US troops bring 4-H program to Ghazni

GHAZNI PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

11.07.2011

Courtesy Story

Combined Joint Task Force 1 - Afghanistan

GHAZNI PROVINCE, Afghanistan - In an effort to improve local agricultural learning, as well as share lessons from their own childhood, soldiers with the Texas Army National Guard Ghazni Agribusiness Development Team planted the seeds for an Afghan 4-H program.

According to the 4-H website, in the United States “The 4-H idea is simple: help young people and their families gain the skills they need to be proactive forces in their communities’ and develop ideas for a more innovative economy.” The program started as a way to teach entire families better and more efficient ways of gardening and farming.

“The end goal to for the students, parents and teachers to have a better understanding of agriculture and have collective learning and activities among families,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Jeffrey Muckleroy, an agriculture education teacher from Jourdanton, Texas. “The children will learn gardening at a young age, so learn better ways of agriculture and will use these methods in the future. The parents will learn these techniques by teaching the children and each other. Also, they may see new ways of doing things and learn better practices from other parents, teachers and their students.”

In the end, a more agriculturally educated community uses their resources to grow food for themselves.

“Even though the students receive some agriculture training from their families, due to the decades of war in Afghanistan, a lot of the knowledge of best practices have been lost, said U.S. Army 1st Lt. Rebekah Frost, a large animal specialist, from Austin, Texas. “It's been estimated by multiple organizations that Afghanistan is only producing half of its potential agricultural products. We are hoping to turn that around.”

When the program was created in the U.S., in the 1800's, the 4-H had many of the same goals. At the time, America was going through the “dust bowl,” and American farmers we’re not producing produce efficiently.

During the late 1800's, researchers at public universities saw that adults in the farming community did not readily accept new agricultural discoveries. Researchers found that young people were open to new thinking and would "experiment" with new ideas and share their experiences and successes with adults. Rural youth programs became a novel way to introduce emerging agriculture technology to their communities.

Although this program started as several local clubs in the U.S, Ghazni residents have the advantage of soldiers with 4-H experience guiding and helping the program. Because of this, the program will be much more advanced than any 4-H elsewhere.

“The students will have both a classroom portion, where we're integrating current agriculture textbooks with additional pamphlets and books in biology, animal anatomy and physiology, chemistry and agriculture best practices,” said Frost. “Additionally, they will have a practical application where the students will grow a garden, learning pruning, fertilization, and irrigation techniques. The students will also use the plants in the garden to identify the basic plant parts throughout the different stages of growth, allowing them to see first-hand what they're learning in the classroom.”

However, according to Muckleroy, the 4-H program can teach much more.

“I am a strong supporter of 4-H because I was part of it from the fifth grade until graduation. I visited many places in the state and the country because of it and met many lifelong friends through it,” he said. “Because of 4-H, I received awards and suffered through hardships that taught me life skills I still use today.”

With the help of the Texas ADT, hopefully, the 3,400 girls and 5,000 boys at the Bokwal Boys and Girls School will not only learn to improve the agricultural production of their community, but life lessons that will make their future brighter.

• Date Taken: 11.07.2011
• Date Posted: 11.07.2011 17:17
• Story ID: 79685
• Location: GHAZNI PROVINCE, AF