Spring / Fall 2005 Journal from the Field

218 families have rebuilt their farms
January-2005 Our travels began during one of the worst snowstorms in decades, welcome precipitation for the growing season ahead. Global Partnership for Afghanistan (GPFA) Program Director Zundigul Zamani and Board Member Suzanne Thompson trudged through the snowy mountainside in the Guldara District to meet farmers and village leaders to plan our 2005 planting program.

Members of the Shura, or village council, heartily endorsed the plan to expand our planting program dramatically, more than doubling the number of farmers served. They gave enthusiastic support for our program to help widows in the village replant their fields with fruit trees and vegetables for food and income.

Sealed with a thumbprint—Trees restore livelihoods
March—2005 Villagers lined up as GPFA President Bruce Freyer and District leaders distributed bundles of two-year-old fruit saplings. GPFA’s extension worker Mohammad Daud (right), a trained agronomist who visits each orchard regularly to advise on tree care, witnessed a farmer sign his loan agreement for trees with his thumbprint.

By the end of the planting season, GPFA had over 80,000 trees in the ground and over 200 new farm businesses flourishing. These pilot agro-enterprises range from orchards to tree nurseries and poplar woodlots. For each, the business plan includes short-term income generated from annual crops.

Tree businesses generate sound profits—40,000 cuttings yield 600,000 trees
March—2005 Farmers planted fast-growing hybrid poplar cuttings for timber production, widely used in house construction for roof trusses and window frames. Slightly larger than a pencil upon planting (left), the cuttings grow to over 6 feet in the first year. Stalks can then either be harvested for new cuttings, yielding 3 to 6 per tree, or allowed to mature until the tree can be sold as poles or timber.

In all, GPFA’s nurseries, including 8 private woodlots that we have helped farmers launch, are expected to yield 150,000 cuttings for sale or distribution in 2005 and triple this amount in 2006. Poplar woodis in great demand and it is anticipated that farmers will earn an excellent profitonce the trees are harvested.

Building businesses tree-by-tree
March— Malek Rahim (pictured left), a village Shura member escaped from the Taliban regime with only the clothes on his back. He returned to find his family lands and home reduced to virtually nothing. His 9 acres of lush apples, cherries, pears, grapes, walnuts and poplars were all torched by the Taliban or parched by drought. Now, in partnership with GPFA, he has 350 apple trees and plans to restore his farm to its former abundance.

Kokosherine harvests tomatoes—and builds a future
October— Fall harvests from seeds provided by GPFA produced food and essential short-term income for widows and the 218 farm families who participate in our Guldara business development program. Kokosherine (name means widow of Sherdal), has three daughters—ages 10,14, and 16—and no sons. She is very poor and receives no support from family members. With the help of GPFA’s female agronomist, BulqisYousef, she planted a small apple orchard and annual saplings and vegetables for quick income. The results? A harvest of tomatoes, potatoes, beans, and okra (pictured above center and right) for home use and sale.

Cornell University experts join GPFA in bringing improvements in horticulture to farmers
October— A team of four Cornell University specialists, recruited by GPFA, visited Afghanistan this fall to identify key strategies to close the knowledge gap of farmers and to fast-forward orchard cultivation practices. Prof. Ian Merwin (left) toured dozens of orchards sites, as proud Afghan farmers walked with him tree by tree hanging onto his every word. Bending the tree branches down, he showed them how to train them for peak production. Grafting knife in hand, he also demonstrated where each branch should be pruned. As Ian talked, the crowds built. In a gentle but direct way, he critiqued their orchards and they plied him with questions, demonstrating their thirst for greater knowledge and training.