The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is one of nine specialist agencies and institutions of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). The Foundation works in rural development in some thirty countries, especially in Asia and Africa. In Afghanistan, it works in seven provinces of northern and central Afghanistan, implementing long-term programmes aimed at reducing poverty and enabling people to improve their quality of life.AKF implements programmes in civil society, agriculture, infrastructure, small enterprise development and education.

AKDN interventions in Baghlan and four neighbouring provinces began in 1996 with a relief programme implemented by Focus Humanitarian Assistance, an AKDN affiliate, under which fertiliser and improved seed were supplied to address food insecurity. From 2002, the Aga Khan Foundation began introducing long­term development programmes to meet the critical need for better infrastructure and improvements in education and healthcare.