IDEA-NEW is an acronym for ''Incentives Driving Economic Alternatives for the North, East and West'', and is a United States Agency for International Development (

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

)-funded program in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. It works with farmers to grow different crops in provinces where poppies are frequently grown for

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

production and collaborates with Afghan governmental bodies such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, the Ministry of Women's Affairs and the

Ministry of Counter Narcotics The Ministry of Counter Narcotics ( ps, د مخدره موادو پر ضد وزارت; fa, وزارت مبارزه عليه مواد مخدر) is a Council of Ministers (Afghanistan), ministry within the Politics of Afghanistan, government of Afg ...

. The fact that the program consults with local Afghans "at every stage of its operations" and uses almost all Afghan people on staff makes this project both unusual, and according to Trudy Rubin, more successful than other civilian-aid programs backed by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

History

IDEA-NEW took place between March 2, 2009 and March 1, 2014. The project was funded by the United States government with a $150 million budget and intended to operate in less-violent areas of Afghanistan. A contractor, Development Alternatives Inc. leads the project. The project built a farmer's market in Qala-e-Naw. They also rehabilitated the Sakha Canal in the Baharak District, starting work in 2011.

References

Foreign aid to Afghanistan Illegal drug trade in Afghanistan Agriculture in Afghanistan Non-profit organisations based in Afghanistan {{Afghanistan-stub