KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The summer "fighting season" in Afghanistan is coming to an end, so Canadian construction season is about to begin.
During the hot summer months, when insurgent activity is at its peak, few projects can be undertaken outside the confines of Kandahar city.
"Because it's fighting season, we can't concentrate on the development side," said Lt. Mathieu Proulx, a member of the Kandahar provincial reconstruction team at a remote military base in the violent Zhari district. "This district is not the safest one."
But once fighting eases off, as it tends to as winter approaches, several Canadian development projects are expected to get underway - including a market for the farmers of this district west of Kandahar city.
The land for the market, which will be located in the relative safety of the area just outside the military base, has been de-mined. Plans are being drawn up for the project to be funded by the Canadian International Development Agency.
Over the years, farmers have fled the area as insurgents have taken over. For those farmers who do remain, the nearest markets are in Kandahar city, a short distance away along a highway littered with roadside bombs.
Being able to sell locally at their own market means more money for area farmers, and a more stable community.
"At the end of the fighting season we'll be able to start it," Proulx said. "As soon as the freedom of movement improves, we need to be ready to do as many projects as possible."
Developments like the Zhari market are key to Canada's counter-insurgency strategy in Kandahar in the years ahead, as the growing presence of civilians on base attests.
There are about 100 Canadian government employees in theatre, working for Foreign Affairs, CIDA, Corrections Canada, RCMP and civilian police forces. They trained for months with the Canadian Forces in Wainwright, Alta., before their current deployment.
"We're learning. We're learning a lot," said Ken Lewis, the Representative of Canada in Kandahar, the federal government's top civilian government official in the province.
"Usually, we do this development piece post-conflict, not in-conflict," Lewis said. But in Afghanistan, military and civilian goals coincide, he added.
"What we've managed to do in the last year is phenomenal."
Last year, the Manley report recommended a greater emphasis be put on reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, and a higher priority for projects that address the immediate needs of residents of Kandahar province.
Lewis said good progress is being made on that front.
The work phase is getting underway for the massive Dahla Dam project, with aims to revitalize the agricultural corridor down the Arghandab River, right down to the dustbed that surrounds the Kandahar NATO base. Work on the irrigation system is set to begin this fall.
A winter wheat seed project and an agricultural training school are in the works. There are also smaller-scale projects going on - roads, irrigation, school revitalization, and training of police and correctional officers.
Lewis cited Canada's six signature projects, including polio eradication, governance and education. And officials say there's a great deal more to come.
"It's a very great challenge but I've got a very great team," he said.
In Zhari, the district leader has a list of projects he'd like to see, including a school and several agricultural projects.
Proulx said the hope is that development will draw residents who have fled the fighting back to the district, and drive insurgents out.
"We expect to get more locals coming back," he said.
