USAID Programs
Helmand was the center of a U.S. aid program in the 1960s to develop the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority (HAVA) – it was even nicknamed "little America". The program laid out tree-lined streets in Lashkar Gah, built a network of irrigation canals and constructed a large hydroelectric dam. The development program was abandoned when the communists seized power in 1978, although much of the Province is still irrigated by the HAVA.
More recently the American USAID program has contributed to a counter-narcotics initiative called the Alternative Livelihoods Program (ALP) in the province. It pays communities to work to improve their environment and economic infrastructure as an alternative to opium poppy farming. The project undertakes drainage and canal rehabilitation projects. In 2005 and 2006, there were problems in getting promised finance to communities and this is a source of considerable tension between the farmers and the Coalition forces.
Read more about this topic: Helmand Province
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