Subscribe
Members of the Tennessee Agri-business Development Team visited four cool storage facilities being built for the preservation of produce in Ahmedabad District of Paktya province, Afghanistan, Sept. 8.
The construction of the cool storage units are being supervised and funded by the Tennessee ADT and, once completed, will give local Afghans the ability to store produce for 45 to 60 days longer then their current capabilities.
The ADT will be providing quality control and quality assurance inspection visits to the facilities about twice a week to ensure that the contractors have what they need and the progression of the projects are going well, said U.S. Army Sgt. Philip L. Wallace, an engineer advisor with the team and Centerville, Tenn., native.
"Farmers in Ahmedabad currently do not have the ability to store their produce for extended periods of time and by building the cool storage units they will have the ability to extend the market on the produce, which will give them a better price on their product," Wallace added.
"Farmers unable to store their produce have to bring all of their fruits and vegetables to market at once, which drop the price they can get," said U.S. Army Capt. Patrick L. Rasmussen, an engineer advisor for the team.
"Once they have the ability to store their produce for longer periods, then they can bring their product to market at various times, allowing them to fetch a better price," the Mount Juliet, Tenn., native said.
The ADT is currently supervising the construction of two sets of cool storage units in Ahmedabad District.
If the storage units are successful, the goal is to have future ADTs carry on the project by building more facilities in other areas of Paktya, so that farmers will not have to travel so far to store their produce, said Wallace.
"This is our first project; it's kind of a pilot program," said Rasmussen. "As long as this one turns out good, then we'll build these all over Paktya."
Construction on the facilities began on Aug.15, and they are currently more than 50 percent complete, said Wallace. "They're coming along well."
The construction of the facilities has provided labor work for some of the locals in the area, which is starting to stimulate the local economy, Rasmussen said.
| Date Taken: | 09.08.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 09.21.2009 10:31 |
| Story ID: | 39088 |
| Location: | AF |
| Web Views: | 197 |
| Downloads: | 138 |
This work, Tenn. ADT helps preserve Afghan produce, by MSG Warren Wright, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT