Case Study 2: Baghlan Cheese Factory

Fragile states are plagued with numerous problems impeding development: insecurity, weak governance and a poor enabling environment for businesses are both the result and the cause of poverty and conflict. Getting out of this vicious circle requires sustained efforts by national government, NGOs, bilateral and multilateral aid organisations and the private sector.

The aim of this paper is to asses whether and how Public-Private Cooperation (PPC) can enhance economic development in fragile states or post-conflict situations. A PPC is defined as a partnership between government, the private sector and civil society (NGOs). The case studied is the Baghlan Cheese Factory in Afghanistan. In 2006 a Dutch NGO was asked to rehabilitate this state-owned factory that was destroyed in the 1980s. Consequently, it was supposed to privatise it by handing over ownership to a farmers’ cooperative. This paper addresses three questions. The first is to which extent the intervention has been a success. The second is what the different partners contributed and what they got out of it. The last question is how the
context of the fragile state influenced the process and the outcomes.

 Peace, Security and Development Network 2009 

This publication is an outcome of the in 2008 established ‘Network for Peace, Security and Development’. The Network aims  to support and encourage the sharing of expertise and cooperation between the different Dutch sectors and organisations involved in fragile states.