rationale of the study......................................................................................................................7
1.4 Research aim....................................................................................................................................8
1.5 Research objectives..........................................................................................................................8
1.6 Research questions...........................................................................................................................9
1.7 Structure of the study.....................................................................................................................10
Chapter 2: Literature review...........................................................................................................11
2.1 Introduction...................................................................................................................................11
2.2 Types of Procurement planning in Agriculture of Afghanistan........................................................12
2.2 Procurement planning requirements in Agriculture........................................................................14
2.3 Agricultural sector and importance of goods..................................................................................16
2.4 Value chain analysis of procurement process.................................................................................19
2.5 Economic and social factor of agricultural procurement.................................................................21
2.6 Political and Legal factors of in the procurement planning for agriculture......................................23
2.7 Literature gap:................................................................................................................................25
3

Chapter 3: Research methodology..................................................................................................26
3.1 Method outline..............................................................................................................................26
3.2 Research onion...............................................................................................................................26
3.3 Research philosophy and justification............................................................................................27
3.4 Research approach and justification...............................................................................................28
3.4 Research design and justification....................................................................................................28
3.5 Research strategy and justification.................................................................................................29
3.6 Data collection method..................................................................................................................30
3.7 Sample size.....................................................................................................................................30
3.8 Data analysis method.....................................................................................................................31
3.9 Ethical consideration......................................................................................................................31
3.10 Summary......................................................................................................................................32
Chapter 4: Time horizon.................................................................................................................33
1.1 Gantt chart.....................................................................................................................................34
Chapter 5: Data collection and analysis..........................................................................................34
5.1 Data presentation and analysis from survey...................................................................................34
5.2 Discussion:......................................................................................................................................41
Chapter 6: Conclusion and recommendation..................................................................................46
6.1 Conclusion......................................................................................................................................46
4

6.2 Linking with objectives...................................................................................................................47
6.3 Recommendation...........................................................................................................................48
6.4 Limitation.......................................................................................................................................49
6.5 Future scope of the study...............................................................................................................49
References......................................................................................................................................50
Appendix........................................................................................................................................57
5

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I express my gratitude to almighty Allah, who provided me the opportunity to study in
this sector and helped me to prepare this dissertation paper.
My sincere gratitude goes to my supervisor Professor Piero Benazzo, without his cooperation and
guidance this dissertation could not succeed. He helped me in many ways. Without his continuous
encouragement and support, it would not have been possible for this completion.
In addition, I would like to appreciate from University of Turin with collaboration of ITC/ILO for
establishing of MSc Public Procurement Management in Sustainable Development in Italy throughout
this thesis writing.
I would like to extend special thanks to Blerina Pogace, Lasely Cubas and all the great tutors of ITCILO
who have always been very helpful and supportive. Without their continuous encouragement and
support, it would not have been possible for the completion.
Also, great thanks are directed to my family and friends who assisted me in many ways. Being loved and
supported by them makes me believe that I can do anything well when I set my mind on.
Thanks to all procuring professional of government entities, particularly Ministry of Agriculture
colleagues who responded and actively participated in the survey questionnaire.
Sincerely yours,
Mohibullah Safi
6

Abbreviations:
AACA Afghanistan Assistance Cooperation Authority
ADB Asian Development Bank
ARDS PU Afghanistan Reconstruction and Development Services Procurement Unit
ARDS Afghanistan Reconstruction and Development Services
ARTF Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund
ARTF Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund
CAO Control Audit Office
CMO Contract Management Office
CSC Civil Service Commission
DFID UK Department for International Development
EC Evaluation Committee
EoI Expression of Interest
EPAP Emergency Public Administration Project I and II (World Bank)
EPAP-I Emergency Public Administration Project
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GoIRA Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
GTZ Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit (German Development Agency)
IDA International Development Association
IDA International Development Association
LM Line Ministry
MAIL Ministry of Agriculture Irrigation and Livestock
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
NPA National Procurement Authority
NPC National Procurement Commission
NRVA The National Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (NRVA)
OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
PA Public Administration
PACBP Public Administration Capacity Building Project
PER Public Expenditure Review
PFM Public Financial Management
7

PMU Project Management Unit
PP Procurement Planning
PPL Public Procurement Law
PPU Procurement Policy Unit
PPU Procurement Policy Unit (within the MoF)
PR Rules of Procedure for Public Procurement in Afghanistan
PRP Procurement Reform Program
PRR Priority Reform & Restructuring Framework
PU Procurement Unit (within ARDS)
RFP Request for Proposals
SEPAP Second Emergency Public Administration Project
SPC Special Procurement Commission
SRFP Standard Request for Proposal
ToR Terms of Reference
TSU Technical Support Unit
TTL Bank Task Team Leader
UNDP UN Development Program
WB World Bank
8

MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
Chapter 1: Introduction:
1.1 Introduction
In the Agricultural Sector of Afghanistan, the existing Procurement procedures are usually
done through tendering or competitive bidding process that helps to improve the overall
performance and quality through a procurement planning which is exceedingly more important in
terms of achieving the procurement objectives and the objectives of the Agriculture sector itself1.
The procurement procedure emphasises acknowledging terms and acquiring goods, services or
works from an external source. At the same time, the Ministry of Agriculture (MAIL) and the Afghan
Government are remodelling procurement covers the Goods. In this situation, the political and
administrative disconnection between provincial and central authority, economic constrains were
causing hindrance to the procurement planning in Agriculture sector. In this section the background
of the research, the research rationale, research aims, objectives, research questions and the
structure of the research have been described. The purpose of this section is to present the
importance and feasibility of selecting the research topic and the procedure of conducting the
research.
1.2 Background of the study
More than two decades of political and economic conflict in Afghanistan have caused
unstructured and fragmented administration, poor policies, poor enforcement capability, and
backward financial management system2. Apart from that, political and administrative disconnection
between provincial and central authority, economic constrains were causing hindrance to the
1 Pervez, Md Shahriar, Michael Budde, and James Rowland. "Mapping irrigated areas in Afghanistan over the
past decade using MODIS NDVI." Remote sensing of environment 149 (2014): 155-165.
2 Kawasaki, Shinji, et al. "Current situation and issues on agriculture of Afghanistan." Journal of Arid Land
Studies 22.1 (2012): 345-348.

MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE 1
protection of national rights and effort for reconstructing the whole system. In 2001 the new
government was formed with new amendments in laws that drafted and finalised in 2006. In this
situation Public Procurement Policy Unit or PPU, a small unit within the Ministry of finance was one
and only policy institution before 2014. Based on decree no. 16 of H.E. President of Islamic Republic
of Afghanistan on 20/7/1393 the National Procurement Authority (NPA) established under the
Administrative Office of the President3. Afterwards through the legislative decree no. 60 on
21/11/93, decree no. 72 on 13/12/93 and decree no. 75, the Special Procurement Commission (SPC)
upgraded to National Procurement Commission (NPC), Contract Management Office (CMO)
dissolved, while the Afghanistan Reconstruction & Development Services (ARDS) and Procurement
Policy Unit (PPU) merged to the National Procurement Authority (NPA)4.
Procurement planning unit under the policy directorate works in National Procurement Authority
(NPA) that has the overall responsibility of procurement planning for NPA itself and as well as for the
rest of the government agencies which includes the development of procurement planning,
coordination of procurement planning, changes in the procurement planning and effective
implementation of procurement planning.
Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) has also a functioning unit under the
procurement directorate within MAIL that works to ensure the effective implementation of the
procurement plans across MAIL in all sector and in particular for goods and seasonal activities that
are very much crucial for the agriculture sector and more generally for the farmers.
At this situation discussed earlier, agricultural environment of the nation has not made any
exertion for sustainable Procurement either primary or secondary. Agriculture is the second largest
sector that shares the one quarter of the nation GDP. All the agricultural lands are situated in the
3 Pervez, Md Shahriar, Michael Budde, and James Rowland. "Mapping irrigated areas in Afghanistan over the
past decade using MODIS NDVI." Remote sensing of environment 149 (2014): 155-165.
4 Saeedi, A. M., et al. "The Pomegranate National Collection of Afghanistan." II International Symposium on
the Pomegranate. 2012.
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2MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
rural area where 80% of total population live. More than 90% of the poor population lived in rural
area causing a discrepancy in economical distribution. 50% of total population in Afghanistan are
dependent on the agriculture for at least 20% of their yearly income5. The economic and political
distresses are causing a significant amount of disruption in national agricultural procurement system
and the dependent economy. At this stage of high population growth rate the income from
agriculture needs to grow at least 6% per year through direct or indirect procurement. The major
part is this procurement lies on the agricultural development through procuring the goods in rural
area which requires around twice improvement rate of existing agricultural procurement process
and policies development in rural area with sustainable procurement planning and implementation.
Fortunately, there are many potential ways, through which the procurement planning works in NPA
for public procurement, collaboration of government and non-government organisations and
others6.
1.3 Rationale of the study
Agriculture is one of the most essential sectors of Afghanistan that holds the largest amount
of population and their financial condition. The lack of structured direct or indirect procurement
policies and procedures are causing unexpected dilemmas in this sector while increasing the amount
of poverty level especially in rural area needs effective high quality procurement implementation on
an emergency. In order to change this situation, the most effective and efficient procurement plan
has to be made that can significantly increase the Per Capita Income (PCI) depending on the
agricultural improvement nationally. At the same time, being a Procurement Specialist in Ministry of
Agriculture my duty was to managing the procurement contracts that worth million dollars. Effective
5 de Weijer, Frauke. A capable state in Afghanistan: A building without a foundation? No. 2013/063. WIDER
Working Paper, 2013.
6 Groninger, John, et al. "ADAPT: Training for Agriculture? s Seminal Role in Stability Operations for
Afghanistan and Beyond." Journal Article| Aug 22.9 (2013): 06pm.
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3MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
procurement plan can avoid the delay of the services delivery to the farmers, effective
implementation of the procurement contracts and the inappropriate budget execution.
During various phases of developing goods related procurement contract such as fertilizers,
DAP, Urea, pesticides, medium and high density saplings, vaccines, medicines, sprayer pumps, seed
and others, I have faced several challenges that has direct effect on the contracting procedure of
Ministry of Agriculture7. These types of situations need comprehensive and structured planning to
develop and execute the effective Model procurement plan successfully. Therefore, working on this
particular sector while analysing the current situation to find out the most appropriate way for the
agriculture sector, can help to enhance my proficiency and the economical condition of the country.
Apart from that, this study could also be a good reference document for further research or Model
procurement planning for the NPA and the Ministry of Agriculture (MAIL) of Islamic State of
Afghanistan.
Goods is the crucial part of the MAIL procurement, about 45% of the entire development
budget of MAIL is the procurement of various goods such as seeds, DAP, Fertalizers, agricultural
machines, equipment and medicines which has direct impact on the actual service delivery and the
mandate of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Things have improved in the last years of so in developing a comprehensive procurement plan that
could fulfil the procurement requirements, however there are still constraints that does not lead the
effective implementation of the procurement contracts such as the development of and
incorporating of right and correct specification of the goods, allocation of correct time for the
provision of goods, allocation of reasonable time for the tendering process and identification of the
evaluation committee in order to evaluate the goods with the technical and procurement knowledge
that is required for the effective implementation of the procurement plan.
7 Arndt, Belinda. "Procurement, Distribution and Effectiveness of Aid in the Agricultural Sector of
Afghanistan." (2012).
3

4MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
Mr. Ziauddin Zia, Head of the Goods at the Procurement Directorate quoted that the effective
procurement plan has not been implemented in the recent years due to the following reasons:
 Mr. Zia said that the capacity of the local firms and the existing constraints that for importing
goods to Afghanistan are usually not considered while developing the procurement plan,
which results a significant delay.
 He also talked about the development of specifications for goods, as Agriculture is a very
technical sector, for goods most of the time specifications of the goods are just copied and
paste from google and other sources, which at the end are hard to evaluate, secondly hard
to operate and third, hard to maintain.
 Mr. Zia also believes that procurement plans are not complete with the provision of enough
delivery time for the goods to arrive in Afghanistan as most of the goods require further
permissions and processes from outside and inside Afghanistan.
1.4 Research aim
The aim of this research was to analyse the existing constrains in the procurement planning
process of the agricultural sector for goods in Afghanistan considering the regulations, policies and
procedures of Ministry of Agriculture.
The primary aim of this study was to ensure how to come up with a model and
comprehensive procurement plan that could fulfil the basic needs and objectives of the MAIL and
more generally of the agriculture sector.
This research also aimed to examine the planning, development, organising and execution
procedure for Model Procurement Planning in Agriculture while ensuring the coordination between
Ministry of Agriculture and NPA.
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5MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
The purpose of this research was to find out the appropriate and effective model of
procurement process in Agriculture and suggest the effective plan for the procurement of goods
contracts.
1.5 Research objectives
The objectives of this research have been designed in order to achieve the aim of the study
considering the feasibility, attainability of the measurable parameters. These objectives are:
 To find out the importance and role of procurement planning for goods at the Ministry of
Agriculture in Afghanistan
 To explore its applicability in Procurement Planning of goods for the agriculture sector of
Afghanistan
 To ensure comprehensive procurement planning would further achieve more coordination
between Ministry of Agriculture and governmental entities in Afghanistan
 To assist the effective implementation of the procurement contracts for goods across Ministry of
Afghanistan Agriculture
 To find out its social and economical impact
 To provide recommendations to the procurement planning unit of MAIL to ensure the
development of a model procurement planning
1.6 Research questions
The research questions have been designed in order to achieve the aim of the study considering the
feasibility, attainability of the measurable parameters. These research questions are:
What are the importance and role of procurement planning of goods at the Ministry of Agriculture in
Afghanistan?
What is the applicability in Procurement Planning of goods for the agriculture sector of Afghanistan?
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6MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
How would further achieve more coordination between Ministry of Agriculture and governmental
entities in Afghanistan to ensure the development and effective implementation of comprehensive
procurement plan?
How to assist the effective implementation of the procurement contracts for goods across Ministry
of Afghanistan Agriculture?
1.7 Structure of the study
6
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
3. Research Methodlogy
4. Data presentation
5. Analysis and interpretation
6. Conclusion and Recommenation

7MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
Chapter 2: Literature review
2.1 Introduction
Literature review refers to a search of the available literature that is related to a chosen area
of topic in order to evaluate the subject selected. The following objectives are met while doing a
literature review. The objectives include surveying the literature that already exists, along with
synthesis of the information present in the literature in the form of a summary. It also helps to
critically analyse the information gained from the current knowledge and identifying any gap present
in the literature. The literature review also helps to presents the existing literature in an organised
way.
In the present study, the literature review helps to assess the procurement planning for
goods of agriculture that is prevalent in Afghanistan. Additionally, the agriculture sector is addressed
and discussed regarding the type of existing direct and indirect procurement process and practises
that is carried out in the country. Value chain analysis is also conducted that refers to the chains that
is composed of the organizations that are involved in goods supply and other services which makes
the production chains or the marketing chains in agro-business.
The economical as well as the social factors are also identified in the following segment,
which highlights the current scenario and growth of the agricultural business in Afghanistan. In
addition to this, the political and the legal factors have also been addressed in order to shed light on
the political and economic conflict prevalent in the country. Finally, the needs of the rural people
have been illustrated which is highly impacted by the factors like economic and social factors as well
as the political and the factors8.
8 Dastagiri, M. B., and AnjaniSnehaVajrala. "The Political Economy of Global Agriculture: Effects on
Agriculture, Farmers, Consumers and Economic Growth." European Scientific Journal, ESJ 14, no. 4 (2018).
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8MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
2.2 Types of Procurement planning in Agriculture of Afghanistan
The major part is this increment lies on the agricultural development and model
procurement planning which requires around twice growth rate of agricultural development in rural
area with appropriate implementation in horticulture, fish farming and livestock as well. Fortunately,
there are procurement procedure models through which the agricultural structure can grow and
profit can be enhanced considering the technological interventions, collaboration of government
and non-government organisations and others9. The Procurement planning of Afghanistan in
agricultural sector is subdivided into two major portions namely direct procurements and indirect
procurements. Considering the fact that Afghanistan has evidenced prolonged procurements policy
failure lack of water supply, goods supply, food security and distribution in government and NGO
involvement mostly secondary procurement can be considered as two major issues suffered by the
residents of Afghanistan10.
Direct procurement and indirect procurement in agriculture
F
E
A
T
U
R
E
S
Direct procurement Indirect procurement Capital goods
and services
Quantity Large Low Low
Frequency High Relatively high Low
Value Operation-specific Low High
Nature Operational Tactical Strategic
Examples Seeds, sapling, livestock
importing, water facility
Farming equipments,
tractor, fertilisers,
UDP, vaccines and
Subsidy, wider
bidding
opportunity
9 GR, Samadi. "The Pomegranate National Collection of Afghanistan." Options Méditerranéennes. Séries A:
Mediterranean Seminars. CIHEAM-IAMZ, Zaragoza, Spain; Universidad Miguel Hernández,, Elche, Spain,
2012.
10 Nassif, Claudia, Omar Joya, and Guillemette Sidonie Jaffrin. "Afghanistan Economic Update, April 2013."
(2014).
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9MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
others
Moreover, agricultural procurement and goods distribution are caught up in the issues
raised by Afghan dependence on opium cultivation, extortion and corruption in aid and transport
operations at every level, and manipulation by national as well as local power brokers. According to
Frederik Van Oudenhoven and Jamila Haider (2015), 60 percent of farming residents in Afghanistan
gets enough goods to sustain their cultivation while 40 percent of the residents suffers from lack of
goods from government as well as NGO based procurement process11. The government of
Afghanistan givers more importance on short term secondary procurement plan instead of targeting
the prolonged Procurement plan that can prevent the condition of dire poverty which is the
condition of an overwhelming majority of Afghans.
According to researchers, the key determinants of poverty in Afghanistan include a weak
asset base, ineffective institutions, diverse livelihood of people and vulnerability to conflict. Power
abuse is the key driver of poverty in Afghanistan. The public agenda is frequently shaped by vested
interest when it comes to law, allocation of resources and policies. Widespread corruption further
prevents the residents to avail services. Additionally, a good number of Afghans perceive
international actors as primarily interested in short-term objectives instead of challenging abusive
power structures. Culture norms that demonstrate excessive discriminatory acts is considered to be
another major social crisis Afghanistan that enhances poverty of the nation.
The security and wellbeing of Afghans, especially women gets highly hampered due to
unjustified decision taken by the conservative society. In remote areas, huge numbers of decisions
are taken by the society in order to meet short term objectives hampers the safety of the local
people. Hence, it can be clearly understood that intervention of government along with
reconstruction of the society is a dire need for Afghans to enhance their safety and security. The
11 Van Oudenhoven, Frederik, and Jamila Haider. With Our Own Hands: A celebration of food and life in the
Pamir mountains of Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Stichting LM Pub., 2015.
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10MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
intensification as well as the spread of the armed conflict in recent years has increased insecurity
have fallen procurements. According to a survey, only 20 percent of the financial procurement given
by the government is able to reach the poor people of Afghanistan. In majority of cases, a good
amount of the capital is either emblazed or diverted due to internal discrepancies12.
2.2 Procurement planning requirements of goods in agricultural sector
Procurement planning in agriculture refers to a group of procedures for finding, agreeing
terms and acquiring goods, services or works from an external source, usually through tendering or
competitive bidding process that helps to improve the overall performance and quality of the
agricultural system of any area. Sustenance of agriculture depends largely on the viability of the
seeds that are used by the farmers. Thus, procurement of the seeds and their sources play a major
role in better agricultural yield. Farmers acquire seeds from various sources like: farmers saved their
own seeds; collected seeds from the other farmers, seeds are brought within the local markets and
from the other sources. Seeds are collected and stored free of cost which is supplied thanks to the
supply by the relief agencies, seeds are collected and obtained paying cash from the relief agencies.
It was particularly seen that the potato and the wheat cultivators bought their own seeds
from the market produced the seeds on their own, differently than for the other crops. In this
procurement process the major stakeholders are Ministry of Finance, Parliament, donor agencies,
NPA. The relief agencies to a great extent were active during the seed distribution, especially for the
wheat. This has been seen to a large extent because of the strategic importance of wheat and the
larger number of the farmers that are depending on it for food. Whereas, the farmers preferred the
local markets and also their own seed production for satisfying their requirement for the seeds 13.
According to the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture (MAIL), around 6000 small tractors were
12 Arndt, Belinda. "Procurement, Distribution and Effectiveness of Aid in the Agricultural Sector of
Afghanistan." (2012).
13fao.org. 2018. "ANALYSIS OF THE SEED MARKET IN AFGHANISTAN". Fao.Org.
http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1225e.pdf.
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11MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
distributed to the Afghan farmers in 18 provinces. The Ministry of finance said these tractors were a
part of help provided by the United States and it costs around 24 million dollars.
The officials of the agriculture ministry said that the tractors will greatly help the Afghan
farmers in high quality produce. The tractors help in increasing the agricultural produce and
modernises the agricultural system14. The agricultural equipment is locally produced after a move by
the Ministry of Commerce and Industries, which helped to increase the capacity, technology and
skills of the labourers and the farmers by involving the Donor agencies and NPA. The machines or
the agricultural equipment are made in Afghanistan, and when they break, the farmer themselves
are capable of fixing them. Factories in Afghanistan manufacture threshers and the threshers are
directly purchased by the farmers, which help the farmers in winnowing the corn, rice and wheat
crops.
The local factories also manufacture the vehicle-pulled trolleys and these trolleys are pulled
behind the factors for the purpose of transporting crops from the fields to the facilities. The factories
manufacture the necessary agricultural equipment and at the same time create opportunities for
employment. The farmers directly procure the agricultural equipment from these local factories and
manufacturers15. Drip irrigation is very costly for the farmers to purchase and maintain and thus
surface irrigation is the most preferred irrigation and especially the furrow irrigation is the preferred
method of irrigation16. Considering the fact, it is thus important to mention that the farmers still
follow the traditional irrigation methods in agriculture.
The farmers in the several provinces utilize the rehabilitation irrigation program by taking
into account the various best practices associated with the water usage. The rehabilitation irrigation
project aims to support the water management in the 5 major regions like Balkh, Nangarhar,
14TOLOnews. 2018. "Afghan Farmers To Receive 6,000 Tractors | Tolonews". Tolonews.
https://www.tolonews.com/business/afghan-farmers-receive-6000-tractors-0.
15World Bank. 2018. "Made In Afghanistan Agricultural Equipment Aims To Meet Market Demand". World
Bank. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/10/28/made-in-afghanistan-agricultural-equipment-
aims-to-meet-market-demand.
16Walters, S. Alan, and Ajay K. Jha. "Sustaining Chili Pepper Production in Afghanistan through Better
Irrigation Practices and Management." Agriculture 6, no. 4 (2016): 62.
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12MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
Baghlan and Kabul. Altogether, this project covers an area of 19,000 hectares. The project is
implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and improves the agricultural productivity and it
undertakes the rehabilitation of the irrigation canals in the villages.17.
MAIL procurement is heavily consisted of goods, as per the officials from the planning unit of MAIL,
nearly half of the development and core budget of MAIL is spent on the procurement of goods. The
capacity of the local market is not as good as it should be in order to offer all the goods required by
the MAIL and on the other hand, Afghanistan has very low domestic production in order to fulfil the
requirements of the sector. Local firms therefore largely depend on the international market and
importing goods from overseas, which is once again something that is not at somehow reflected in
the procurement plan, there is not concrete data or assessment showing the capacity of the local
market in Afghanistan but the thresholds set by the government and the World Bank can give
indications that the capacity of local firms is not good.
While developing a procurement plan, in most cases MAIL does not allow the right time for
procuring specific type of goods, particularly the ones that have to be imported to Afghanistan, as
certain goods require further approvals and permissions which obviously bring the delay in the
provision of such goods. This impacts on the effective implementation of the procurement plan and
lastly on the actual service delivery of the equipment to the end users which are in most cases
FARMERS.
2.3 Agricultural sector and importance of goods
Afghanistan has an agricultural driven economy, accounting for more than 53 percent of the
gross domestic product before the invasion of soviet Russia in the year 1979 . However, the
agricultural sector till now has never produced at its full capacity. As per a survey, only 30 percent of
17World Bank. 2018. "Afghan Villagers Learn Sustainable Irrigation Practices Through On-Farm Water
Management Project". World Bank. http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2016/12/14/afghan-villagers-
learn-sustainable-irrigation-practices-through-on-farm-water-management-project.
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13MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
the total arable land in the nation is cultivated18. Only 12 percent of the total land in the nation are
arable. Afghanistan grows more than 95 percent of its requirement in rye and wheat. When it comes
to rice, potatoes, nuts, seeds and pulses, the country produces the crops more than its needs.
Considering the fact that the majority of the needs of the country is met, the government of
Afghanistan imports low amount of sugar, wheat, edible oil and fat. Fruits both preserved as well as
fresh, is the staple food for a good number of Afghans19. Lack of economical development as well as
technological advance are considered as major reason behind the mentioned condition.
The chief crops that are exported from Afghanistan to various parts of the world include
sugarcane, fruits, vegetables, nuts, sugar beets and wool. The Ministry of Finance increased the
subsidising procedure for goods for the primary crop of Afghanistan, which is wheat and produced
during the summer season. This will require additional investments of 30 million Dollar. As per the
report published in 2016 from the Ministry of Agriculture (MAIL) Other mention worthy summer
season crops that are being cultivated in the country. These include potatoes and opium, which are
worth of 32 million Dollar annually, and the two mentioned crop are cultivated on irrigated land.
During the monsoon, barley and cotton are cultivated in the rain fed land. During winter, the chief
crops that are being cultivated include rice, corn and sorghum.
The livestock subsector of Afghan agriculture is divided mostly into sedentary and nomadic
production cycles. The nomadic system provides the main source of livelihood for most of the lowest
economy people, especially the Kuchi nomads, and accounts for most of the red meat, skins, and
wool. Agricultural production of the country is totally dependent on the spring rain for water. The
main challenges in the livestock subsector are low productivity breeds, diseases, poor feeding,
drought, and the difficulties of marketing perishable commodities.
18 Davoudi, Simin, et al. "Resilience: a bridging concept or a dead end?“Reframing” resilience: challenges for
planning theory and practice interacting traps: resilience assessment of a pasture management system in
Northern Afghanistan urban resilience: what does it mean in planning practice? Resilience as a useful concept
for climate change adaptation? The politics of resilience for planning: a cautionary note: edited by Simin
Davoudi and Libby Porter." Planning theory & practice13.2 (2012): 299-333.
19 de Weijer, Frauke. A capable state in Afghanistan: A building without a foundation? No. 2013/063. WIDER
Working Paper, 2013.
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14MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
Being an underdeveloped country, the techniques used by the farmers for irrigation are
highly elementary When it comes to usage of chemical fertilizers, machine and pesticides, their use
is relatively limited. The variety of crops produced in the country corresponds to its topography20.
The areas around Herat, Kandahar and Kabul plain yield fruits of several kinds. Cotton is
produced in northern region of Afghanistan from Takhar to Bagdis along with Herat and Helmand.
Corn is chiefly grown in Paktia and Nangarhar provinces while a major province that grows rice
includes Kunduz, Baghlan and Laghman. Wheat makes 80 percent of the total grain production in
Afghanistan. The aggregate wheat production in Afghanistan in the year 2012 was estimated to be
2.69 million ton which is 63 percent more than the previous year21. The second most important is
barley, corn, rice, corn and potatoes. The most crucial exports of Afghanistan include nuts and fruit,
including pistachios, almonds, grapes, melons, apricots, cherries, figs, mulberries, and
pomegranates.
Agricultural products had accounted for about 53 percent of the total export conducted by
Afghanistan in 2011 and fruits and nuts comprised a commendable portion of the export22. Hasish
and opium are widely grown in Afghanistan for drug trade. Drug trade is a good source of income for
impoverished afghans since opium is easy to cultivate and transport. Not only that, drug trade is
considered to be the quickest source of income. Since 1999, Afghanistan was considered to be the
world’s largest producer of opium. However, in 2000, The Taliban banned cultivation of poppy
seeds. However, due to the existing stockpile, Afghanistan was benefited due to banned. In the year
2001, The Taliban resumed the production of poppy23.
20 Tavva, Srinivas, et al. "Gender roles in agriculture: The case of Afghanistan." Indian Journal of Gender
Studies 20.1 (2013): 111-134.
21 Groninger, John, Charles Ruffner, and S. Walters. "Sustaining rural Afghanistan under limited central
government influence." Stability: International Journal of Security and Development2.2 (2013).
22 Tavva, Srinivas, et al. "Technical efficiency of wheat farmers and options for minimizing yield gaps in
Afghanistan." Outlook on Agriculture 46.1 (2017): 13-19.
23 Masunaga, Tsugiyuki, et al. "Paddy Soil Properties in Nangarhar Province, East Afghanistan." Japan
Agricultural Research Quarterly: JARQ 48.3 (2014): 299-306.
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15MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
Looking into the importance of the procurement of goods for the agriculture sector, if a model
procurement plan is adopted, it might benefit MAIL, agriculture sector in general and more
importantly the farmers which will have direct impact on the economy of Afghanistan. The poppy
cultivation has now been significantly reduced after the collapse of the Taliban government and the
World Bank, IFAD, FAO and all other donor countries have contributed a lot to empower the
agriculture sector, particularly the horticulture, irrigation and livestock. All the three require
significant number of goods in order to empower them, with the adoption of a model procurement
plan, the sector will further be strengthening.
2.4 Value chain analysis of procurement plan process
The approach of value chain analysis is used as a valuable tool during the procurement
process. This helps in facilitating production cycle and operational development including planning,
procuring, farming, gathering and marketing of agricultural product, livestock products, fish farming
products as well as the DAP, vaccines, saplings, seeds, pesticide, fertilisers and other goods. Apart
from development, market participation can be enhanced through its use in the procurement
process. In cases where there is lack of formal institutions, there is a provision for cultural, social and
political framework that determines the scope of participation and the scope in the markets24.
Value chains generally refer to the interaction of the organizations that interact with one
another in order to provide goods and services25. This builds up production chains of livestock,
horticulture, fishery, agriculture along with marketing chains or distribution chains. In order to
develop a prioritized value chain, the first step should be to invest in the development of a
comprehensive procurement plan,26. This includes irrigated wheat, several intensive livestock and
24Maestre, Mar, Nigel Poole, and Spencer Henson. "Assessing food value chain pathways, linkages and impacts
for better nutrition of vulnerable groups." Food Policy 68 (2017): 31-39.
25Mutua, Edna, JemimahNjuki, and E. M. Waithanji. "Review of gender and value chain analysis, development
and evaluation toolkits." (2014).
26Gereffi, Gary, and Karina Fernandez-Stark. "Global value chain analysis: a primer." (2016).
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16MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
fish farming practices. The steps that are taken to establish a prioritized value chain involve having
the highest potential with the aim of raising productivity. The goods can be produced on the basis of
competition with the imports and often export27. Additionally a good access of the markets is
required that can provide leverage to the planned infrastructure of investments that is prevalent in
the growth corridors. Significant addition of value is also leveraged in value chains along with
employment. The prioritized value chains secure the national fish supply as well. Horticulture crops
and intensive livestock are quite profitable such as production of opium poppy28.
Value chain analysis has been used in agribusiness with the aim of formulating and
implementing a new competitive model procurement planning. Value chain analysis has been
implemented in Afghanistan as well in order to assess the impact of the agricultural product based
business on the local and global market. Analysis had been carried out in the provinces of Bamyan,
Kabul and Panjsheer. The process can be achieved by improving the production management
capacity of participating communities. There is reduction of the on farm storage, diseased animals in
husbandry, water cycle disturbance the overall value chain model of existing procurement planning
losses along with maintenance of the quality of the goods. The current picture of value chain analysis
shows that there is an expanding domestic production with the increase in the rate of exports to the
neighbouring countries. There is also an evolving procurement plan that can decrease the imports of
goods like wheat, wheat flour, along with rice, tomatoes, potatoes, wool, milk, meat, skin, egg, fish
from the neighbouring countries can cause more than 70% changes in the existing value chain model
available for Model Procurement Plan for Goods in Agriculture29.
27De Backer, K. and Miroudot, S., 2014. Mapping global value chains.
28Ali, Aziz, and Yi Shaoliang. "Highland rangelands of Afghanistan: Significance, management issues, and
strategies." High-Altitude Rangelands and their Interfaces in the Hindu Kush Himalayas (2013): 15.
29Markowitz, Lawrence P. "The resource curse reconsidered: cash crops and local violence in Kyrgyzstan."
Terrorism and political violence 29, no. 2 (2017): 342-358.
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2.5 Economic and social factor in agricultural procurement
Afghanistan has a poor economic background as it is mainly a rural country. The National Risk and
Vulnerability Assessment (NRVA) conducted by the government in 2007-2008 showed that the
majority of the population lived in the rural areas. Rural poverty was perceived to be accountable for
84% of the poverty in the whole nation30. The agricultural sector of Afghanistan is accountable for
53% of the gross domestic production of Afghanistan. About 36% of the household is dependable on
the farming as their main source of income, additionally 6 % of them are dependent of the farm
wages31.
Civil conflict along with neglect has contributed to the lack of productivity in the agricultural
industries. The farmers often lack the potential to capture the benefits of the significant crop
production. Evidence has shown that the agricultural input is low and there is significant loss in the
post-harvest phase. As per the collaborated decision with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of
Agriculture (MAIL) has decided to invest at least 100 million Dollar for goods. However, the farmers
often lack infrastructure to store the commodities, therefore there is no provision to delay the sale
of the goods of 120 million Dollar which might help them to receive optimal market prices 32.
One of the strategies applied to bring about economic and social development includes the
development of the facilities of water and irrigation33. Agriculture and rural development is needed
to be brought about. The development of the sector of agriculture and the natural resources has
been considered one of the priorities according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) strategy for
30Çolakoğlu, Selçuk, and Mehmet Yegin. The Future of Afghanistan and Turkey‘s Contribution. International
Strategic Research Organization (USAK), 2014.
31Strand, Arne, Kaja Christine Andersen Borchgrevink, and Kristian Berg Harpviken. "Afghanistan: A Political
Economy Analysis." (2017).
32Hussain, Ejaz, and Muhammad Jahanzaib. "Afghanistan: The Western Withdrawal and its Implications for
Security and Economy." Heidelberg Papers in South Asian and Comparative Politics 77 (2017).
33HASSANZOY, Najibullah. "Agricultural Development in Afghanistan: Some Temporal Reflections."
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partnership that was implemented for Afghanistan in 2009–201334. The government has successfully
recognized the economic growth as being critical to reduce the poverty which can be brought about
through the sector of agriculture. A master plan has been devised by the Ministry of Agriculture,
Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), which addressed the need to focus on the rising incomes of the farm
that drives the rural nonfarm sector35. It stimulates the growth however there is no increase in
demand for the agricultural products that fails to target the results. The central part of Afghanistan
tends to face poor economic growth in terms of agriculture as well as food insecurity. The main
reasons behind this include the geographic isolation, the lack of transport of infrastructure along
with the markets that are inaccessible. The high population density also adds up to the causes along
with the cold climatic conditions that restricts the transport during the winters. The livestock assets
also decrease during the winters36. The vegetable producers of Afghanistan have to face a lot of
challenges in order to market their crops. Some of the challenges faced include the availability of
limited variety of seeds.
At this situation discussed earlier, agricultural environment of the nation has not made any exertion
for sustainable improvement. Agriculture is the second largest sector that shares the one quarter of
the nation GDP. All the agricultural lands are situated at the rural area where 80% of total population
live. More than 90% of the poor population lived in rural area causing a discrepancy in economical
distribution. 50% of total population in Afghanistan are dependent on the agriculture for at least
20% of their yearly income37. The economic and political distress are causing significant amount of
34Saiti, Buerhan, Muhibullah Afghan, and NazrulHaziziNoordin. "Financing agricultural activities in
Afghanistan: a proposed salam-based crowdfunding structure." ISRA International Journal of Islamic Finance
10, no. 1 (2018): 52-61.
35Habib, Habibullah. "Water related problems in Afghanistan." International Journal of Educational Studies 1,
no. 3 (2014): 137-144.
36Groninger, John W., and Seburn L. Pense. "Expectations of agricultural extension programmes among local
agents and international support personnel in south-eastern Afghanistan." Outlook on Agriculture 42, no. 1
(2013): 17-23.
37Pense, S.L. and Groninger, J.W., 2013. Assessing extension education efforts in Afghanistan through the eyes
of US agricultural support personnel. Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development, 6(1), p.4.
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19MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
disruption in national agricultural system and the dependent economy. At this stage of high
population growth rate the income from agriculture needs to grow at least 6% per year38.
2.6 Political and Legal factors of in the procurement planning for agriculture
The most important political and legal factors those are responsible for affecting the model
based agricultural procurement, involves programs of farm bill commodity and farm bill
conservation programs. Agriculture research that is funded federally is one of the factors while the
other factors include international trade policies, regulations of food safety and several
environmental regulations that is hindering the scopes for improving procurement system. These
include the acts like the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act39. In addition to these certain
factors are involved like constraints of federal budget and the energy policies. The food industry also
influences the process of dietary guidelines and the policies of food and agriculture. Lastly the rural
development programs forms an integral part of the political factors40.
More than two decades of political and economic conflict in Afghanistan have caused
unstructured and fragmented administration, poor policies, poor enforcement capability, and
backward financial management system. Political and administrative disconnection between
provincial and central authority, economic constrains were causing hindrance to the protection of
national rights and effort for reconstructing the whole system41. In 2001 the new government was
formed with new amendments in laws that drafted and finalised in 2006. In this situation Public
Procurement Policy Unit or PPU, a small unit within the Ministry of finance was one and only policy
38Byrd, William A., and David Mansfield. "Afghanistan’s Opium Economy: An Agricultural, Livelihoods, and
Governance Perspective." Report Prepared for the World Bank, Afghanistan Agriculture Sector Review,
Revised Version (2014).
39Barker, Rocky. Saving all the parts: reconciling economics and the Endangered Species Act. Island Press,
2013.
40Davis, Diana K. "Political Economy, Power, and the Erasure of Pastoralist Indigenous Knowledge in the
Maghreb and Afghanistan." In Ethnic and Cultural Dimensions of Knowledge, pp. 211-228. Springer, Cham,
2016.
41Groninger, John, and Charles Ruffner. "Learning rural engagement: Afghan agriculture and the future of rural
stabilization." Journal Article| Mar 13, no. 10 (2014): 56am.
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institution before 2014. Based on decree no. 16 of H.E. the President of Islamic Republic of
Afghanistan on 20/7/1393 the National Procurement Authority (NPA) established under the
Administrative Office of the President42. Afterwards through the legislative decree no. 60 on
21/11/93, decree no. 72 on 13/12/93 and decree no. 75, the Special Procurement Commission (SPC)
upgraded to National Procurement Commission (NPC), Contract Management Office (CMO)
dissolved, while the Afghanistan Reconstruction & Development Services (ARDS) and Procurement
Policy Unit (PPU) merged to the National Procurement Authority (NPA). The roots of conflict that
arise in Afghanistan affect the economic security of the country. This has also shown effect in
agriculture. After the Soviet invasion in 1979, there has been a reduction from 2.5 million hectares to
1.5 million hectares43. This was mainly due to the destructions that were caused during the years of
war.
However, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations puts forward that
Afghanistan possesses the potential for achieving food security for its people. In order to do so, it
needs to rebuild its agriculture which is currently shattered, especially in irrigation system 44. In
accordance to the Department of State/USAID Strategic Plan FY 2007 - 2012, full devotion of efforts
is provided to the regional priority in Afghanistan in order regain stability by enhancing the capacity
of the Afghan National Army and National Police45. Combating opium which includes eradicating
poppy fields is also involved in the plan.
42Dastagiri, M. B., and AnjaniSnehaVajrala. "The Political Economy of Global Agriculture: Effects on
Agriculture, Farmers, Consumers and Economic Growth." European Scientific Journal, ESJ 14, no. 4 (2018).
43Ledvina, Kirby, Niven Winchester, Kenneth Strzepek, and John M. Reilly. "New data for representing
irrigated agriculture in economy-wide models." Journal of Global Economic Analysis 3, no. 1 (2018): 122-155.
44Ward, Frank A., Saud A. Amer, and FahimullahZiaee. "Water allocation rules in Afghanistan for improved
food security." Food Security 5, no. 1 (2013): 35-53.
45Jayaram, Nivedita. "Economic Impact of OBOR on Afghanistan." Mantraya, September 28 (2016).
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2.7 Literature gap:
Aiming the agricultural sector of Afghanistan, the literature review has been made by
choosing articles, study reports and government reports that can be highly feasible in this context.
However due to insufficient time to collect bulk of evidences this literature review has some
moderate limitation, which can be identified, as a gap in literature review. One of the major gaps is
the lack of direct updated information from the field analysis. It emphasises that, the literature
review consists of very limited amount of real time survey and interview data. At the same time due
lack of availability of the internal government planning and information, the presented data and
information could not be collected from the selected literature. Apart from that the literature review
tense to display in depth analysis and exploration of poverty level and sufferings of farmers in the
rural area and agriculture based community of Afghanistan.
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Chapter 3: Research methodology
3.1 Method outline
The research method outline is the guidance for the researcher, which allows executing the
selected procedure as per the requirement. All major section of the research procedure are included
in the research outline including research philosophy, research approach, research design, research
strategy, data collection, findings and interpretation46. In this research both primary and secondary
data have been collected considering both the qualitative and quantitative data analysis to
formulate the conclusion and to develop recommendations. The methods for this research have
been chosen keeping in mind the required timeline and information availability. The research
method abides by the ethical considerations especially for conducting primary data collection tools.
3.2 Research onion
The term ‘Research Onion’ refers the layer of design, developing, preparation and execution
of various subsections to conduct the research. To conduct this research on Procurement Plan for
agricultural goods in Afghanistan, the selection of research philosophy and research design has been
done at the early stage that represents their position in outer layer of the research onion. The
progression of multiple layers towards the core of the research onion comprises research methods,
strategies, selection of tools and other related sections respectively. At the very core of the research
onion the execution of the data analysis and formulating results are situated.
46 Vaioleti, Timote M. "Talanoa research methodology: A developing position on Pacific research." Waikato
Journal of Education 12.1 (2016).
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Figure: Research onion47
3.3 Research philosophy and justification
At the early stage of the research, the philosophy of the research method has to be chosen
to develop the design and the approach of the research method. The research philosophy
emphasises the perception of executing the data collection and analysis procedure that determines
the other components of a research method. Positivism, Realism and Interpretivism are the three
major types of research philosophies that can be followed by the research method 48. The positivism
philosophy allows the researcher to find the causing and regulatory attributes behind a specific
outcome. On the other hand, the Interpretivism philosophy allows to interpret the research
components and strategies while gauging the effectiveness and perceptive discussion of facts. The
realism philosophy is a mix of positivism and Interpretivism philosophy that allows the research to
use real time data collection and analysis process while allowing the secondary data collection. In
order to assess the existing Procurements Plans regarding agricultural goods and opportunity of
47 Flick, Uwe. Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research project. Sage, 2015.
48 BNS, RGN, and RGN HV. "An overview of interpretive phenomenology as a research methodology." Nurse
Researcher (through 2013) 20.6 (2013): 17.
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improvement of model procurement plan in Agricultural sector of Afghanistan. This research
followed the realism research philosophy. The cause of choosing the realism philosophy is this
philosophy allows both real-time data collection as well as the secondary data collection.
3.4 Research approach and justification
Research approach is the closest regulator in the research onion that directly regulates the
procedure of analysis and interpretation of collected data. Two research approaches are commonly
used in modern research methods namely Inductive and Deductive research approach. In Deductive
research approach, the research can deduce a concept or hypothesis that already has been declared
at the beginning of the research. On the contrary, in inductive research approach the research
collects and analyse data and information to find out cause and effect connectivity. This research
aimed to identity and analyse the existing of the procurement planning for goods for agricultural
sector and opportunity of improvement of Model Procurement Plan for Agricultural sector of
Afghanistan. Therefore, in this research the Inductive research approach has been followed.
Inductive approach allowed the research to collect and analyse data to derive the findings and
conclusion.
3.4 Research design and justification
Research design determines the process of data collection and analysis in a research method
on which the findings and progress of the research depend. A research can adopt one of these three
types of research designs namely exploratory, explanatory and descriptive research designs. In
Explanatory research design, the researcher can explain a certain fact aiming to prove the
authenticity of the declared hypothesis, theory, predictions or assumption with logical and rational
explanation. On the other hand, the exploratory research design allows the researcher to conduct an
open ended analysis on a particular topic without assuming or making any predetermined before
conducting the research. However, the descriptive research design allows data collection and
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analysis to explain a certain fact with more details. For this research, the aim was to explore and
recommend Model Procurement Plan for goods in agricultural sector and find the opportunities for
increase the comprehensiveness of procurement plan and implementation in Afghanistan.
Henceforth, this research has been designed as per the exploratory research format to explore the
existing situation through data collection and analysis.
3.5 Research strategy and justification
Research strategy refers the strategy through which the research can choose various
research tools for data collection and analysis strategically. Being an exploratory and formed on a
real life condition, this research required tool a research tool to collect the real time data with
detailed cause effect cardinality. Apart from that, the secondary data collection was also required as
an evidence of the decisions during the progress of the research. For secondary data collection,
government report, books, journals and articles have been collected and analysed. It has allowed
the research to collect strong and authentic evidence about the existing condition of Procurement
Plan in goods in Agricultural sector of Afghanistan. To collect primary data a close ended survey has
been conducted. Selecting close ended survey is a strategic choice for this research that allowed the
research to analyse with quantitative analysis. The survey comprised of 10 questions including 3
multiple choice question and 7 Likert Scale based question. For this research the Likert scale has
been used with 5 parameters namely ‘Strongly Disagree’, ‘Disagree’, ‘Neutral’, ‘Agree’, ‘Strongly
Agree’ The survey was structured with close ended Likert Scale MCQ model where the respondents
had to choose one of the five answers for each question. At the same time the graphical
representation helps to visualise the collected and analysed data accordingly. For this survey the
sample size is also chosen among the colleagues.
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3.6 Data collection method
A research can conduct two types of data collection procedures namely Primary data
collection and secondary data collection. The primary data emphasise the real time data collection
by either engaging some personnel to gather opinions, perspectives and concerns of the
respondents relevant to the research topic or examining the result from measurement tolls applied
on the subjective field49. On the other hand, in secondary data collection the research focuses on the
previously collected data, research findings, statistical information and other documented data. To
analyse the implemented procurements planning for goods agricultural sector along with
potentiality, and the influence of utilisation of agricultural goods in Afghanistan, this research
considered both primary and secondary data collection. To collect primary data through desk studies
of various available documents such as public procurement law, Afghanistan Agriculture Sector
Review, National Agriculture Development Framework, procedures, journals, published articles,
books and laws related to the procurement of the agricultural policies, practices and scope of
Afghanistan. To collect primary data collection, close a close ended survey on a stipulated sample
size.
3.7 Sample size
Sample size refers the area of the real time data collection field on which the research has
been conducted. The sampling procedure can be divided into two major types of sampling strategy
namely probability sampling and non-probability sampling. This research is based on the agricultural
condition and procurement of existing process and strategies in Afghanistan. Therefore, the
respondents for this survey are selected from working personnel of Agricultural procurement
management sector in Afghanistan. For this research the non-probability sampling has been
considered during the selection of the respondents to formulate the survey reports. The research
49 Neuman, W. Lawrence. Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Pearson
education, 2013.
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has been conducted a survey on the sample size of 30 who are working in the Procurement Units
and as well as in the Agriculture sector of Afghanistan.
3.8 Data analysis method
Data analysis method is one of the major tools that directly interconnected with the
outcomes of the research especially for the exploratory research. Data analysis allows the researcher
to find out the result of the research with logical and rational explanation. Two types of data analysis
process are used in a research namely qualitative data analysis and quantitative data analysis50. The
qualitative data analysis allows the researcher to analyse the rational and non-numeric information
while the quantitative data analysis allows the researcher to analyse the numerical data with various
mathematical and statistical procedure. In this research, the secondary data and the data collected
from semi-structured interviews have been analysed by qualitative data analysis without any
intervention of quantitative data analysis.
3.9 Ethical consideration
The ethical consideration is crucial in order to validate the morality of the research while
ensuring the authenticity and credibility of the study. The ethical consideration of the research
guides the research procedure under the rules and regulation of confidentiality, human rights, social
ethics and other compliances51. The authority of involved agricultural organisations has validated the
ethical consideration of this research. This research committed to preserve personal safety, security
and dignity of the participants. Before conducting the survey, a guidebook had been provided to the
participants to ensures their acknowledgement for participation. The research ensured the
willingness of each participant. The research questions have been design in a way that could not
herm the emotions and perceptions of the participants. The research also committed that the
50 Jensen, Klaus Bruhn, ed. A handbook of media and communication research: Qualitative and quantitative
methodologies. Routledge, 2013.
51 Miller, Tina, et al., eds. Ethics in qualitative research. Sage, 2012.
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28MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
participants can participate anonymously and can skip any of the 12 questions. The research also
ensured that the document and data collected from the primary data will not be implemented any
other unauthorised process or research.
3.10 Summary
In order to assess the existing Procurement Plan regarding agricultural goods and
opportunity of increase the comprehensiveness of existing Procurement Plan for goods in
Agricultural sector of Afghanistan, this research followed the realism research philosophy that
allowed the research to use real time data collection and analysis process while allowing the
secondary data collection. In this research, the Inductive research approach has been followed to
collect and analyse data to derive the findings and conclusion. This research has been designed as
per the exploratory research format to explore the existing situation through data collection and
analysis. This research considered both primary and secondary data collection. To collect primary
data a close ended structure survey has been conducted on 30 colleagues who work in Agricultural
Procurement Management sector in Afghanistan. The survey comprised of 10 questions with two
demographical question and 10 subject oriented question. The survey was structured with close
ended Likert Scale MCQ model where the respondents had to choose one of the five answers for
each question. For secondary data collection, government report, books, journals and articles have
been collected and analysed. Both qualitative and quantitative data analysis have been conducted
for this research. For quantitative analysis both numerical analysis and graphical representation have
been considered. The qualitative analysis of this research was based on the secondary data
collection.
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Chapter 4: Time horizon
Activities Start date Duration (days)
Selection of Topic 04-Jun 5
Constructing the Research Layout 9-Jun 10
Literature Review 20-Jun 20
Selection of research methods 01-Jul 10
Development of Research Plan 07-Jul 10
Data Collection from Secondary Resources 18-Jul 25
Data Collection from Primary Collection 05-Aug 20
Analysis and Interpretation of Collected Data 25-Aug 15
Formulating Conclusion 10-Sep 7
Development to Draft 17-Sep 5
Final Work Submission 22-Sep 5
1.1 Gantt chart
Final Work Submission
Development to Draft
Formulating Conclusion
Analysis and Interpretation of
Collected Data
Data Collection from Primary
Collection
Data Collection from Secondary
Resources
Development of Research Plan
Selection of research methods
Literature Review
Constructing the Research Layout
Selection of Topic
30-May 19-Jun 10-Jul 30-Jul 20-Aug 09-Sep 30-Sep
Start date
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30MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
Chapter 5: Data collection and analysis
5.1 Data presentation and analysis from survey
Q1. From how many years the Ministry of Agriculture is has been trying for the successful
implementation of procurement plan?
Responses Number of respondents
out of 30
Frequency
percentage
Ministry of Agriculture is has been trying for successful procurement plan
Less than 1 year 6 20
More than 1 year and less than 5 years 15 50
More than 5 years 9 30
From the above data presentation, it is clear that most of the participants supports that Ministry of
agriculture has been implementing procurement model from less than 5 years of earlier. This data
emphasise that the development of agricultural procurement planning system was not appropriate
before, as MAIL has recently been able to execute more than 75% of its development budget
whereas in comparison to more than five years, it was less than 75%.
Q2. Do you consider any potential improving attribute in existing agricultural procurement
planning for goods in Ministry of Agriculture?
Responses Number of respondents
out of 30
Frequency percentage
Improving attribute in existing agricultural procurement planning for goods
Yes 12 40
No 18 60
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31MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
Among the participant 40% personal perceived any potential attribute in existing procurement plan
for goods. Therefore, the existing procurement policies of Ministry of Agriculture lacks some
appropriate game changing attribute in their procurement plan for goods.
Q3. The recent procurement planning for goods in the Ministry of Agriculture will work for the
benefits of farmers in terms of on time delivery, particularly the seasonal things?
Likert scale range Number of respondents
out of 30
Frequency percentage
Procurement planning for goods in Agriculture, will work for the benefits of farmers
Strongly Disagree 6 20
Disagree 12 40
Neutral 3 10
Agree 6 20
Strongly Agree 3 10
60% of total participants denied the fact that the recent procurement planning and procedures and
bidding opportunity for farmers are adequate, while only 40% supported this fact. Therefore, it is
clear that the Administrative Executives and Personnel are not satisfied with the way procurement
plans have been developed that is pointing a severe loop hole in this procurement planning system.
Q4. Procurement planning requires more alteration in its implementation compared to granting
Likert scale range Number of respondents
out of 30
Frequency percentage
Procurement planning requires more alteration in its implementation compared to granting
Strongly Disagree 3 10
Disagree 12 40
Neutral 6 20
Agree 9 30
Strongly Agree 0 0
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32MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
50% of total participants disagreed about the importance of alteration only on direct procurement.
At the same time, no participant strongly supported this statement. This opinion directly reflects
that the existing strategy of the government to focus on technical support for direct is not beneficial
for the agricultural development of Afghanistan.
Q5. Is the current threshold for the procurement of goods in MAIL sets for the local firms
accommodate the effective implementation of the procurement plan?
Likert scale range Number of respondents
out of 30
Frequency percentage
Current threshold for the procurement of goods in MAIL
Strongly Disagree 3 10
Disagree 12 40
Neutral 6 20
Agree 6 20
Strongly Agree 3 10
50% of total participants did not agreed that the existing threshold for the local firms for the
procurement of goods in agriculture sector. Only 30% of total participant think that the existing
threshold is a significant part of their procurement planning. This report clearly showed that the
existing threshold for the local firms is not adequate to achieve the proper financial procurement
plan for goods in Agricultural Sector of Afghanistan.
Q6. Is the existing time allocation being practical for the procurement of the following goods in
NCB/ICB at MAIL?
Responses Number of respondents
out of 30
Frequency percentage
Time allocation practical for the procurement of goods in NCB/ICB
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33MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
Fertilizers (Urea, DAP) 6 20
Pesticides 6 20
Equipments (Sprayer pump) 9 30
Medium to high-density saplings 3 10
Seeds 6 20
Among Fertilizers (Urea, DAP), Pesticides, Equipments (Sprayer pump), Medium to high-density
saplings and Seeds, Equipments like Sprayer pump and other advance technologies got the
maximum support from the participants in terms of allocation of more and appropriate time. On the
other hand, Medium to high-density saplings got only 10% support among the participants. It
emphasises the importance of technologically advanced equipments as a focus of less time
allocation provided by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Q7. The existing procedure of advanced technological equipment and machineries is adequate for
implementing model procurement planning
Likert scale range Number of respondents
out of 30
Frequency percentage
Technological equipments is adequate for the procurement plan implementation
Strongly Disagree 6 20
Disagree 12 40
Neutral 3 10
Agree 6 20
Strongly Agree 3 10
As per the above survey report 60% of total participants did not agreed upon the adequacy of
existing procurement plans in terms of technological advancement in cultivation. Only 30% of total
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34MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
participant think that the existing advancement of technology is beneficial for the implementation of
procurement plan. This report clearly showed that the existing procurement plan for technological
equipments providing is not adequate for ensuring the effective implementation of the procurement
contracts and as well as the achievement of the MAIL objectives.
Q8. The current procurement planning in goods is achieving the target of increasing the
economical condition in rural area
Likert scale range Number of respondents
out of 30
Frequency percentage
The current procurement planning in goods is achieving the target
Strongly Disagree 3 10
Disagree 12 40
Neutral 6 20
Agree 6 20
Strongly Agree 3 10
As per the above survey report, 50% of total participants did not agreed upon the adequacy of
existing Procurement planning in goods decided by the Ministry of Agriculture. Only 30% of total
participant think that the existing model of procurement for goods is beneficial for the farmers and
for the overall economical growth of the rural area. This report clearly emphasise that the existing
procurement planning is not adequate to achieve the target to meet the economical growth and as
well as ensure the procurement plan was implemented as per the public procurement law and
procedures.
Q9. Ministry of Agriculture requires alteration of their procurement plan in terms of developing
the right specifications in procurement planning.
Likert scale range Number of respondents
out of 30
Frequency percentage
Alteration of the subsidy on fertilisers
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35MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
Strongly Disagree 3 10
Disagree 3 10
Neutral 3 10
Agree 15 50
Strongly Agree 6 20
As per the above survey report, 70% of total participants strongly agreed that Ministry of Agriculture
should change their existing process for the development of specifications for goods in procurement
plan for the effective implementation of the procurement contracts and as well as for the on-time
delivery of the goods to the end users. Only 20% of total participant think that the existing process of
development of specifications do not need further modification. This report clearly showed that the
MAIL should change the existing procurement planning focusing on the development of right and
concrete specifications for goods.
Q10. What should be the deadline for the Ministry of Agriculture to come up with a model
procurement plan in order to save the agriculture sector and farmers from problems and crisis?
Responses Number of respondents
out of 30
Frequency percentage
Time the Ministry of Agriculture have for amending the procurement plan for goods
Next 6 month 3 10
Next 1 year 12 40
Next 2 year 9 30
Next 5 year 3 10
More than 5 years 3 10
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36MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
As per the above survey report 50% of total participants that within 1-year Time that Ministry of
Agriculture has to amend the procurement process in order to achieve the target growth of the
Agriculture sector of Afghanistan. Only 30% of total participant think that the existing procedure can
be changed after 5 years from now. This report clearly showed that The Ministry of Agriculture has
less than 5 years to change the procurement Planning procedure in order to meet the economical
growth rate in Agricultural sector of Afghanistan.
5.2 Discussion:
From the above data presentation, it is clear that most of the participants have less than 5
years of experience in this field. The lack of workforce from 2012 and earlier testified the fact that in
last five years a large number of participants have been recruited. Apart from that, the participation
trends showed that the existing human resource system of Ministry of Agriculture focuses
significantly on the experienced candidate in the Agricultural Administration field. According to the
survey report about 60% of total participants denied the fact that the recent procurement procedure
and bidding opportunity are adequate. Therefore, it is clear that the Administrative Executives and
Personnel are not satisfied with the recent government policies that is pointing a severe loop hole in
this model of procurement planning. At the same time, about half of total participants disagreed
about the importance of technological assistance only on direct procurement. Therefore, it is also
clear that the existing strategy of the government to focus on technical support for direct
procurement is not beneficial for the agricultural development of Afghanistan.
Around 50% of total participants did not agreed upon the adequacy of existing time
allocation for particular goods. This survey report clearly showed that the existing time-frame is not
adequate to achieve the economical growth in Agricultural Sector of Afghanistan. Despite these
facts, the survey reports also showed that among Fertilizers (Urea, DAP), Pesticides, Equipments
(Sprayer pump), Medium to high-density saplings and Seeds, Equipments like Sprayer pump and
other advance technologies should be essential components of procurement and subsidising plan of
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37MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
Ministry of Agriculture. This report clearly showed that the existing procedure for technological
equipment providing is not adequate for making the cultivation procedure profitable for the
farmers. The survey report also clearly emphasise that the existing procurement planning procedure
is not adequate to achieve the target to meet the economical growth that can save the Agricultural
sector of Afghanistan from being collapsed. According to the Survey report presented above, 70% of
total participants strongly agreed that Ministry of Agriculture should change their existing
procurement planning system to support the farmers and their economical depression. Therefore,
the opinions of the participants clearly refer that The Ministry of Agriculture has less than 5 years to
change the model of procurement planning and phenomenon of financial procurement in order to
meet the economical growth rate in Agricultural sector of Afghanistan.
Agriculture being the backbone of the economy in Afghanistan therefore financial
procurement is required in other to promote the economic welfare. 80% of Afghanistan’s production
is due to wheat, however most of it is unprofitable52. Therefore, suggestions have been made for a
shift of use of land to irrigate higher value crops that is imperative during the post-conflict phase.
The World Bank along with the Afghanistan government have successfully recognized that growth is
agriculture is necessary for the inclusive growth of the country. This should be committed to the
direct and indirect procurement in agriculture. The National Agriculture Development Framework
(NADF) was developed using the assistance form the government and the donors in 2009 53. This
framework provided a plan for production, economic regeneration and natural resource
management.
Rural credit constraints the livestock and the production in horticulture. There is fragility in the
financial sector which leads to low access to the financial services. The financial sector being poorly
52Hogg, Richard, Claudia Nassif, Camilo Gomez Osorio, William Byrd, and Andrew Beath. Afghanistan in
transition: looking beyond 2014. The World Bank, 2013.
53Widener, Michael J., Yavni Bar-Yam, Andreas Gros, Sara S. Metcalf, and Yaneer Bar-Yam. "Modeling policy
and agricultural decisions in Afghanistan." GeoJournal 78, no. 4 (2013): 591-599.
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38MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
developed in Afghanistan, showed that the credit of the private sector was only 4.1% of the GDP54.
Considering the low level of finance, it was reported that agriculture received 2.4 percent of loans
from banking sector (US$19.6 million). However most of this went to borrowers in the Kabul
region55.
With respect to the procurement planning, the Agriculture Development Fund (ADF) began
its operation. The initial capital of the organization was US$100 million. This was a part of the USAID
Agricultural Credit Enhancement (ACE) project56. ADF lends financial support to institutions which
are non-financial. Help is provided mainly to the farmer associations and farmer cooperatives. This in
turn lend to its members who are engaged in agricultural activities. With respect to financial
procurement, minimum loan size is US$100,000 where the maximum loan tenure is three years. In
case of indirect lending occurring through non-financial institutions, the amount of the end loans
varies between US$2,000 and US$5,000 per farmer. It is reported that ADF has a high loan portfolio
which is US$19 million. According to of procurement planning, the portfolio is at risk over 180 days
that stands at 3.9 percent. As transition occurs from ADF to a USAID-funded project belonging to a
financial institution, support is received from the international staff of ACE. This will be phase down
at one point. It is expected that after the year 2015, a small number of advisers will provide
management assistance to ADF57
The Afghan Government should take steps to provide indirect support to the process of
expansion of agricultural finance institutions implementing direct and indirect procurement. Support
can also be provided by the Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan (MISFA) for
54Bodirsky, Benjamin Leon, Susanne Rolinski, Anne Biewald, Isabelle Weindl, Alexander Popp, and Hermann
Lotze-Campen. "Global food demand scenarios for the 21st century." PLoS One 10, no. 11 (2015): e0139201.
55Pervez, MdShahriar, Michael Budde, and James Rowland. "Mapping irrigated areas in Afghanistan over the
past decade using MODIS NDVI." Remote sensing of environment 149 (2014): 155-165.
56Rutherford, Diana Duff, Holly M. Burke, Kelly K. Cheung, and Samuel H. Field. "Impact of an agricultural
value chain project on smallholder farmers, households, and children in Liberia." World Development 83
(2016): 70-83.
57Dries, Liesbeth, and DomenicoDentoni. Private sector investments to create market-supporting institutions:
The case of Malawian Agricultural Commodity Exchange. No. 2015/08. 2015.
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39MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
the development of financial products that can be adapted to the sector of agriculture58. There is a
need of support both from the government and donor community for the effort of ADF. Sustainable
financial institution is required that must be dedicated to the sector of agriculture sector. Much
needed finance is provided by ADF that is functioning well through the intermediaries complying
with the procurement planning model. Provision of partial risk guarantees is received from the
Afghanistan Credit Guarantee Facility (ACGF) The commercial banks are involved in lending financial
support to all small and medium-sized businesses with the objective to elevate the rate of its
operations, with the main focus on the rural sector in terms of procurement planning model.59
According to the World Bank document, the process of procurement of goods should be
carried out complying to the “Guidelines: Procurement of Goods, Works and Non-Consulting
Services under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants by World Bank Borrowers”. It also stated that
responsibility of procurement and management should be taken under the project, along with all the
staff involved in the project management team (PMT). The team can be a part of the implementing
agencies which are namely ILDG in the urban areas and for the rural areas it is MRRD60 Studies have
shown that the capacity of the technology development in Afghanistan is quite limited. The national
agricultural research system has failed to provide adequate technological support to the farmers61.
This is evident form the fact that there is low crop and limited livestock yields in comparison to the
other neighbouring countries.
There is also an evident trend decline in the TFP. From the year 2002, initiative has been
taken by the MAIL to re-establish the system of significant research. This has been recently
58Goud, Blake. "Islamic microfinance." Contemporary Islamic Finance: Innovations, Applications, and Best
Practices (2013): 353-365.
59Pagano, James. "MICROFINANCE AND SMALL BUSINESS: THE POTENTIAL EMPOWERING
EFFECTS FOR WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ AND THE ROLE OF THE US MILITARY."
PREVENTING AND MANAGING CONFLICT IN AN UNSTABLE WORLD (2014): 139.
60Rahmani, Obaidullah, and Naseer Ahmad Gulzai. "The impact and achievements of ministry of rural
rehabilitation and development (MRRD) from the year 2002 till 2016 in rural poverty alleviation and rural
development of Afghanistan." The Business & Management Review 9, no. 2 (2017): 164-164.
61GHAFOORY, Besmellah, and İhsan YÜKSEL. "Competitive Strategy in Afghanistan's Saffron Sector."
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40MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
structured as the Agricultural Research Institute of Afghanistan (ARIA)62. For extension of services in
the agricultural sector, strategic framework has been provided by the Afghanistan Agricultural
Extension Model (AAEM). This model of procurement planning puts forward plans that suggests to
revise the delivery of extension services in a way that is more focused. More concentration should
be provided on the first-mover agricultural commodities with has high potential for bringing about
production and productivity growth. This is mainly in case of irrigated wheat, most horticultural
crops, and intensive production of livestock included in direct and indirect procurement. Focus is
mainly on the irrigated areas having a good market access63.
62Willer, Helga, and Julia Lernoud. The world of organic agriculture. Statistics and emerging trends 2016.
Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL and IFOAM Organics International, 2016.
63Risa, Singh. "Impact of E Recruitment on Human Resource Supply Chain Management An Empirical
Investigation of Service Industry in Indian Context." (2016).
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Chapter 6: Conclusion and recommendation
6.1 Conclusion
Agriculture is the primary driver of Afghanistan's economy and the development in the
agricultural products has led to the growth of Afghanistan's agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture
of Afghanistan is assisting and helping the farmers to increase the agriculture productivity. It is
important to note that the only a small share of the land (15 percent) is suitable for farming and only
about 6 percent of the land is actually under cultivation. Two-thirds of the land needs irrigation and
thus for this purpose, water is drawn from the rivers and springs and water is distributed through
the underground tunnels and channels and also through the surface ditches. The most common and
most important crop cultivated is wheat and this is followed by other crops like barley, corn and rice.
The most widely cultivated crop is cotton and nuts, fruits form the vital part of the export.
The conducted study has shown that the procurement planning is mostly dependent on the
capability of the farmers in saving the seeds for later use. The various ways through, which farmers
procure seeds are: farmers saved their own seeds, collected seeds from the other farmers, seeds are
brought with from the local markets and from the other sources, seeds are collected and stored free
of cost which is supplied by the relief agencies, seeds are collected and obtained with cash from the
relief agencies. All these includes the direct, indirect and financial methods of procurement.
Considering the importance of the agricultural sector on the Afghanistan economy, the agricultural
ministry must subsidies the fertilizers like DAP, Urea so that the agricultural productivity can be
increased. The study revealed that the participants involved in the study had 5 years of experience
and 60 percent of the respondents have said that the recent model of procurement planning were
not adequate. Administrative Executives and Personnel are not satisfied with the recent government
policies that are pointing to a severe loophole in this procurement system. The study mainly focused
on the role of procurement planning model of the agricultural goods, the extent of the applicability
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42MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
of the procurement planning, ensuring the comprehension procurement planning will help in
achieving a much better coordination between the government entities and the Ministry of
Agriculture, assisting in the implementation of the procurement contracts in the Ministry of
Agriculture. Thus, all the objectives direct towards the inefficiency of the Agricultural Ministry in the
procurement of the agricultural goods. There are several factors that contribute to the inefficient
performance of the agricultural ministry and it includes the lack of funds and reliance on the external
aid and assistance by the developed countries. Thus, it is clear that the administrative executives and
the personnel are not satisfied with the governmental policies and this directs towards the loopholes
that are present in the procurement planning. According to the above study, the participants also
disagreed about the importance of the technical assistance required only for the indirect
procurement for goods. Thus, it is clear that the existing strategy of the government must focus on
providing technical support.
6.2 Linking with objectives
 To find out the importance and role of planning in procurement of goods at the Ministry of
Agriculture in Afghanistan: From this study is has been found that in order to save the
economical situation of rural area from being banished the Ministry of Afghanistan should
develop and implement effective and uplifting procurement planning process.
 To explore its applicability in Procurement planning of goods for the agriculture sector of
Afghanistan: This study has tried to dig deep into the existing procurement policies and bidding
opportunities. The Study also revealed that the existing procurement planning procedure
requires essential changes.
 To ensure comprehensive procurement planning would further achieve more coordination
between Ministry of Agriculture and governmental entities in Afghanistan: National
Procurement Authority (NPA) and Ministry of Finance should work cooperatively with MAIL to
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43MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
achieve the viable coordination for improvement and implementation of effective procurement
plan.
 To assist the effective implementation of the procurement contracts for goods across Ministry
of Afghanistan Agriculture: As per this study report fertilizers, DAP, Urea, pesticides, medium
and high density saplings, seed and others should be the major goods as seasonal activities for
MAIL.
6.3 Recommendation
The revival of the agriculture sector is vital for the economic development of Afghanistan.
Afghanistan's agriculture must have the aim of providing a boost to the overall economy and the
livelihood of the general public. The agricultural sector can be revived if the agricultural ministry lays
emphasis on the capacity building, development of the preservation of the forests, commercial
trees, fruit orchards, wheat production, natural streams, storage facilities, irrigation system,
improvement of the administrative systems and human resources. The public agricultural sector can
also form ties with the private sector to bring forth more minds into the field. The economy of
Afghanistan relies heavily on agriculture and thus the developmental plans must include the poverty
reduction plan. Investment in agriculture can help the agricultural sector and can help Afghanistan
increase its self-sufficiency and financial stability. The international aid and funding have made
Afghanistan heavily reliant and along with it eroded the self-reliant capacity. Thus, to increase its
financial stability the state must look towards the increase the Comprehensiveness of the Model
Procurement Planning for Goods so that the country can generate revenue by exporting the
agricultural produce. It has also been estimated that a large portion of the Afghan population lives in
the rural areas where agriculture is the only source of income.
Effective implementation of a procurement plan particularly in goods does have direct impact on the
life of ordinary Afghans that are largely dependent on agriculture. Here are some of the
recommendations that come as the result of this research:
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44MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
 MAIL to ensure more coordination between the procurement planning unit and the
requesting units to ensure the procurement plan is drafted, shared and developed on time.
 MAIL to ensure the procurement unit and the technical units work together on the
development of right specifications to be reflected in the procurement plan.
 MAIL to come up with detailed assessment of the local market and the local firms in the
procurement of goods, a vendor database or registration shall be developed to ensure the
capacity of the local market is very well known to the procurement unit so that the
successful and effective implementation of the procurement plan is ensured.
 MAIL to assess and prioritize the procurement of seasonal activities and allow enough time
in the procurement plan to ensure all the seasonal activities are procured on time and reach
to the farmers on-time.
 MAIL to reflect the right procurement method in the procurement plan rather than the re-
advertisement of the same activities for multiple times which at the end could result the
failure of the implementation of the procurement plan.
 MAIL to determine the capacity of the procurement staffs for the evaluation of the goods
that are technical, and allow such things in the procurement plan so that the evaluation of
the technical goods and equipment have been undertaken professionally and as well as in a
time manner, such things will ensure the effective implementation of procurement
contracts.
 MAIL to identify the sensitive goods/equipment in the procurement plan that requires
further permits/permission/approvals and no objection or particular certificates to ensure
such things have been reflected in the procurement plan and the suppliers are aware of
them rather than not listing such things in the procurement plan which could result the
failure of the implementation of the procurement plan and the contract itself.
 MAIL to assess and determine the time allocation for the particular goods that are not
produced in Afghanistan and requires to be imported, such goods have to be reflected and
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45MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
pointed out in the procurement plan to ensure further time allocation is considered for the
suppliers.
 MAIL to initiate a tracking system for the supervision and monitoring of the procurement
plan in consultation with the contract management office.
6.4 Limitation
Aiming the agricultural sector and procurement planning and procedure of Afghanistan this
research has been conducted focusing on the authentic data from articles and government reports
and the survey response of employees of Ministry of Agriculture. However, this research has been
failed to present in depth analysis and exploration of poverty level and sufferings of farmers in the
rural area and agriculture based community of Afghanistan.
6.5 Future scope of the study
The development of the objectives in this study targets to explore the existing condition of
the procurement planning for goods in Agriculture Sector of Afghanistan, while finding the possible
solution to increase the comprehensiveness of the existing procurement planning practice for goods
in Agriculture of Afghanistan. In case of future researches the factors affecting the poverty of the
rural area and the community who are responsible for the maximum portion of the agricultural
product can be explore or examined. This particular research can serve as references for further
evaluation of the status of the Agricultural procurement of Afghanistan.
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46MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
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52MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
Appendix
Appendix 1: Survey Form
Name of the Participants: ..................................................................................
Role of the Participants:......................................................................................
Q1. From how many years the
Ministry of Agriculture is has
been trying for the successful
implementation of
procurement plan?
Less than
1 year
More than
1 year and
less than
5 years
More than
5 years
Q2. Do you consider any
potential improving attribute
in existing agricultural
procurement planning for
goods in Ministry of
Agriculture?
Yes No
Q3. The recent procurement
planning for goods in the
Ministry of Agriculture will
work for the benefits of
farmers in terms of on time
delivery, particularly the
seasonal things?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Agree
Q4. Procurement planning
requires more alteration in its
implementation compared to
granting?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Agree
Q5. Is the current threshold for
the procurement of goods in
Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
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53MODEL PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR GOODS IN AGRICULTURE
MAIL sets for the local firms
accommodate the effective
implementation of the
procurement plan?
Disagree Agree
Q6. Is the existing time
allocation being practical for
the procurement of the
following goods in NCB/ICB at
MAIL?
Fertilizers
(Urea,
DAP)
Pesticides Equipment
s (Sprayer
pump)
Medium
to high-
density
saplings
Seeds
Q7. The existing procedure of
advanced technological
equipment and machineries is
adequate for implementing
model procurement planning?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Agree
Q8. The current procurement
planning in goods is achieving
the target of increasing the
economical condition in rural
area?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly
Agree
Q9. Ministry of Agriculture
requires alteration of their
procurement plan in terms of
developing the right
specifications in procurement
planning?
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Neutral Agree
r
Strongly
Agree
53