New Orchards & Taliban Options

We have completed distribution of 330,000 young trees and vines, with just over 3,600 household receiving trees. I have visited maybe 100 of these new orchards in the last 2 weeks, and generally they look pretty good. The weather has also been kind to us, with mild temperatures and plenty of rain. In fact, our biggest problem has been too much rain, with around 50 orchards damaged in the last 2 weeks due to storms!

Visiting these orchards made me realise just how many of these farmers need the help we are providing. It is not just the financial issues and limited access to credit, but the level of skill in orchard establishment is extremely low. Through such a long period of war and conflict, there has been virtually no improvement in horticulture in that time. We are training farmers on what in developed countries would be considered the basic skills of horticulture. The farmers we are dealing with so far are the ones willing to try something 'new', but already the word is spreading with many other farmers approaching us during the field trip to be part of the program next year. With up to 1.2 million trees to plant next year, we can certainly accommodate many of them.

One farmer I met had a small nursery growing mainly vines for us last year, but has expanded this season to begin supplying not only our program but other farmers in his district. The amazing part of the story is that he was formerly a Taliban commander, but after seeing the opportunities in horticulture he has left that behind him. As he said, this program gave him an alternative! So when we hear our political leaders talking about the need to invest in countries like Afghanistan to win the 'hearts and minds' battle as well as the military battle to stop terrorism and insurgency - it is sometimes true!