Factors influencing construction productivity in Afghanistan

As in many developing economies, productivity is an issue of particular importance in Afghanistan. This is considered as one of the strategic goals of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS) to carry out the country's development cycle further than the post-conflict situation. There is a lack of sufficient research on construction productivity in Afghanistan, but going by the example of other countries it can be assumed that any effort directed to improving productivity will greatly enhance the country’s chances of realizing its strategic development goals. This paper describes a study conducted with the aim of identifying factors influencing construction productivity in Afghanistan. Data and information were collected through a structured questionnaire survey. Utilizing the relative importance index ranking techniques, the identified factors were prioritized for further detailed analyses. The result indicates the six most significant factors influencing construction productivity in Afghanistan are: Security (Crime, theft and disorder), Corruption, Poor Scheduling and Coordination, Construction method, Low quality of raw materials, and Payment delays. Based upon these findings, the paper recommends the key drivers for changing the productivity level in the Afghanistan construction industry