Afghanistan is in the midst of a chronic crisis that has been underway for 35 years. Despite the billions of dollars of aid that has been poured into the country, livelihoods continue to be lost and families are reaching the limits of their coping strategies. This report (2014), based on 35 years of ACF experience delivering aid to Afghanistan and interviews on the ground with some thirty international and Afghan stakeholders includind NGOs, state agencies, donors and diplomatic missions, attempts to answer why the aid system does not function as effectively as it should in Afghanistan.