Photo By Master Sgt. George M Winters Jr | Members of the Tennessee Agribusiness Development Team pose for a photo at Forward...... read more read more
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FORWARD OPERATING BASE GARDEZ, Afghanistan — The Tennessee National Guard Agribusiness Development Team recently deployed to Afghanistan. The TN ADT is the first unit of its kind in the Paktya and Paktika Provinces and as such, they consider themselves to be the advance party for all future rotations of ADT's within these Provinces. Serving in this role, their primary mission will be to set the stage for the success of all ADT's yet to come.
The TN ADT is comprised of Soldiers from across the state, all of which volunteered to serve the state of Tennessee, their country, and the people of Afghanistan. The team is broken down into a large number of security force members, a headquarters element and approximately 15 technical experts with a vast knowledge and experience in agriculture and/or livestock.
Staff Sgt. Roger B. Broach is one of these agricultural experts. Staff Sgt. Broach is an alumnus of the University of Tennessee where he obtained a B.S. in Agriculture, majoring in agriculture business. As a youth, he was very active with 4-H in Tennessee, attending National 4-H Congress in Chicago as a state winner. He has numerous years of experience in vegetable production, having grown up on a small farm.
Staff Sgt. Broach is currently employed with the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development, where he serves in the financial department. His civilian experience of initiating contracts and working with various types of computer software has proven beneficial to the team's work, as contract origination and negotiations with Afghanistan businessmen and contractors are a critical part of each project's implementation.
"If we can show the people the potential of their own capabilities to provide food and income for themselves, they will accomplish it. ADTs have the potential of assisting the Afghan people to improve their overall quality of life through more modern agricultural technology and time proven techniques of successful farming," he said. "Another key aspect will be to merge the minds of the Afghan people with western water management such as irrigation, flood control, and water retention."
One of the TN ADT's responsibilities is to include the various levels of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in every activity. This starts at the national level, and goes down through the provincial, district and village levels. The ADT primarily deals with the provincial Director of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock. The DAIL provides the ADT with the Province's priority list and coordinates with other provincial directors. The DAIL incorporates the use of his extension workers and a training facility recently built by a provincial reconstruction team. (PRTs are joint units, not just U.S. Army.)
"I believe that the overall mission of the TN Agribusiness Development Team is to assist in renovating the agricultural economy by providing U.S. agricultural and engineer specialists to work with their Afghan counterparts in Paktya Province," said Col. Jim D. Moore, commander of the TN ADT. As the commander, he is responsible for everything that the unit does and does not accomplish, as well as the health and welfare of our Tennessee Guardsmen. On agricultural projects, Moore contributes guidance and direction on livestock projects and serves as the lead on all agricultural finance projects.
Moore is also an alumnus of the University of Tennessee, where he graduated with a B.S. in Agriculture, majoring in agriculture education. He was very active in Future Farmers of America and 4-H and was the state FFA president in 1977, as well as selected as a UT Torchbearer in 1980. As a civilian, he works for a privately-owned community bank in central Georgia as the senior commercial lender and member of its executive team. He uses this knowledge of banking in building the financial aspects of every project.
"Successful business owners, and agriculture as a business, spend as much time on marketing and gross sales opportunities as maximizing production yields," he explained. "Also, a growing business must have access to loans and/or banking institutions."
The farmers in eastern Afghanistan are located close to 3 billion potential customers of their agricultural products. Understanding and production for the central Asia buyers' desires needs and wants, is required to make the Afghan farmers successful.
The ADT has been on the ground for approximately 90 days, but has already accomplished a great deal. The team has made at least two visits to the fourteen districts within its province and conducted assessments of the current agricultural situation in conjunction with the local leaders. As a result, nearly a dozen projects for funding through the military's Commander's Emergency Response Program, or CERP, have been created and submitted.
Several of these projects are in conjunction with the Paktya University's School of Agriculture. At one time, Afghan universities were competitive with institutions across the globe. Unfortunately, they were almost completely destroyed during the Soviet occupation and the subsequent Taliban regime. The local university is dependent on national funding, but lacks the necessary resources to teach the current influx of students. The TN ADT has agreed to assist the School of Agriculture in meeting its critical needs.
The intent of the team is to implement up to 50 projects before the duty tour ends and are replaced with another ADT from Oklahoma. The OK ADT will be assuming the responsibilities with the same focus and resolve. Some of the projects will be completed, some will be underway, and some will be waiting for our successors to begin as soon as they hit the ground. Since the focus is on education and agriculture infrastructure development, most of the projects have a training focus, or at the very least, a training component embedded in them.
Some examples of the projects they have developed or implemented include:
• A furniture manufacturing training course for local military-aged males — They will learn a new trade, be given the tools to start a business, and donate the furniture produced in the training to the university.
• A livestock association training course — The farmers will be given training on basic animal husbandry techniques, and then instructed on how to create and sustain an association. This will allow for future projects to be approved for the group and increase their marketing strength.
• A bee hive construction training course — Bees are critical to the province's fruit tree heritage and economy. The students will learn proper methods of hive construction, to include the pressing of wax inserts. They will also be allowed to keep their tools in order to start a new business, and the hives they produce will be initially donated to district beekeeping associations. The associations will use the new hives to encourage new members which will directly assist the numerous apple and apricot producers across the province, as well as provide increased revenue for honey sales.
• Para-Veterinary training program with the Afghan Veterinary Association — Afghanistan does not have enough adequately trained veterinarians and must depend heavily on less formally trained para-vets or vet technicians. This program will provide basic technical training in laboratory procedures and artificial insemination procedures as the local veterinarian is also the local A.I. technician. The program will also provide updated equipment for clinics, better quality dairy cattle semen and two semi-annual de-worming clinics throughout the province.
• Local training courses on poultry, sheep, and goat husbandry for disadvantaged women and youth — These various courses are offered at the village level. They provide both the knowledge and resources for the students to take home their own livestock or chickens. The training will include health, feeding, breeding, and marketing components. Each of these projects can be easily replicated in virtually every district within the province.
Many agricultural projects can take a minimum of three to five years to begin producing quantitative results, as evidenced by America's forefathers as they painstakingly improved their plant and animal genetics. The common factor is to be a steward of the land and enhance it through training and technology. As part of the training, it is vital to educate the Afghans on the conservation value of their natural resources.
"Living at 7,600 ft elevation with average annual rainfall of 12 inches isn't like anything in the Southeast. But the farmers in Afghanistan are similar to U.S. farmers, interested in production quality and quantities, producing enough to feed, clothe and educate their family," said Col. Moore. "They also respond to smiles and firm handshakes."
Thirty years ago Afghanistan was known as a leading agricultural exporter. Agriculture accounted for nearly 80 percent of their economy. As previously mentioned, the Russian invasion and the Taliban's fight for control have taken their toll on the country's farming capabilities. Although much technology and knowledge has been lost, through the efforts of the these various agribusiness development teams in coordination with other dedicated national and international officials, these losses can be overcome and allow the Afghanistan economy to once again thrive.
| Date Taken: | 07.09.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 07.09.2009 14:54 |
| Story ID: | 36172 |
| Location: | GARDEZ, AF |
| Web Views: | 410 |
| Downloads: | 312 |
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