Afghan almond farmers get cracking
The farmers of southern Afghanistan have the beginnings of a new local industry after recently attracting an international buyer for their locally processed, stone-shelled almonds.
At the end of February, the Uruzgan Agricultural Association took their products to an international conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where they attracted the attention of a key international buyer.
For the farmers of Uruzgan, this is a key step in breaking highly competitive local markets and bringing their processed almonds into the worldwide arena.
The road to success has been long – one which the US- and Australian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Uruzgan has walked with them every step of the way.
Bob Mullen is the Agriculture Advisor for Uruzgan’s PRT. He has 37 years of agricultural experience and recently served in Afghanistan as an agricultural specialist for the US Army.
Uruzgan's largest cash crop is almonds but the province lacks the facilities to remove the kernel from the shell. This means that local almonds directly compete with similar products coming to market at the same time from neighbouring provinces like Helmand.
“There are four varieties that make up the approximate 70 metric tons harvested each year. There are no processing facilities in the province and all almonds are sold in-shell and compete with other provinces at sale time,” says Mullen.
Local processing adds value
The solution Mullen and his team came up with is to create a new local industry in Uruzgan, which can process the almonds locally and enable farmers to access a new international market.
“The DAIL [Directorate of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock, Uruzgan] in conjunction with the PRT introduced the simple nut-cracking machine and the plastic bags for processing and marketing. An NGO [non-governmental organisation], Roots of Peace sponsored by USAID, will assist the farmers in locating buyers for the shelled almonds providing a 100 to 300 per cent increase on income for the farmers,” says Mullen.
Afghan farmers are very risk-averse. But Mullen hopes this pilot project will show farmers that a greater profit can be achieved with local processing and increased quality. If other farmers are encouraged to get involved, it will help create a new self-sustainable almond-processing industry in Uruzgan.
“All aspects of this project are Afghan-led and supplied with Afghan products and, if profitable, can be Afghan-sustained. I am hoping that the processed, packaged and labelled product will be the start for greater trading abilities for the farmers of Uruzgan,” he says.