Over many years, DACAAR has been supporting the Afghan market through training of Afghan youth in various vocations and creation of small and medium enterprises.

DACAAR follows a center-based approach for its vocational training program to maximize peer knowledge and create a familiar environment in which trainees can learn new skills. Training is selected following detailed market assessment to avoid duplication and local market saturation.

Once graduated from the VT centers, the youth are provided with the opportunity to start own or join existing enterprises in the form of vocational shops. Each course which trains up to 20 trainees for a period of up to 7 months includes daily practice sessions to ensure maximum transfer of technical skills. In addition to the technical skills, trainees get basic literacy and numeracy, including necessary business management skills. Once graduated, the youth are provided with toolkits and start up grants to commence own small businesses in their communities. They are provided with mentoring and coaching during the first 3-6 months of starting business to help them succeed in their endeavor.

In addition to supporting youth with VT and as a cross-cutting activity between NRM and SSED, DACAAR supports establishment of Producers Associations. These associations enable farmers and producers to harness their collective strength not only in terms of quality and packaging but also in terms of leveraging market linkages to negotiate better prices for their products.