Real Challenges

Nigel Pont.

Nigel Pont has been involved in humanitarian work for his entire life. He was born in Iran to missionary parents from the United Kingdom, growing up in Pakistan and working in developing countries for all of his professional life.

Pont has been with Mercy Corps since 1997, and is currently the Country Director for our programs in Afghanistan.

The 33-year-old Pont was recently visiting Mercy Corps' headquarters and sat down to talk with web writer Bob Ham about our programs in Afghanistan and what the country looks like from his unique perspective.

What can you tell us about the current situation in Afghanistan?

The security situation for development organizations has been going down hill for some time and looks set to continue to deteriorate. The recent tragic murder of four colleagues from the International Rescue Committee highlights the risks faced by staff in the field and how NGOs are now being targeted by some elements of the armed opposition. We continue to operate as best as we can, however if the security environment deteriorates much more we may need to further reduce the areas in which we work, and the type of work we do.

What is Mercy Corps doing in Afghanistan right now?
Our work is focused in two areas: microfinance and agricultural development.

We recently spun off Ariana Financial Services — a microfinance institution we started in 2003 — so it's now a completely independent institution. We own it, but it's an independent joint stock corporation and has its own management. Currently, they have something like 11,000 clients, 75 percent of whom are female. The executive director, Storai Sadat, is one of the most impressive young dynamic Afghan women. Her deputy is also a woman and there's a lot of female staff, which is quite refreshing as you can imagine.

We also have a large animal-health program, with 22 field veterinary units providing all sorts of treatment: vaccination, artificial insemination, etc. One of our biggest successes so far is that 14 of those have become completely privatized. We have taken away any form of support and they are completely sustainable on local revenue. They have also established a cooperative which is self-capitalized to the tune of $30,000-$40,000 for buying quality supplies for those units.

As well there's a lot of horticulture work — nurseries and orchards growing pomegranates, almonds, apricots peaches and plums. We're starting to explore the possibility of exporting them. There's a lot to be done to raise the quality, which includes better practices, working with farmers how they deal with pest and disease, and having talks with outside markets.

Are there any new developments on the horizon?
One of the interesting things we're about to get started is an SMS market information system. We're partnering with Roshan Group, the largest mobile phone company in Afghanistan, to help provide up-to-date market price data to farmers around the country via text message. This will help them secure the best prices possible for their crops and livestock.

Also, we are working to increase the number of young Afghan men and women who have the requisite technical skills to be the next generation of agricultural leaders. There's just a desperate thirst for learning — put these students in front of quality teaching and they just sponge it up. To that end, we're targeting 14 agricultural high schools across the country, all in a chronic state of disrepair, and are fixing the infrastructure to get classrooms and labs ready. The other side is curriculum development. We have a partnership with Purdue University's department for youth agriculture education to revamp the curriculum and help teach the instructors for these ag schools modern teaching methods.

What the most important thing that you want people to know about Afghanistan and Mercy Corps' work there?
There are a lot of tough things going on in Afghanistan, but it's important to realize there are some good things happening. There are real challenges for the government, real challenges with Pakistan, real challenges with opium, but it is possible to do things and things are being done. But let's have realistic expectations as an international community about how long it takes to get things done. We're building a foundation and we must plan for the long term and then stick around for a long time to implement those plans. It wont be easy, but it can be done.