Photo By Capt. Peter Shinn | U.S. Army Master Sgt. Bill Dunbar of Mason City, Iowa, construction specialist for the...... read more read more
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KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Members of the Iowa National Guard’s 734th Agribusiness Development Team attended a meeting, Nov. 7, about the possibility of building a cold storage facility in Asadabad. They left the meeting with insight into the reasons Kunar Province farmers are not growing high-value fruits and vegetables and the discovery of a privately-run cold storage facility in Asadabad.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Neil Stockfleth of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, ADT’s Agriculture Section’s officer in charge, U.S. Army Warrant Officer Marty Osmundson of Des Moines, Iowa, and U.S. Army Master Sgt. Bill Dunbar of Mason City, Iowa, both construction specialists for the ADT, attended the meeting.
“During a market assessment we conducted last month, we found that most of the fruits and vegetables in the Asadabad bazaar aren’t grown in Kunar Province,” Stockfleth said. “We thought one reason was because of a lack of cool or cold storage, but we wanted to find out for sure at this meeting.”
Afghans at the meeting included Mohammad Jalal, leader of the Kunar province chapter of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Dr. Jamaluddin, head of the Kunar Province Construction Companies' Union and the Ishaq Rehabilitation Agency of Afghanistan, an Afghan-based non-governmental organization.
Jamaluddin, who spoke fluent English, did most of the talking during the meeting. He explained most farmers in Kunar Province grow wheat and corn because they simply do not know fruit and vegetable production is more valuable. Jamaluddin recommended implementing an educational program for farmers across the province, but he cautioned against having government officials organize farmer meetings.
“Some of these [government officials], if you ask them to get the farmers together, they will get together their friends and their cousins, and they will say, ‘Here are the farmers,’” Jamaluddin said. “If you ask for mullahs, or shop owners, they will provide the same crowd.”
Instead of having government officials organizing farmer education meetings, Jamaluddin suggested having his organization survey the districts of Kunar Province and identify the farmers there. While the farmer education was taking place, Jamaluddin suggested, the ADT should build a cold storage facility in Asadabad.
Stockfleth asked if there was any cold storage at all in Asadabad, and Jamaluddin conceded there was. However, Jamaluddin said, it was small and the owner charged money to use it. If the ADT built a larger cold storage unit, he continued, the Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Union would run it as a service to its members.
“The fact there is already privately-run cold storage in Asadabad is extremely interesting,” Stockfleth said. “While an education campaign for farmers may make sense, we’re obviously going to want to see the cold storage that’s already in place before we do anything further.”
For Dunbar, one of the ADT’s construction specialists, the meeting highlighted the complexities of improving agriculture in Kunar province. The meeting also raised a potential red flag for Dunbar as well.
“Every time we meet with a new group of Afghans, we learn a little bit more about conditions here. It’s like peeling back the layers of an onion,” Dunbar said. “I can only speak for myself, but I’m not real interested in building a facility that might put the Afghan who built his own cold storage facility out of business.”
| Date Taken: | 11.10.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 11.10.2010 13:12 |
| Story ID: | 59845 |
| Location: | KUNAR PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 69 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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