In Spring 2022 Nangyalai Attal received a research grant from the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) on behalf of its Sponsored Project Echidna Giving. The grant is intended to allow previous Echidna Global Scholars to continue their research in their home countries. However, because of the situation in Afghanistan he will carry out his research from Amherst.   The grant is being managed by UMass Amherst and will last until the end of 2022.

His project will advocate for increasing the number of female teachers in formal agriculture education in Afghanistan. It has three components: advocate for female friendly policies at the TVET Authority, develop an advocacy toolkit through a participatory feedback process, and provide technical support to the Teacher Training Directorate of the TVET Authority.

During his research, Attal will continue to work with the TVET Authority to increase female enrollment.  Part of his strategy will be working with the teacher training directorate to modify admissions requirements to help recruit more women.  He will also be working with the TVET Authority to have women with Associate Degrees or 14 years of education be eligible for teaching positions in agriculture education.  This is part of the effort to help women move from the unpaid, informal sector into the formal sector in agriculture.

He will also be developing an advocacy toolkit for policy makers, parents and communities.  The toolkit will include information about the informal sector – arguing why more women are needed in the formal agricultural sector. He will also advise on ways to adjust the content of agricultural to better match the practical needs of women’s education, emphasizing issues of food security and the need for increased food production.

Attal says “we are determined to tap into the spaces where we can expand possibilities for young women and girls in Afghanistan. Despite the despair, I believe that a determined struggle always has a chance of victory. We must not turn back on the legitimate needs and aspirations of Afghan girls” [4-22]