What remains after exit? Not too much – lessons from intervening in northern Afghanistan’s livestock and dairy sectors

Projects using the market systems development (MSD) approach claim that their most successful interventions create impact for target groups that extends beyond the life of the project. Yet, such claims are rarely validated. Very few ex-post studies have been commissioned, and this gap represents an oversight.

In response, the ILO’s Systems Change Initiative reopened its engagement in Afghanistan’s carpet, livestock and dairy sectors from 2018 to 2021. It reviewed two ILO sister projects: Road to Jobs (R2J) funded by Sweden (2015-2020); and its successor Road to Decent Jobs for All Afghans (R2DJ4ALL) funded by the United States of America (2020-2022).

While the evaluation of the intervention in the carpet sector reveals clear indication of sustained system-level outputs and outcomes, a rapid review of the legacies of the livestock and dairy interventions finds little of substance remains intact for further assessment. This short brief examines why earlier successes did not endure, what lessons can be drawn from key decisions made at the time, and considers whether different actions may have been pursued during the projects’ lifetimes.