Harvesting A New Generation of Leaders

Mercy Corps is working to improve crop production and access to water in drought-stricken southern Afghanistan. Photo: Mercy Corps

In southern Afghanistan, agriculture has been traditional a way of life, passed down from one generation to another for centuries. Twenty years of conflict has placed this tradition at risk with the current generation of Afghan youths often unfamiliar with the skills necessary to grow productive crops.

That was one of the findings that Keith Polo, a consultant to Mercy Corps, found on a recent assessment of the agricultural situation in the southern provinces of Afghanistan.

"What you have had is a generation of absent fathers and men who have gone off to fight or have left the country to earn money to send back home and the traditional agricultural skills have not been passed down. This is a big loss since southern Afghan farmers are among the best and most knowledgeable in the world," Polo said.

"It also is a civil society issue. An entire generation needs to be trained as leaders who are involved in their communities."

Finding ways to re-engage Afghan youths in the farming process is one step that Polo recommends to help a region that has been beset by four years of unparalleled drought in addition to two decades of instability.

Years of hardship have forced many families in the region to sell their possessions, Polo said, just to survive from day to day. Others have been forced from their homes and farms because their wells have dried up, making it impossible to grow crops and raise livestock.

Mercy Corps is operating agricultural rehabilitation programs in southern Afghanistan that are designed to improve access to water and to improve crop yields. Additionally, cash-for-work and infrastructure programs are creating employment alternatives to poppy harvesting, the primary source of income for unskilled labor in the primarily rural region.

Polo said that work programs are especially important because there are currently no viable alternative crops to poppy, which has a high value for a small yield and is an especially drought-resistant crop. Large landowners, who hire workers to work the fields during harvest, operate poppy farms. The average poppy harvester can earn a couple of dollars a day for his labor.

"Most Afghans don't want to grow poppy," Polo said. "It is against their religion and their belief system. But they don't have any other choice. Mercy Corps' strategy is to make things community-wide and to help to generate alternative livelihoods. We need to give them other opportunities to earn a living so that they don't have to rely upon poppy production."

Polo believes that Mercy Corps programs can play a role in improving market access for Afghan crops, which is critical for long-term recovery. With damaged roads and unreliable transportation, it is difficult for most rural farmers to transport their goods to market. As a result, most of the goods in southern Afghanistan cities come from Pakistan.

"Working with young people, involving women, promoting schoolyard farming, improving irrigation - all can be linked together as part of an overall strategy for the region. These might seem like small steps, but they are important. Especially since it is going to continue to be really tough until the drought breaks," Polo added.