BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – The small farm owners and sharecroppers who collectively make up much of the produce sold at local markets also make up a large portion of the local business.
The majority of the Bagram District farmers own less than two acres of land and only 10 to 15 percent own the land they farm on. The average farm is a small, family-run business with less than 10 employees. The other 85 to 90 percent of the farmers are sharecroppers who must usually pay 50 percent of what they earn to the owner of the land. They make on average between 5,000 to 6,000 Afghani, the equivalent of $80 to $90 per month.
In an order to help the smaller farm owners grow their business, representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Combined Joint Task Force-10 worked together to provide experienced knowledge, advice, and information to help Parwan province farmers during an agribuisness shura at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, April 24, 2014.
“In Bagram District, most of the people are in agriculture in some way,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Todd Bzdafka, CJTF-10 Chief of Afghan Civil-Military Integration, Mayfield Village, Ohio. “It touches them in their daily lives, which makes shuras like this very important.”
Approximately 50 farmers from across Bagram District attended the shura to learn to improve their business and add value through various programs the Afghan Ministry of Agriculture has developed to make it sustainable in the future.
Pradeep Patnaik, the senior USDA representative in Regional Command-East, served as the host for the shura. Patnaik, a former small farmer himself, empathized for many of the farmers’ issues. Throughout his career, he has worked with farmers around the world; Afghanistan is his 24th country, and he has seen many of the same issues.
“Everything is here in their country: the soil and the water; we are here to show them how they can do better than they are doing it now,” said Patnaik. “We can provide them the tools and try to give them tips to help improve their livelihood.”
Many of the tips discussed during the meeting are ones that Patnaik has seen used in other countries. Among other things, he discussed the importance of water management, which is key in agriculture. He talked about harvesting snow during the cold months and placing it in the fields. This keeps the soil in field moist for longer as the temperatures rise. They discussed “check dams” which is a way of diverting water from a stream or river to their fields to be used. Irrigating the fields at night when it is not as hot so that the water does not evaporate.
Abdul Shakoor Qudusi, Bagram District’s governor and Mohammad Mahsom Bagram District Police chief both attended the shura.
“We have a lot discuss, how to help the people of Bagram” said Qudusi prior to the meeting.
“The presence of the district governor and police chief sent a message of solidarity to the famers, that we are here to help you,” said Patnaik. “They attended because they understand the importance of agriculture to the local economy.”
| Date Taken: | 04.24.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 04.27.2014 07:36 |
| Story ID: | 127738 |
| Location: | BAGRAM, AF |
| Web Views: | 75 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Agribusiness Shura helps Afghan farmers grow business, by LTC Josh Jacques, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
